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504 eligbility meeting tomorrow


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Just a word on 504 and the re-certification of it and how it affects our kids. I am a special ed. teacher in the district that my son attends. He was dx in Feb. of this year. I had known that he was being impacted- tics disrupting others so treated unfairly as a behavior problem, ADHD severely increases w/ flare ups, too anxious to even start work for fear he won't finish, etc. However, he had two good teachers who worked to add modifications into his day, provide OT tools to help reduce tics or at least impact on others. Dr. and therapist recommended that he get an IEP or 504. I too was leaning towards this as he goes to the middle school next year and I wanted something formal in place to mandate accommodations be made.

An incident happened at school that infuriated me so I called the doctor that day and had her write up a letter documenting his dx and asking that she back me.

I brought the letter to the school, asked that a 504 meeting be set up which we did have. He is NOT on a 504 but an informal "student support plan" , it falls under "response to intervention" but is not a true legal plan. Due to his diagnoses he meets the criteria of being under the legal protection of 504 but the only way to get an actual plan is to prove that the school is in fact discriminating against him so that he can not have the same rights as other average students.

THe special ed director has come to staff meetings informing us that there should not be any 504 plans in the district because they are now only for those being discriminated against and since no one should be therefore no 504. It is not just to get accommodations anymore.

Maybe other districts are treating this differently but this is what we have been told. I really thought as a special ed. teacher I would have no trouble getting him what he needed but I'm shut out too. The diagnosis isn't enough.

 

I am so sorry to hear of this. We are just back from the meeting and my son was approved. According to the '504 cordinator' (not sure that was exactly what the title was) he qualified simply based on the fact that he has PANDAS....regardless of his current level of functioning because any exacerbations have the potetnial to impact his learning. I honestly was surprised it passed. The psychologist and the educational diagnostician were acknowledging he had PANDAS verbally but their actions indicated their doubt that this impacted him educationally. My husband had already drafted an appeal letter. Fortunately, the cordinator had actually researched PANDAS and was aware of the impact of future exposure to strep etc, effecting his learning.

 

It might be beneficial for you to call your state ed dept and request clarification about the director's interpretation of the law. To me the director sounds as if they are trying to intimidate educators from providing and recommending what a child might need. The exact opposite of what the law stands for!

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Great news! Thanks for updating us.

 

I am so sorry to hear of this. We are just back from the meeting and my son was approved. According to the '504 cordinator' (not sure that was exactly what the title was) he qualified simply based on the fact that he has PANDAS....regardless of his current level of functioning because any exacerbations have the potetnial to impact his learning. I honestly was surprised it passed. The psychologist and the educational diagnostician were acknowledging he had PANDAS verbally but their actions indicated their doubt that this impacted him educationally. My husband had already drafted an appeal letter. Fortunately, the cordinator had actually researched PANDAS and was aware of the impact of future exposure to strep etc, effecting his learning.

 

It might be beneficial for you to call your state ed dept and request clarification about the director's interpretation of the law. To me the director sounds as if they are trying to intimidate educators from providing and recommending what a child might need. The exact opposite of what the law stands for!

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Just a word on 504 and the re-certification of it and how it affects our kids. I am a special ed. teacher in the district that my son attends. He was dx in Feb. of this year. I had known that he was being impacted- tics disrupting others so treated unfairly as a behavior problem, ADHD severely increases w/ flare ups, too anxious to even start work for fear he won't finish, etc. However, he had two good teachers who worked to add modifications into his day, provide OT tools to help reduce tics or at least impact on others. Dr. and therapist recommended that he get an IEP or 504. I too was leaning towards this as he goes to the middle school next year and I wanted something formal in place to mandate accommodations be made.

An incident happened at school that infuriated me so I called the doctor that day and had her write up a letter documenting his dx and asking that she back me.

I brought the letter to the school, asked that a 504 meeting be set up which we did have. He is NOT on a 504 but an informal "student support plan" , it falls under "response to intervention" but is not a true legal plan. Due to his diagnoses he meets the criteria of being under the legal protection of 504 but the only way to get an actual plan is to prove that the school is in fact discriminating against him so that he can not have the same rights as other average students.

THe special ed director has come to staff meetings informing us that there should not be any 504 plans in the district because they are now only for those being discriminated against and since no one should be therefore no 504. It is not just to get accommodations anymore.

Maybe other districts are treating this differently but this is what we have been told. I really thought as a special ed. teacher I would have no trouble getting him what he needed but I'm shut out too. The diagnosis isn't enough.

 

I am so sorry to hear of this. We are just back from the meeting and my son was approved. According to the '504 cordinator' (not sure that was exactly what the title was) he qualified simply based on the fact that he has PANDAS....regardless of his current level of functioning because any exacerbations have the potetnial to impact his learning. I honestly was surprised it passed. The psychologist and the educational diagnostician were acknowledging he had PANDAS verbally but their actions indicated their doubt that this impacted him educationally. My husband had already drafted an appeal letter. Fortunately, the cordinator had actually researched PANDAS and was aware of the impact of future exposure to strep etc, effecting his learning.

 

It might be beneficial for you to call your state ed dept and request clarification about the director's interpretation of the law. To me the director sounds as if they are trying to intimidate educators from providing and recommending what a child might need. The exact opposite of what the law stands for!

So glad your meeting went well and your child will hopefully get the needed help.

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We had a 504 plan iwth minimal accomodations in place because of a Tourettes diagnosis (extra time on standardized tests (only), permission to go to the bathroom whenever needed, no penalty for bad handwriting). Our middle school called us and suggested that we add a scribe for standardized tests since they didn't believe an independent observer would have the patience to figure out DS's handwriting. The thing was, they were afraid his handwriting problems would affect their stats in the NYC school standings.

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