504 Plans

Hire an advocate-he/she will sort it all out-arrange all the meetings and deal with the paperwork-good luck.

Technically, you get accomodations under a 504 plan, not modifications (which in school speak means changes to the ciriculum, which you don't want, and should only get if he is getting special education.)

Has he had a full Orton Gillingham dyslexia intervention program? If he has not had such a program, then I would explore getting a full evaluation to see if he would qualify as having a specific learning disablity in reading, so he may get more attention. If he still struggles with reading, you really want to get him the kind of help that he needs.

If his struggles are not with reading, and that issue is fine, there may be more to evaluate, executive funciton may be the issue, as is the case with many kids who need parents to spend hours with them doing thier homework. This is a reason that you can request evalaution. One caution, it is not productive to argue about what the diagnosis is, all you should be interested in is getting evalaution data that exposes his problems, and then getting the appropriate services for that issue, don't waste any time arguing with them about calling it dyslexia.

He could, under a 504 plan, have extra time to complete assisngments, have books on tape, have a word bank (although some may argue that this goes beyond accomodation.)

If you do not own a current evaluation from a Neuropsychologist, I would get one. You never want to know less about your son than the school does.

If your son has ever failed the state assessment, you have all the evidence of educational need that is necessary to get a full evaluation from the school.

Log on to www.wrightslaw.com and do some reading, if you have not found this site already. You can learn about IEP's and 504 plans, and how to understand the evaluation data, which is essential. Also read about how to be productive in a meeting with the school. You will not be sorry that you did.

M.

504 plans are a provision of Section 504 of the Rehablitation Act, a federal statute, but the proper agency to contact for complaints is the Office of Civil Rights. OCR handles complaints about 504 plans, but this could essentially slow you down. If you file a complaint with OCR, the school gets to sit on their hands until that complaint is resolved. You do not want to do that, unless you know that you do not need to move forward with IDEA evaluations. In any case, OCR will only take cases on that fit thier current directive, and have a good chance of making an impact on the issue they are backing right now, what ever it may be. Chances are slim, and it won't help you much with your son's individual rights. You want to focus on him. Filing complaints or calling in agencies is not a good strategy for getting along with the school district either, you want it to be clear to the school that you have documented well enough to do so if need be, but try to make the school want to do what you are asking instead of getting them to do something by reporting them and getting them in trouble. It is ultamately less effective, unless you are left without any other choices. I just don't think you are quite there yet. Check out wrightslaw, it will be your bible. MR

Also, no judgements here, but the first thing I tell my clients is to stop doing home work if the school is arguing that the child does not have an educational need for evaluation. This is just a hunch, I do a lot of these kinds of cases, and the argument I see most often is dyslexia v ADHD. It is a useless argument that will just waste his time. If the school evaluates, and says it it ADHD, just let them say that, and get him his IEP, then you see to it that his IEP is written based on his evaluation data, not his the schools diagnosis, because that is how it is supposed to be done. If he has a need in reading, you look at the data, and say...he decodes at a 2.9 grade level, or he has a reading fluency issue...you focus on the specific needs in the data, not the conclusion that the school used to get him qualified. His qualification may have more to do with where the school has room to fit him in, they do have to meet critical standards for certain percentages, and if they are over in one category, the state will investigate them. If they have too many children under the SLD category, they may try to slip him in under OHI...if you know how to read evaluation data, and you have your own complete and current evaluation that you can use to confirm his needs, you negotiate the IEP based on specific scores in the individual testing data, and what areas in class he has a problem, not the diagnosis. Just a hunch, but if you can get past it, it will certainly help. Two hours on homework is an educational need that should be getting him an evaluation and an IEP...and you may have to let his need be a little more obvious to the teacher so that he gets what he needs.

Wrightslaw- "Understanding Tests and Measurements for Parents and Advocates" get a full Nueropsychological evaluation as soon as possible. Ask for an Evaluation for special education because your son is working too hard on homework, more than two hours. You want IQ, a standardized acheivement test, an evaluation of each area that you are worried about, IE for an LD in reading, or an LD in written expression...if these are issues, as for a speech and langauge evaluation too, and if fine motor is an issue, ask for an OT evaluation. Also, ask for his executive functioning skills to be assessed. You also need curiculum based evaluation data. How does he score at grade level, based on the state requirements? Use these when ever possible to write measurable goals. He reads at a 3.6 level now, you want him to read at a 4.6 level (at the very least) in a year, measured by the same test.

