Great experience with 504 plan at new school!

[Phasmid]

For those of you who are considering a 504 for your child:

 

Our new school has been wonderful; very supportive and actually encouraged me to follow through with section 504. The plan calls for notification when there is a case of strep or any form of pneumonia on campus. It is working, as I have received two calls, one just today! They were very happy to learn of the illness, and to prepare information for my son's teachers in terms of what changes to look for in the classroom which would alert me of a possible exacerbation! If he suddenly takes a dive, they will e-mail me.

 

Also, the teachers will accept late work (through the counselor to whom my son will turn late stuff in to), and will sign his planner so that he records all tests. In the event (God forbid) of another major relapse, all this will be in place and it will be much easier to have him removed from the classroom if necessary, or to have home study. This is much better than responding to sudden behavior problems or academic trouble with perceived excuses for these troubles. I was very nervous about it, but am so glad I followed through for him.

[kimballot]

Good for you!! It sounds like you have a plan in place that meets your current needs AND has some room for change to address exacerbations!

[mama2alex]

Thanks for sharing this great news! I know what a relief it is to be in a school that wants to help, as our new school has been amazingly supportive - a huge contrast to our experience at the neighborhood school last year. All of us are feeling a tremendous sense of relief at being supported like this!

 

They suggested an IEP meeting 3 weeks into school and sat down with me 2 days later. His teacher and the special ed team all read the PANDAS articles we provided, and asked me questions! They are making it a top priority to notify me of any strep cases. I have various people available to assist me when he's very anxious and refusing to go into school - their goal is to get him into class as often as possible, but they are understanding when he has a hard time. They are brainstorming like crazy to come up with ideas to motivate him to get to class and feel comfortable. His teacher never complains when he's 2 or 3 hours late - she's just glad he got there! They are ready with stickerless library books if his sticker aversion becomes bad again. They are watching what he eats as much as possible (he's on a no refined sugar diet). They have an OT room where he can go if he needs a sensory break. The list goes on - its incredible.

 

Again, I'm so happy for you - it's really devastating when the school is unsupportive on top of everything else.

[Phasmid]

Yes, but our needs are not that great, compared to yours. Wish I had done it sooner, but like many of you, we didn't know what this was all about until recently (and he's been dealing with this since '04. The notification alone is something that I am thrilled about. Doesn't mean he'll be healthy the whole time, but at least we can know if there is something that explains his downturn, and take action if needed. The school nurse was especially interested in this, so yesterday I brought in some papers to make copies of.

 

 

[Healingthedude]

Congrats on this. It has been a real battle for me for the school to accept he has this disorder and needs accomodations.

They told me they thought the tics were attention seeking behavior-HOLY $#%$!

 

Anyway, I would love a copy of the PANDAS articles you presented them with.

I think a meeting with the staff and district just to address this issue would make a big difference.

Thanks and congrats.

 

healingthedude@aol.com

[purple66p]

"Attention seeking behavior." That's what my son's first public school said about him. I hate that phrase almost as much as I hate ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) as a diagnosis. That's a description of the problem, not a diagnosis!! Do you think kids really want negative attention! No, all kids want to succeed. It is our job (parents and the school system) to figure out how best to help them do so. Great news about the 504 plan working for you. Unfortunately, after many years of my son being tormented at public school, we switched to a private school that specializes in special education (or, as they say, kids who learn differently) and this is the first time he's been happy to go to school. I really want to believe that public schools can work for everyone, but it was just a disaster for us.