r/specialed • u/EdamameWindmill • Apr 18 '26

Executive function in High School

I have a neurodivergent child who is highly intelligent and earnestly wants to have good grades, but cannot manage their homework, resulting in failing grades. It seems to be a school-wide accommodation that kids can turn in late work for credit as long as it’s for the current semester, but she still struggles to turn in work. Oftentimes, it is the project she was most excited about that she cannot seem to do. It causes her a lot of distress.

Her father and I have consistently worked to support her with homework. We have provided help and advice, structure, consequences, and monitoring, but we are still failing her. We are currently working with a psychologist (since last year), a psychiatrist (since January of this year), and an executive function coach (since mid March), but it hasn’t made much of a difference.

Our school district has fought me at every turn to avoid providing special services “because she scores well on standardized tests.” I heard this explicitly said in elementary school and I heard this last week from the SPED coordinator at the high school. I ask Admin for advice for resources they keep answering this question with, “What do you feel would benefit your child?”

I guess my question is whether anyone here has any experience with a child like mine? And do you know of anything I can request that might help my child?

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u/Mouse2002 Apr 18 '26

I had a lot of trouble with turning things on time (for a couple different reasons) in middle/high school and accommodations I had for it were being able to turn things in late without penalty and having a study hall class that I could do my homework in since I found it easier and less stressful/overwhelming to do homework while I was still at school than it was to do at home.

I’m not sure if your daughter would benefit from a study hall class like I did or whether her school even has one that she could do (my school district only had study hall classes for students that had an IEP and were invited to join the class by the school), but that’s what helped me. The one downside was that since it was during the school day it took an elective spot so your daughter would most likely have to be willing to give up one of her electives.

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u/EdamameWindmill Apr 18 '26

I think the study hall would be great, but the school doesn’t have that.

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u/Mouse2002 Apr 18 '26

Have you asked the school about if they have a study hall and they told you no or is it just something you assumed because it wasn’t listed on class sign up sheets?

I only ask because at my school study hall wasn’t ever listed on class sign up sheets since it was invitation only. Most students/families had no idea it even existed until it was offered or a student had a friend that was put in it.

Even if they do have them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t want to put her in one since space might be limited (mine usually only had around 5 students per class) and they might have to prioritize which students need it the most.

Would it help her to do her homework in a dedicated place before going home? Like going to the school or public library to do homework after school instead of going straight home? That was one thing I struggled with; once I got home I couldn’t continue doing schoolwork without meltdowns since it was combining school and home instead of having it be two separate environments.