The Parent’s Back-to-School Checklist for Kids with ADHD, Dyslexia, or 2e

For most families, back-to-school season means school supplies and new sneakers. For parents of kids with ADHD, dyslexia, or twice-exceptionality (2e), it means something bigger: a fresh chance to get the routines, paperwork, and support in place before the first hard homework night — not after.

The good news is that a few focused steps in August can prevent weeks of struggle in October. Here's what to do now.

1. Rebuild the Routine Before the Bell Rings

Executive functioning challenges make transitions hard, and summer schedules are about as far from a school routine as it gets. Start shifting back at least one to two weeks before day one.

• Move bedtime and wake-up time closer to the school schedule in small increments, not all at once.
• Reintroduce a morning routine with a visual checklist (get dressed, eat, pack backpack) so mornings don't rely on verbal reminders alone.
• Practice the homework routine itself: same time, same location, same order of operations, even before homework exists yet.
• If mornings were a battle last year, identify the one or two steps that caused the most friction and problem-solve those specifically, rather than overhauling everything at once.

Predictability lowers anxiety. For a child with ADHD or a learning disability, a predictable routine isn't a nice-to-have — it's often the difference between a manageable morning and a meltdown.

2. Review — or Request — the IEP or 504 Plan

Every August, the same thing happens: plans that made sense in June no longer fit the child in September, or accommodations quietly stop being followed once a new teacher takes over.

• Pull the current plan and actually reread it. Note which accommodations were used consistently last year and which ones existed on paper only.
• Know which plan your child has. An IEP (under IDEA) provides specialized instruction along with accommodations. A 504 plan (under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act) provides accommodations — extended time, preferential seating, reduced-distraction testing — without specialized instruction.
• Request a review meeting in writing if the plan needs updating, rather than waiting for the annual review date. Email creates a paper trail and starts the clock on the school's response time.
• Ask what changed for the new grade. New teachers, new classrooms, and new subject demands can make an accommodation that worked fine last year suddenly insufficient.

If your child doesn't have a plan yet but you suspect one is needed, a written request for an evaluation is the first formal step — and it's worth doing in August rather than waiting until grades start slipping.

3. Write the Teacher Introduction Letter

A short letter before the first day does more for your child than almost anything else on this list, and it takes less time than you'd think. New teachers are meeting twenty-plus kids at once; a letter means they meet yours as a whole person before the first rough moment happens.

• Strengths first. What your child is good at, curious about, or proud of.
• The specific challenge, described plainly — how it actually shows up for your child, not a diagnosis definition.
• What has helped, concretely — extended time, written instructions, a mid-task check-in, permission to move or fidget.
• An invitation to communicate, with your preferred method and how often.

Send it a few days before school starts, or in the first few days if you're just getting organized. Keep it to one page.

4. Watch for Signs This Year Needs More Than Last Year Did

Some kids outgrow last year's support. Others just look like they have, because the demands haven't caught up yet. Around week three or four, once the school routine has settled, it's worth checking:

• Is homework taking noticeably longer than it should, even with the same accommodations that worked before?
• Is your child avoiding certain subjects, or expressing more frustration or shutdown than last year?
• Are reading, writing, or math tasks that used to be manageable suddenly a source of tears or refusal?
• If your child is twice-exceptional, is the gap between their obvious strengths and their struggling areas creating confusion for teachers about what kind of support they actually need?

These are the moments where tutoring alone starts falling short — not because the tutor isn't skilled, but because the challenge isn't purely academic. This is exactly the gap therapeutic tutoring is built to close: pairing structured, subject-specific instruction with the psychological support that addresses the anxiety, avoidance, or attention barriers sitting underneath the academic struggle. A student with ADHD who can't get started on homework doesn't just need more practice problems — they often need help with the motivation and executive-functioning piece first. A child with dyslexia who's begun avoiding reading altogether needs both skill-building and confidence-rebuilding happening together, not in separate appointments with two professionals who never talk to each other.

5. Build the Support Team Now, Not in October

The families who have the smoothest fall are usually the ones who lined up support before they needed it urgently. Waiting until progress reports come home in October means starting from behind.