ADHD IEP accommodations built to survive a substitute teacher
Movement on a schedule, a private cue, one visible step at a time, a task timer, a seat clear of traffic and a quieter testing room are what this list covers for ADHD. Attention with ADHD runs out in minutes rather than hours, so each support hands the task over in pieces small enough to finish before it does. You can check your own IEP against this list today: open its accommodations page and ask, line by line, whether it says where, how often and by whom.
By The Advocate Ally, checked against the rules it cites. Sources checked September 17, 2026.
The accommodations, line by line
A scheduled reason to stand up
Classroom
A scheduled task pulls your child up from the seat during independent work, before attention drains instead of after it is already gone.
IEP wording
Put the interval and the task on paper: “a supervised movement task away from the seat every twenty minutes during independent work, teacher-initiated.” 34 CFR 300.320(a)(7)
Check
This week’s movement-break log, set beside the interval the IEP names, shows whether the break ran.
A signal instead of being called out
Classroom
When focus drifts, the teacher taps the desk or holds up a card instead of saying your child’s name in front of the room.
IEP wording
Name the cue and what it means: “a nonverbal tap-the-desk signal from the teacher meaning return to the assigned task, no verbal correction given.” 34 CFR 300.42
Check
Open the substitute folder for the room and look for the tap-the-desk cue written in it.
One step visible at a time
Classroom
The worksheet arrives cut into three parts, and your child turns in the first part before the second one is placed on the desk.
IEP wording
Say what stays hidden and who reveals it next: “one step of a multi-step assignment visible at a time, next step given after the last is turned in.” 34 CFR 300.320(a)(4)(ii)
Check
Look at last week’s worksheets and check whether each was cut into the IEP’s pieces.
A timer set to the task
Classroom
A visible timer counts down the minutes for each task, so your child can see how much work is left instead of guessing.
IEP wording
Fix the length and where it sits: “a visible countdown timer set for the length of each independent work block, placed where the student can see it.” 34 CFR 300.320(a)(7)
Check
Read the week’s lesson plan for the timer length written beside each independent work block.
A seat clear of the room’s traffic
Classroom
The desk sits back from the supply closet and the doorway, so classmates walking past do not pull your child’s eyes off the lesson.
IEP wording
Name the spots to avoid, not a general seat: “a desk placed away from the supply closet and the doorway, reassessed if the room is rearranged.” 34 CFR 300.42
Check
Sit in on a lesson this month and note whether the desk still stands clear of the closet and the doorway.
Extra time in a quieter room
Classroom
On test days your child moves to a smaller room and gets the longer limit the IEP sets.
IEP wording
Give both the multiplier and the group size the test happens in: “time and a half, in a room holding three students or fewer, on every classroom and state assessment.” 34 CFR 300.320(a)(6)(i)
Check
Ask the test coordinator for the form filed for the state exam and confirm the timing and the room both appear.
What the rule says
“A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services … to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child”
For ADHD the statement is what turns a break a teacher grants when the fidgeting gets loud into one that arrives on the interval the IEP set.
If it is written but not happening
Send the case manager an email naming the dates a support went missing and asking for a written fix.
Request an amendment adding the teacher’s name beside the break and the cue, and the log that shows each ran.
Each of your child’s teachers has to be told the specific accommodations the IEP requires (34 CFR 300.323(d)(2)); a refusal to fix a gap owes you prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503).
A list is a starting point: it does not replace an evaluation of your child, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the accommodations in your IEP read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the accommodation wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
