Between the constant teacher calls about problem behaviors, the meetings with the principal, or the suspensions, the process of supporting your child with ADHD can not only feel overwhelming…it can feel hopeless. To top it off, sitting in meetings with various teachers and school professionals can be really intimidating. Even if you may feel like your child needs something more or something different, you question yourself or struggle to speak up. The truth is, it is intimidating for us too, even with our knowledge of special education laws and ADHD!

If you want to help your child, you have to begin educating yourself about your child's rights at school. And even though it might not feel like it, as a parent of a child with ADHD you have a LOT of rights.

Today, I am going to be sharing with you some key information from a very important letter that will help you feel a little more empowered to support your child with ADHD at school.

The Dear Colleague Letter

In 2016, the U.S. De...

How’s school going for your child? In Arizona, we just finished up the school year – which is a welcome break for all of us parents who have been homeschooling our kids for the past two months! How did distance learning go in your family? Each of us at The Childhood Collective have had different experiences.

Mallory’s oldest is in preschool, so they didn’t have any specific homework. She has been doing all kinds of creative activities to keep her little ones busy and engaged. Lori and I (Katie) each have daughters in kindergarten, so we got to dive head first into distance learning! My daughter loves reading and is now reading everything in the house… which wasn’t awesome when I left myself a note to remember my tooth fairy responsibilities (oops, had to think fast to get out of that one!). Of course, each day when it was time for my daughter to do math, she would immediately need a snack, find a random bug bite that needed attention, or have an emergency trip to the bathroom. Full di...

Navigating the school system with an exceptional child can be stressful. As a parent, you’re looking to get your child the help they need, while being thrust into a new world of acronyms, policies, and procedures that can feel downright mysterious.

Back when I was still a practicing child psychologist, I lost count of the number of families who, in complete sincerity, asked me where to move in the entire Phoenix-metro area in order to go to the school that would best support their exceptional child. Countless families were prepared to go to the lengths of a significant life event (moving!) in order to make the school process even just a little bit easier!

Understanding Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and 504 Plans, their similarities, and their differences is a great place to start in your advocacy journey. While there is a lot to know about these two documents (seriously, I took a semester-long course in graduate school focused almost solely IEPs and 504 Plans), I’ve narrowe...