School Privileges and Punishments
Even if your child has an IEP or a written 504 plan, you may find that he is denied privileges or punished in subtle ways at school because of his learning problems. For example, a teacher may allow all children who have finished all their classwork free time to play games every Friday afternoon; the other children may be sent to the library or a study hall to finish their assignments. Of course, your child never gets any free play time, as his slower reading speed and labored writing makes it impossible for him to complete assignments early. Similar difficulties may also lead to specific punishments, such as being held inside for recess, denied permission to attend a school assembly, or held after school. You may even find that your child is being punished or denied privileges by being forced to make up assignments that he missed because he was pulled out of class to work with the resource teacher.
ESSENTIAL
Your child may not tell you about the day-to-day slights and inconveniences he suffers because of his dyslexia. He may not understand himself that many of his difficulties are directly related to his learning differences, and he may feel embarrassed about the treatment he endures at school or fear your disapproval if he confesses additional failings. Although frustrated, he may perceive the teacher's rules as “fair” because they are equally applied to other students, and may be reluctant to ask for special treatment.
In some cases, your child may suffer negative consequences because of problems that are not directly related to her reading ability. Many children with dyslexia have poor organizational skills; your daughter may habitually misplace her homework or forget to write down assignments. Her language processing issues may lead her to frequently misunderstand instructions or miss “hearing” them altogether. Your child's teacher may not understand how the reading problem relates to problems with focusing attention, listening, following instructions, or keeping track of deadlines and paperwork. You will need to work to educate the teacher about your child's limitations, and arrange for appropriate modifications in your child's IEP or 504 plan. You might point out to the teacher that her “rules” end up singling out the same students week after week for punishment or denial of privileges, and thus are not effective as incentives to change behavior. Arrange informal modifications that will give your child a chance to rectify the problems, such as reduced volume of work or the opportunity to work on finishing assignments over the weekend.