If his capabilities are a challange, that is something to be dealt with in special education, with an IEP under IDEA. A 504 plan just gives them access to what they cannot reach because of the disablity, assuming that they can do everything that a child without that disablity can do. An IEP is more appropriate if he needs the kinds of adjustments I think you are looking for. He also needs skill improvement that are beyond reading, writing, math, science and ss, he needs skills to work independently and coping mechanisms to learn to work more quickly; that is special education. 504 is all general education. MR

First of all, please don't do his homework for him. It doesn't help him and will only hurt him in the long run because he won't know how to do it himself and/or won't do it because he will think "Oh well why should I try, Mom will do it for me".

It really is better for him to turn it in unfinished or half done than for you or someone else to complete it because it will show the teacher his true ability and help to get the modifications and/or accommodations that he needs in place.

Also he would probably benefit more in the long run with an IEP plan rather than a 504 because it has more legal weight behind it if you have a problem with a teacher refusing to implement it. Also it would be individually tailored to his educational needs. A 504 is mainly used in cases of medical diagnosis that affect a child's learning ability (for example my daughter misses a LOT of school due to health problems, therefore she needs a 504 to help her keep up in school), an IEP is used for a learning disability or discrepancy that normally is not based on a medical diagnosis but in the way the child learns. For example I have another daughter with a learning disability that affects her creative writing ability - she could verbalize what she wants to write but not put it on paper - her IEP had specific goals to help her overcome her disability and she is now in college making very good grades.

Please check out the Wright's Law site that a previous poster listed and when you go to his meeting be honest with the team and tell them he is unable to do his own homework and what your concerns are. Try to think of goals that you think will help him and ask the team about whether or not he would qualify for an IEP plan based on his educational needs.

My daughter is legally blind in one eye and has Asperger's and ADHD among other things. We have an IEP, not a 504, but I can tell you from my own battle, that you want to document all requests you make. You want one copy for you and one copy for them and have them initial your copy. We got very close to having to file an official child complaint with DESE when my child's special ed teacher was verbally assaulting her.

You should be able to request ANY and all modifications that you find helpful to your son. If they say you can't do it under a 504, request in writing an IEP and they have 30 days to do it.

Most of these would not apply to your son and I am just speaking from our own experience, but here are some of the things I requested. I had two pages of requests by the way, because I sat down and thought of anything and everything that would help her to succeed. Right now, as you know, they are setting your son up for failure, so you have every right to make requests that will restore his self confidence and help him be successful.

For my daughter, I requested, modified PE, water and gum in the classroom because her medication drys her mouth, I requested them to stop timed tests and activities. I requested modifications to her reading tests, such as only having her read something once as opposed to the twice they do for kids who don't have eye issues. Her test over those books has also been shortened. You are allowed to request the shortening of tests and homework. If there is not a para in the classroom helping students who have needs, you can request one, if you think that would be helpful. The para should be able to come in and look like she is helping all the students but be paying attention to those her need her most. We also built in some time for her to stop what she was doing ad do something else if she needs to. That means she can take a walk with a para. play a game or what ever she needs to do to decompress so she can get back to work. The most important modification I requested was daily contact from all staff members involved with my daughter. There is a point person who emails me daily with what has gone on with her academically and behaviorally that day. This helps me figure out what I need to do at home to help her. I would request daily contact with his teacher and anybody else that you think would be helpful. It is your right to know how he is doing each and every day.

Some terminology you should use is FAPE (fair appropriate public education) and IDEA (individuals with disabilities act). Your child is legally intitled to a FAPE and that is why you are making all of the requests you feel will help him, just keep referring to FAPE. Try looking at fape.org in addition to wrightslaw as someone mentioned earlier.

