The Foreign Service Journal, June 2006

J U N E 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 89 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT • The other option is to see if the child’s learning has been affected significantly enough by the AD/HD or other health issue to qualify for an IEP under “Other Health Impaired,” one of the categories under IDEA. Even if your child does qualify for special education, it remains to be seen how much you can really expect. Some school divisions do not provide services for any AD/HD or LD student unless they are failing in regular classes. (In some schools, but not all, this makes it more difficult for IB and AP students to receive any accommodation. Schools need to be aware of the unique needs of kids who are “twice exceptional,” or gifted and learning disabled.) Ultimately, this is a question only the schools can answer. But you can ask your school for assistance, for example, with making a request to the College Board for extended time for your high school student to take SATs and Advanced Placement exams. SATs taken with extended time are no longer flagged, so colleges are unaware of who received an accommodation during the test. This helps to level the playing field for the AD/HD child, or the child with other learning issues. Step by Step FLO recommends the following steps be taken upon return to the United States: • Once you have determined the base school for your child’s school district, make an appointment with the Director of Guidance before registering your child. It is important to discuss your child’s unique Foreign Service experience (see “School Personnel and the Foreign Service Child” on FLO’s Web site at http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c8128.htm). • Address your child’s learning needs with the guidance counselor (a good primer on spe- cial education is a paper at http://www.aacap. org/publications/factsfam/83.htm). • Inform them that you would like to initiate a parent referral to start the identification process. This is something to be done imme- diately as it can be a long process. Please note: Pursuant to the reau- thorization of IDEA last December, a school must honor the accom- modations of an IEP from another public school division in the U.S. Continued on page 90 If outside testing is accepted at all, it may be considered as but one factor in the assessment process. Returning to the U.S. Continued from page 86