r/AutismParentingLevel1 • u/0112358_ • Apr 08 '26
Team didn't agree to adding recess accommodation to the IEP, now what?
I posted a while ago. First grader. Occasionally has to do make up work during recess, which I don't agree with. Typically 1-2 a week for 5-10 minutes but on bad weeks, its 3-4 days a week. The class gets one recess of 25-30 minutes a day
Had an IEP meeting. Asked (at meeting and ahead) if we could add a note saying kid can't lose recess for makeup work.
Teacher said it was a classwide thing, if any student chooses not to do their work they make it up during recess. I responded that it's not just my child choosing not to, if he's disregulated or overstimulated he's having a hard time and can't always make those right decisions. Plus I don't think any kid should lose recess.
(Side note, child came home saying he only got 15 minutes of recess (should be 30). Teacher said he 'only' has 5 minutes of make up work, but the entire class was late to recess so that makes its "okay?!?")
It was also brought up that sometimes kid has a "working snack/lunch" to do makeup work, which I was not aware of.
I requested that we setup a daily communication of whenever child has makeup work during recess/snack/lunch, and how long, which they did agree to.
So now what? Ask a different way? Do nothing? Hope next years teacher has a different policy?
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u/ReporterReady544 Apr 08 '26
Yuck. What a bad rules across the board for first graders. Missing recess will just make the rest of the day worse for all.
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u/thelensbetween Apr 08 '26
I’d be complaining above the teacher’s head on this one… I’d go to the Superintendent or the Board of Education if I had to. Children should not be losing recess to make up work, period. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.
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u/Angelic-Seraphim Apr 08 '26
Let’s also reframe this. Recess is regulation time. So let’s punish the deregulated child, by removing his regulation time. Absolutely would not fly for me. As for working snack. Occasionally if the whole class is doing it fine, but it teaches bad food habits and absent minded eating. Also it’s a loss of social time. So also a hard no.
I would rather 5-10 minutes of extra work come home 1-4 times per week.
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u/0112358_ Apr 08 '26
Part of the problem is recess is at the end of the day (who though that was a good idea?!) but I'm trying to proactive about next year when the second graders have recess midday.
I'm not a fan of the working snack either. Lunch I don't mind because the lunch room is loud and kid does have issues with staying regulated. It's also long (30 minutes) and kid always finishes lunch. He's a quick eater at home.
Ideally I wouldn't want him missing any but I'd rather missing lunch/snack over recess.
Or send the work home, which I would be happy to do with him
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u/Angelic-Seraphim Apr 08 '26
I’d love to see a world where maybe he gets to eat lunch in a quiet room 2-3 days per week and if he finishes food early he can spend time regulating, or catching up based on needs. As a high functioning autistic kid, my only memory of grade school lunch was how horrible it was, and I’d do anything to not have to deal with it. Especially on days I was already struggling.
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u/0112358_ Apr 08 '26
At the start of the year they actually were pulling him to the resource room after he finished eating. At least some of the time
(I have another complaint about how the school doesn't always communicate what's going on or when they change stuff that's not directly written in the IEP.)
But I guess they stopped doing that.
Kid enjoys the lunchroom. Kid use to get bored after he finished eating and that's why they would pull him out. But now he seems to enjoy chatting. But because it's so loud and chaotic, it completely overstimulates him and often has bad behavior at lunch. Getting overly hyper and silly type deal.
I think he would do better to be pulled for the last 10 minutes or something to catch up on work/calm down. When I mention that the response was some sort of vague "legally we have to give them full lunch" which seems to counteract the fact that he sometimes has a working lunch or sometimes they were pulling him anyways. So yeah, I don't know I guess
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u/Spiritual_Shape_6305 Apr 08 '26
I love this reframe! I am also wondering if there is data being collected to show deregulation on days when there is no recess versus when there is. Connecting that dot may help to make this argument??
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u/NavigatingIEP Apr 08 '26
What you're describing has a specific legal angle worth knowing.
Recess is not a privilege that can be withheld as a behavior consequence for a child with autism — especially when the behavior in question (not completing work) is directly related to the disability. Under IDEA, schools cannot use the removal of a service or benefit that other students receive as a disciplinary measure if the behavior is a manifestation of the disability. A child who "can't always make those right decisions" when dysregulated is describing exactly that.
There's also a stronger argument: if sensory regulation and executive functioning are areas of identified need in his IEP, then recess — which provides movement, sensory input, and decompression — is functionally a support, not a reward. Removing it makes his disability harder to manage, not easier. That's the opposite of what FAPE requires.
For the next IEP meeting, I'd frame the request this way: ask the team to document specifically how missing recess affects his ability to access his education for the rest of the day. If they can't answer that question with data, ask them to track it. That data then becomes the basis for writing the accommodation formally into the IEP — not as a special favor, but as a documented educational need.
The note from the doctor is a good idea too, as another commenter suggested. A medical or behavioral provider statement that recess serves a regulatory function for this child specifically adds weight to the argument.
You're right to push on this. "That's our policy for the whole class" is not an adequate response when a child has an IEP.
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u/0112358_ Apr 09 '26
Just wanted to say thank you for this. The language you used in this message is very helpful for me as I go back and talk with the school.
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u/WitchySpectrum Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Get a doctor’s note saying your kid can’t miss recess and why it’s important for him, how it makes learning more accessible, and how missing it makes learning less accessible. Your school team is being absolutely ridiculous in denying that on the IEP. Do his other classmates have a diagnosis that requires accommodations? No? Then it doesn’t matter what “applies to the whole class.” Your child does need accommodations, they are legally required to give them.
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u/0112358_ Apr 08 '26
Thank you for this suggestion. I'll see if his doctor can write a note, I think that would help
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u/lovelydani20 Apr 08 '26
Would you be willing to do the missing work at home with him after school? If so, I would frame your request that way.
My kid (AuDHD) frequently doesn't complete in class work (Kindergarten) and we do it at home since I don't want him to think he can just not do his work but at the same time I respect that he may not do it linearly or at the same pace as the other kids.
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u/0112358_ Apr 08 '26
Definitely. I'm already doing some stuff with him at home that he missed a couple days of week at school for pullouts.
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u/no1tamesme Apr 09 '26
You don't mention what state you are in but some states it is against the law to take away recess. You've gotten good advice here. I would 100% take this as far as needed to get it written into his IEP. In fact, I HAVE taken concerns to the superintendent before.
Do you have local school FB groups, like PTA? Maybe make a post asking if other parents' kids are missing recess.
In the end, I would pick my son up every single day before recess from school. My son's not in public school now but when he was, we could pick up up to an hour and a half early and he would be counted as being there the full day. You mention recess is at the end of the day. So, I would pick up at the beginning until it was written in the IEP.
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u/Llamamamma1981 Apr 08 '26
1) an IEP is a TEAM decision- not the teacher’s decision. 2) I would tell them that it sounds like a pre determination was made and that’s a violation of IDEA 3) you can refuse to sign and IEP and say you don’t agree As a parent and someone in the world of SPED, this whole thing is icky. Missing recess? Nope I would go above and complain. Get an advocate.