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avatar Anonymous

How do you help a child who doesn't have any concern about turning assignments in on time and therefore ends up with only partial credit?

Our daughter very rarely turns assignments in on time. Then she only receives partial credit. Her grades are very low. She loves to participate in track/cross country, but when her grades are low she's either placed on probation or not allowed to participate at all. She's in Special Ed and she struggles. She's ADHD and has PDD (a form of autism) which is where she preceives things differently than the rest us us. We are at a loss as to what can be done. Any advice will be welcomed.

Question applies to ages: 13

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avatarJenny.eduguide
# of Thumbs Up Received (77)
Top 5 in: Discipline, Families and Relationships, Family Activities, Financial Aid for College, Growth and Development, Health and Wellness, Parenting Support, Parents and Schools, School Policy and Education Issues, Study Skills and Academics, Transitions and Readiness, Study Skills and Academic StrategiesTop 5 in 12 Topics		 I had this exact same problem with my son. He's 10 and very smart, but he just didn't care about whether or not the assignments he completed were handed in.

I know that in our case, as in most cases, I can make sure that he finishes his homework and that it gets to school, but I can't make him turn it in.

I explained that to him and told him that he was old enough to handle the responsibility of turning in his work. And if he didn't turn it in on time, he had no one to blame but himself. Of course, he needed to understand that there were consequences to not doing so. In our case, he wasn't allowed to have friends over or make phone calls if we discovered that he wasn't getting his work in on time. It only took one week for him to realize that he didn't like turning his work in late.
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avatarAnonymous We just started a daily assignment sheet where my son writes down his assignments, and then each teacher initials if his assignments were turned in. I'm hoping the daily accountability will make a difference for my son.
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avatarRich
# of Thumbs Up Received (0)		 A couple of questions. Does your daughter understand the connection between late homework/low grades/no track and cross country? Do her friends have similar issues?

My basic advice would to be start a daily accountability system using a calendar. The first goal is to have her turn in her homework three out of five days in a week and some agreed to award for that achievement. The next goal would be 4 out of 5 days. The last goal is 5 out of 5 days.The reward can be small, rent a movie, spend time doing something she enjoys, an ice cream cone, etc. How it works. Your daughter would report to you every day if she got that days homework in on time. If yes a star on the calendar, if no its left blank. This builds mutual accountability and keeps you informed daily of her progress.
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avatarElizabeth.Johns
# of Thumbs Up Received (76)
Top 5 in: Choosing College, Discipline, Families and Relationships, Family Activities, Growth and Development, Health and Wellness, Learning Disabilities and Special Needs, Learning Styles, Parents and Schools, Safety, School Policy and Education Issues, Study Skills and Academics, Summer Learning and Camps, Teens and Jobs, Transitions and Readiness, Motivating StudentsTop 5 in 16 Topics		 I have a 16 year old with Asperger's Syndrome, so I'm honing in on the fact that your daughter has PDD and is in Special Ed. What kind of services does your daughter have included in her IEP? Is she mostly mainstreamed? Does she go to the resource room or learning center? My son benefited a lot from having a resource teacher who knew all of his assignments and could help him get organized and stay on track. In high school, he actually had a class period for learning center, where he did almost all of his homework under supervision and the teacher helped him organize his folders and make sure that assignments actually got turned in.

Kids of the autism spectrum often/usually have difficulties with "executive function," which is the fancy phrase for organizational skills. It may make perfect sense for you and me to write a to-do list, check a planner, or keep track of due dates, but for spectrum kids, that's just a bunch of jibberish.

You and your daughter's case manager or resource teacher need to work out a system with lots of backup to provide the structure and organization that your daughter lacks. You might also want to work something out with her teachers (and get it written into her IEP), that she gets a "warning" about assignment deadlines to give her one more chance to get things in, rather than just being marked down automatically when she doesn't turn the assignment in.

You might also work with her teachers to get an emailed schedule of what is due when--by the week or month. That way you can check that the work is done and inquire whether it made it onto the teacher's desk.

Yes, this is more work for you, and yes, typical 13 year olds should be able to do this on their own, but your child is not typical and is going to need extra assistance to make this work.

References:
mom of 4, including a teen with Asperger's Syndrome
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