Having 504 meeting tomorrow

[faith]

Hi all,

We are finally having our 504 meeting tomorrow for my son and I was just getting last minute jitters. Could I ask if anyone who has this in place for their child has any advice on what type things I could ask for that has really helped your kids? I know the obvious things they mention like preferential seating, more time for testing, and resource room if needed. All of these are actually being done for him with his present teacher already, as she ihas recognized some of his problems with ocd, mostly which have to do with his doing things "per his own routine" as she has noted. I am aware that he took his ELA state exams in the resource room with a couple other kids, andI think the teacher just did this on her own for his sake, possibly to give him more time to complete the test. She has been really wonderful for him as she is one of those wo "gets it". How do I insure the same type for the coming years? All involved have been very helpful and on board, but I am a little leary of now meeting with the principal inovlved, I'm not too sure about her, you know?

 

We have gone through all the testing for learning disabilities and it was concluded that he does not qualify for IEP for learning disabilities, his scores were mostly in the average range for his age. It was noted by the psychologist however, that when timed, he displayed anxiety and some obsessiveness with correcting mistakes and erasing and this is what used up his time. His schoolwork right now is pretty okay, B's and C's. Also, thankfully, he scored above average in socialibility and does have a good report with classmates and peers. I think that some of his tics/ocd behavior goes unnoticed as such by peers due to his typical funzy boy personality .

 

So I am wondering if there is something I could request that I may not have thought of that might come in handy for the future. One main problem he has (and is what got this whole ball rolling) is that he seems to never complete any of his tasks or classwork in a timely manner, always the last one, or has to finish another time. Sometimes this creates a problem if he needs to study from his classwork and it is not complete, so I have to figure a way that I can be given a heads up on what needs to be studied so we are not looking around for the things to study. He does pretty well, just takes soooo long to do stuff, and he's not struggling with the work, just goes off task with his little quirks.

 

Any advice on what type things work for your kids would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Faith

[Tracey111]

Faith,

 

Make sure that you put the resource room and extra time for tests on the 504. This should help him for all of the "standardized" tests. If he trouble focusing in class make sure that you add "The teacher should repeat/rephrase/clarify instructions" on there. (I have even seen requests to verbally redirect the student if they loose focus on there!) If he has trouble taking notes (do his tics affect this??), you can require hard copies of all the notes.

 

Think about all the things he would struggle with, make a list of what would help him, and then ask for it at the meeting. I think Florida is the same as other states???? Sometimes it bothers me that the 504 plans are not as detailed as the IEP's.

 

I teach in a regular classroom with a high population of ESE kids. I deal mostly with IEP's, but have some 504's. If you can get your hands on an IEP accommodations form, it will have a whole checklist of items that you could write into the 504 plan. Maybe ask the person running the meeting to see an IEP accommodations checklist and then you can use some of those. His current teacher might even be able to get you one.

 

My son was just evaluated by the school system and not eligible for ESE services b/c he is preforming only slightly below grade level...in the regular classroom....well, he has two excellent teachers and three reading intervention programs that are helping him. Where would he be without those. This is fine in Elementary school, but I know these kids can get lost in the HS classroom! Ask for everything you can think of!!! Sorry to go on an on, but the ESE and 504 kids are the heart of my classroom and I love see them be successful!!!!!

[michele]

Faith please let me know what you make out. I requested a school OT evaluation in Oct. Then we finally had an IAT meeting in Dec. I am yet to hear anything on test scores etc. I even had a diagnosis and precription for OT from Dr. Murphy. It is like the school is dragging their heals. My son is only in kindergarten and this is his first school experience which is making it hard because the principal believes it can just be a transition thing and it will catch up. His report card showed off task behaviors and not completing center work and not able to label pictures with help. Handwriting is a big problem and letter and number formation. He had two years of preschool and I am a teacher so he gets alot of help from home. Plus I have been taking him to outpatient therapy. There are definate delays in fine and gross motor. By the time they get around to this the year will be done and he will be pushed on to a new school/principal IAT process. What gets me is he is smart but doesnot test well because of a lack of interest and poor attention. Does this sound familiar to you? I hope your meeting went well.

Michele

 

Faith,

 

Make sure that you put the resource room and extra time for tests on the 504. This should help him for all of the "standardized" tests. If he trouble focusing in class make sure that you add "The teacher should repeat/rephrase/clarify instructions" on there. (I have even seen requests to verbally redirect the student if they loose focus on there!) If he has trouble taking notes (do his tics affect this??), you can require hard copies of all the notes.

 

Think about all the things he would struggle with, make a list of what would help him, and then ask for it at the meeting. I think Florida is the same as other states???? Sometimes it bothers me that the 504 plans are not as detailed as the IEP's.

 

I teach in a regular classroom with a high population of ESE kids. I deal mostly with IEP's, but have some 504's. If you can get your hands on an IEP accommodations form, it will have a whole checklist of items that you could write into the 504 plan. Maybe ask the person running the meeting to see an IEP accommodations checklist and then you can use some of those. His current teacher might even be able to get you one.

 

My son was just evaluated by the school system and not eligible for ESE services b/c he is preforming only slightly below grade level...in the regular classroom....well, he has two excellent teachers and three reading intervention programs that are helping him. Where would he be without those. This is fine in Elementary school, but I know these kids can get lost in the HS classroom! Ask for everything you can think of!!! Sorry to go on an on, but the ESE and 504 kids are the heart of my classroom and I love see them be successful!!!!!

[faith]

I think it went pretty well. Really it was just a matter of formality with having the letter of diagnosis from the ped neuro. and just going over what he would get in the classroom. The teacher has been implementing most of these things on her own anyway, she has been so great. Thanks for the advice, they were really quite on board with everything, it seens like they are quite used to all this! I just wanted to make sure I won't have problems in the future years, but they said we could revise it any time.

 

Michele, we had the testing starting around October I believe and the formal meeting with the district was Dec. 5th. After it was determined he didn't qualify for IEP for any learning disabilities, they agreed we would go back to the school and draw up the 504, but I had to get something from the neuro stating he had motor and vocal tics along with ocd and anxiety. ... Have they finished the testing yet? If so, have you met to discuss the results? Then the next step is meeting with the district so they can determine what he qualifies for. If they have not contacted you on anything, I would just call whoever is handling his case and inquire what the next step is. It does take pretty long though, we started this in October and just finally got to this point today. Is first grade a different school than kindergarten. Well, even if it all comes together in next months, at least you'll have it all in place for next year, you don't want to start all over again.

 

 

Faith

[Chemar]

I am glad it went well Faith. Sounds like you have a good school district for accomodations...some can be very difficult

 

the good thing with a 504 is that even if u transfer schools it goes with you and you just revise it each year to be sure the accomodations and most importantly the teacher awareness is in place. Having the 504 has been a real blessing to my son throughout his schooling