If they say you can't have your requests with a 504, you might want to hand them a prewritten request immediately for an IEP evaluation and have them sign off on it and then call the meeting. If at any time they are unresponsive to you or things get heated, call the meeting. Set another date to come back together and then file a child complaint. If the principal will not be attending, the meeting, you should request it, since the teacher has been so inflexible. Good luck to you! If we don't advocate for our kids, no one will.

Document, document, document

Then go to the school's LD Coordinator, or whomever makes the 504/IEP plans
Then the principal
Then the superintendent's office, they should have an LD advocate

It's time for a review.
You are your son's voice, be loud.

Like pp said, 504 plans for for disabilities that don't qualify a student for and special ed services. There probably won't be any "modifications" (changes to WHAT he has to learn or do) they can provide with that, but you should certainly include some specific "accommodations" (adjustments to HOW he has to learn or do tasks) for your son.

Also, if what you mean by dyslexic is that he has a specific learning disability impacting reading (dyslexia isn't really an educational diagnosis used anymore, so it can be unclear what exactly people mean when they say that), he MAY qualify for and IEP in which case you'll get the option of more services.

If what you mean by dyslexic is that he has a visual processing disorder, but that he DOESN'T qualify as having a SLD, a 504 will be the most you can get, so just make sure you get as specific as possible... and keep advocating for you son... but don't keep doing his homework... that's hot helping ANYONE.

First thing that jumps out at me is for you to stop doing his homework. How can you expect the school to come up with a realistic plan for your son when his abilities are not shown accurately?

Your son's 'rights' are many, depending on what services he needs, but, due to the way school's budgets are these days, it will be very difficult to get what he needs. For example, if your son's school has laptops, this may be a tool useful to him for writing.

Remember, just because he has a plan does not mean it will fix everything. You may need to pay out of your own pocket for extra tutoring. You will need to find an individual, specifically trained to work with Dyslexic children. Teachers that are trained in Slingerland are specially trained to help children like your son.

Talk to the other parents in the room ( in a non negative way) and find out how long it takes for other students to do their homework. My fifth grader gets through things really fast (under a half hour) but I know some of his other classmates struggle.

If the majority of the parents say that their students are struggling under the load, then the teacher is creating too much. But if it is just a few, you will need to work with her to find a stopping point for each subject. (Like a quarter of the math problems.) Just don't do it yourself; I am assuming you already have passed fifth grade and do not need to do it over.

Good luck. Keep strong; advocate for your son in a non negative but never backing down way and you should get somewhere.

Thd 504 can be as specific as it needs to be and YOU can have input. DO NOT allow them to put any accommodation on it that you don't agree with. One suggestion would be a reduced amount of work. (Fewer problems to show that he is proficient in the task) You might remind the school/teacher that a 504 is Federal Law, and they must follow it. It was recommended to me that if a teacher doesn't follow the 504 to go to the principal and give them 2 weeks for it to be followed (in writing of course). Then if it still isn't being followed, contact the Civil Liberties Union and watch them act fast. Contact Susan Barton ____@____.com, she is a great source for dyslexic accommodations. Another site I generally recommend is http://www.greatschools.org It was originall called Schwablearning and was started by Charles Schwab the investor who is dyslexic. It has a great archive of information with experts who can help. Also look at http://www.wrightslaw.com It has a lot of legal information. The more informed you are the better you will be to advocate for your son. I always recommend this video, to everyone who has a dyslexic child. I've even sent it to my daughters teachers who just don't seem to understand the difficulty of learning with dyslexia. Watch all the different segments, it is eye opening. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4f4rX0XEBA&feature=au.... Email this link to the teachers, principal, SPED teachers and anyone else that may be involved. They need to know that it isn't easy being dyslexic. Don't back down, you know how best your son learns and what his needs are. I've been fighting this battle now for 8 years and it does get easier until you get a teacher that thinks they are exempt from following the 504. (We're there right now...got the principal involved and that has made a difference. He knows that the school must follow the 504 or risk a lawsuit) Make sure that everything is in writing, email is best, all communication with the teacher should be BCC the principal to keep him/her in the loop so he/she isn't surprised if you continue to have problems with teachers. Best of luck. Be more informed than the 'professionals' and they will generally listen to you.