Special Education in Five Minutes
If you are a parent, general educator, or special educator wanting to stay up to date with your knowledge of special education, this program will provide you with expert knowledge in concise (+/-) five minute episodes.
David Poeschl is your host. He is a retired school district special education director and Cal-State University lecturer. He currently works as a no-fee advisor to parents of children with disabilities in Northern California.
The content of the podcasts comes from his extensive experience as an educator and the most asked questions parents bring to him in his practice.
The purpose of the program is to share information about those questions and more so parents can be on equal footing with school staff they are working with. In addition, many general education teachers need and want additonal ways of helping kids with disabilities, as well as ways to improve their instructional practices.
Special Education in Five Minutes
Homework - Elementary: No More 2 Hour Nights!
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A commom complaint from parents of neurodivergent children is that homework is a nightmare. The stress and anxiety it creates for everyone in the family is often far more emotionally costly than any benfit that comes from practicing academic skills.
There is a better way that can include work from school, but in a way that will reduce stress, reduce anxiety, and hopefully help you get rid of that feeling of dread when homework time approaches.
Summary
The podcast episode discusses the unique challenges neurodivergent (ND) elementary students face with homework due to the psychological burden of masking, anxiety, and exhaustion from school. The host recommends making homework completion optional for younger grades, using a structured nightly routine with a reinforcer system, and modifying assignments through shortening, chunking, and assistive technology. The importance of adapting expectations to individual needs, rather than treating all students equally, is emphasized.
Key takeaway
Homework Stress for ND Students
Neurodivergent children expend significant energy masking during the school day, leading to exhaustion and anxiety by the time they get home, leaving little bandwidth for homework and therapies.
Host notes that research shows ND kids need a psychological boundary between school and home, and that the stress of modified homework on these households is largely unnecessary.
Recommended Homework Accommodation for Elementary
For grades 1–3 (and possibly 4–5 for students with an IEP or 504 plan), the host suggests an accommodation that makes homework completion optional while still encouraging a consistent nightly study time.
Host recommends basing nightly homework time on the national PTA guideline of ten minutes per grade level (e.g., 10 minutes for first grade, 20 for second).
Reinforcer System for Homework
Parents should set up a system where the child can earn a highly desirable reinforcer (e.g., Legos) for completing homework or a significant portion, and if unable or unwilling, they engage in a mildly reinforcing quiet activity (e.g., reading a favorite book) without any consequence.
Host explains that the absence of the high-value reward is the only difference, building a habit of quiet learning time rather than punishing non-completion.
Modified Homework Strategies
Homework can be adapted by reducing the number of problems while covering the same concepts, breaking assignments into smaller chunks, and allowing the use of speech-to-text and text-to-text technologies.
Host provides examples: reducing math problems, chunking each section as a separate assignment, and using assistive tech to keep up with grade-level content despite reading/writing challenges.
Teacher Disagreement and Adaptation Rationale
While many elementary general education teachers insist on full homework completion, the host argues that adapting homework is reasonable because children with disabilities carry a heavier emotional weight.
Host notes that he has seen teachers disagree, but states that for a child with a disability it is fair to adapt homework to their needs.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
The host references UDL as an instructional framework that emphasizes using each student's areas of strength in teaching and demonstrations of mastery.
Host mentions including a link to information about UDL.
Fairness vs. Equal Treatment
Treating all students the same does not constitute fair treatment because school itself is a huge stressor for ND kids, and their individual needs must be recognized.
Host concludes that treating everyone the same does not mean each child is being treated fairly.
References:
a study about the value of homework for all students:
An article by CHADD (well respected ADHD advocacy organization:
https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/is-homework-really-necessary/
Another ADHD article about homework:
And here are two links to information on Universal Design for Learning (UDL):
The CAST founder, Dr. David Rose, developed the conceptual model for UDL in the 1990's. This site is primarily for educators:
https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Here is a UDL link for parents:
https://www.advocacyinstitute.org/resources/ParentUDLGuide.pdf
Thanks to Soundimage.org for free access to the AI generated music used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/)
Hello, and welcome to another episode of special education in five minutes. I'm David Poeschl, your host. Let's get right to the program.
Today, I'd like to talk about homework and neurodivergent or ND elementary age students. To frame the discussion, there is research that indicates most ND kids need a psychological boundary between school and home.
Due to that, homework needs to be addressed differently in a home with an ND child. The amount of stress on modified homework adds to these households is significant and mostly unnecessary.
Lots of these children spend a tremendous amount of energy masking their ND during the school day. There are almost universal issues with anxiety, which can be caused by the mismatch between the way schools are managed and the child's needs. By the time they get home, they are exhausted.
Add to that the different therapies and appointments. There is a child who doesn't have much psychological or physical bandwidth left.
With this as a guide, how should parents and schools address this?
It does depend on age to a great extent, with more responsibility falling to the students as they get older.
Homework for grades one through three and possibly fourth and fifth for students with an IEP or five zero four plan, I recommend an accommodation that makes homework completion optional, but also encourages parents to set aside a structured time each evening.
The amount of time per night recommended for homework based on the national PTA is ten minutes per night per grade. So first grade is ten minutes, second 20, and so on.
A workable system is to set up a time for homework each evening based on the PTA recommendations. Depending on the emotional or behavioral situation on a particular evening, a parent can introduce the assigned homework. If the student is able to complete it or a significant portion with whatever supports the parent decides on, then the child gets a reinforcer, something they really like.
For example, if they are into Legos, they may be able to earn new sets by completing work. This is not a bribe, by the way. I have another episode that explains why.
The student can also have modified homework, like shortness of time and the use of technology, such as speech to text and text to speech.
If they are unable to complete the homework, either by starting and stopping quickly or refusing to do work at all, then you should offer a mildly reinforcing activity for the homework time.
Not the best thing, but something they enjoy, reading a favorite book. It should be something that is quiet and reflects what homework time should look like. There is no consequence for not completing homework, just the absence of the highly desirable reinforcer.
The idea is to build a habit of a quiet time set aside for learning.
I have seen many elementary general education teachers disagree with this and try to insist that children do the homework assigned.
But for a child with a disability, it is reasonable to adapt the homework to their needs as they are carrying a much heavier emotional weight. As the years go on, the amount of schoolwork can be increased.
The homework itself can be modified to make it shorter and less repetitive. For instance, in math, the number of problems can be reduced while still addressing the concepts. Home assignments can be chunked, meaning each section becomes an assignment, and each chunk is introduced in order.
Students can use technology at home and school, such as speech to text and text to speech. This helps a student keep up with grade level content without having to address the underlying reading and writing challenges directly.
Teachers can adopt a mentality that every student is different and has different needs.
Universal design for learning or UDL is an instructional framework that emphasizes each student's areas of strength in teaching and student demonstrations of mastery. I have included a link to information about UDL.
I hope this helps you to understand why MD students should not be treated the same as typical students.
School itself is a huge stressor for MD kids, and treating everyone the same does not mean each child is being treated fairly. Well, that's it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening, and please join me again.