Abt to start a new school year, and son has comprehension and reading problems occassionally. When these problem arrise he get very discouraged and angry.

What kinds of help have others of you gotten for your teens with Lyme?
Please give me advise to advocate for my son.

In our case, one of our lyme kids has an IEP and the other a 504. They were tested before being dxed for lyme because we thought they had ADD. So these things certainly help.

Our one child had no difficulties getting thru school, other than the extra support for math. The other child, our lymle teen, missed the second half of the school year. We worked thru our lyme doc and he wrote a letter to the school telling the school that it was recommended that our child be tutored at home. We started with three months, then kind of took it from there.

The school also welcomed him to come to school as he felt like it, for school events, dances, etc. He did try returning to school in May, but it took too much out of him. By June, he was going to school for a couple hours a week, to complete science lab work, and he handled that well.

We were one of the happy endings. Our school district did not question this in the least. Our son was quickly set up with teachers and he was tutored at home for a couple of hours each day. He even took final exams and the state exams at home. It worked out well for him because he could rest, the material was in smaller chunks. He passed everything and did well and it really looking forward to returning to school this year! How funny is that coming from a teenager????

Probably the best thing to do is read up on those old threads, and then see what you can arrange with your child's doctor to recommend either a half day attendance at school or staying home for part of the school year, etc. Many schools are not receptive to 'out of the box' learning, but if you poet it similar to a child who is out sick because of cancer treatment, or mono, they might understand.

My son just turned 14, and will be entering 9th grade in the fall.

He has been under treatment for Lyme for over a year. He had an IEP (Individual Education Plan) put in place for depression when he was in the 7th grade in CT, later changed to Lyme when he was diagnosed.

That IEP moved with him to Maine, and was revised when he got here. The middle school teachers here have been tremendous, fighting to provide him with a successful experience. New guidelines are being suggested as he moves to the high school, based on neurocognitive assessments given by a psychologist not associated with the school system.

Here's what he has gotten in 8th grade: later start time, as he has trouble getting up in the morning; resource room assistance with classwork and homework; math taken with a tutor; fewer written assignments, and shortened ones; more time to complete tests. He meets with a social worker once a week, to discuss school and family issues.

Hope that helps you. Feel free to email me.

Regards,
Shaz

My daughter missed 3 months in both 6th and 7th grades. I got a lot of help via e-mail from teachers and kept her up msylef. I didn't fight for tutors because she felt so ill at times, and could function at others, so I wanted to teach when she was up to it and not have to deal with a scheduled tutor.

The last two years, the school has let her go in and out within a school day as needed and this has wroked out great.

The teachers fill out a form every day w/homework,. work done in class, and send home notes, tests/quizzed, worksheets etc. as needed. If a teacher can't remember to notice if she is there or not, then the school asks that teacher to do this every day, regardless of whether she is there.

The school nurse collects these and gets them to us.

There are a lot of posts on this topic, and many approaches, so please do a search.

We have have had many other accomodations and various other set-ups. The key word has been flexibility. One year we homeschooled math only (her cognitive problems were only in math) one year she couldn't use her right wrist due to Lyme, she has had an extra set of books due to pain, and so on.

The 504's are easy to adapt but you can also meet to adapt the IEP, just more complicated.