Dr. Letter for 504 meeting

[airial95]

Hey - I'm prepping for my daughters 504 meeting next week. Her school has been amazing, and have already put into place most of her accomodations, but this is the "official" meeting with the district to do the formal paperwork. My son already has an IEP for PANDAS through the district, so the battle of "What is PANDAS and does it qualify for IEP/504" isn't something I see happening. I even believe they've assigned the same staffing specialist as my son - so there's familiarity. Additionaly, the school nurse at my daughter's school has had other children in the past with PANDAS, and already had her medical form pre-filled out at our meeting to discuss last year with information like "unlimited bathroom breaks as needed" and "strep notification for adjoining classrooms" before I even got there to explain what PANDAS was - we have been very fortunate.

 

So - what I need for this meeting is just the dr's documentation of the dx.

 

I have the offical diagnosis paperwork from Dr. Murphy's office - but it's very straight forward, simply says dx: PANDAS with presentation of OCD, anxiety, etc...

 

Our pediatrician has offered to give us a letter with the dx as well (he was the first to dx) that has a bit more about presentation in school. He said if I wanted to write the letter, he'd be happy to sign it, if that would be easier.

 

I am all on board with that idea because I can make sure it says what it needs to say. I know others on here have written the doctor's letters for their docs to sign and was wondering if anyone had an example?

 

I looked on the PANDAS network page and found sample letters for the school - but none that were written by the doc.

 

Any help would be appreciated!!

 

Thanks!

[LNN]

This is the content of the letter we've used:

 

Please be advised that ___________ is under my care for the treatment of PANDAS, an autoimmune disease that can result in neurological dysfunctions related to streptococcal infection.

 

Symptoms of PANDAS can include sudden-onset tic disorders , obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficits, emotional lability, dysgraphia, fidgetiness, anxiety, sensory defensiveness and/or changes in urinary frequency. These symptoms present in a sudden onset and gradually wane over time.

 

School accommodations that are made for other children presenting with these various challenges should also be provided for _________. There are no limitations on physical tasks.

 

PANDAS is a pediatric illness that may resolve by the time ______________has reached adulthood. Until then, he will remain at risk for a sudden presentation of the above symptoms and will continue receive on-going medical care.

 

I deliberately left things vague so that I could alter a 504 as things changed, without being limited by what the doctor's letter said. In our elementary school, personnel were very hung up on specific language, so the more vague, the better. The intermediate school is much more flexible and are ok with adding details outside of the letter, so I've found in both situations, vague is better than too precise.

 

Edit - I need to update my son's letter - the school needs a new one every 3 yrs. So I'll be editing this to say PANS, as lyme is also part of his picture. You might want to use PANS and/or say that it can be triggered by infections, not strep specifically. Depends on your situation.

Edited September 27, 2012 by LLM

[airial95]

Thanks! This is perfect!! I agree - that being vague is probably more helpful at times. And hopefully - since we SHOULD be dealing with folks who are all at least familiar with PANDAS (and her teacher from last year has been very supportive and will be there) something vague should do the trick.

 

Thanks again!!