Writing a 504 Plan for School

My son has a 504 plan. It was written by the Principal and special Ed teacher at the school. While the process of putting a 504 in place is fairly simple, getting the 504 to be enforced is a whole new story. If your son is in a traditional classroom, discuss the presence of a 504 and how you expect it to be used. It will help later when you ask for your child to have special testing accomodations. For my son, the special accomodations were embarrassing because he was called out of the class, then I found out he was put in a small room with several other children and told to take the test and the teacher would leave. The kids bugged him about his answers and they were socializing the whole time the teacher was gone. J., based on my experience, make sure the school has a plan and an appropriate place for your son for the 504 to be effective.
S.

A 504 plan is not an IEP. There are fewer regulations for 504 plans, and they are for kids who have disablities whose needs do not rise to the level of IDEA elegiblity.

Check out www.wrightslaw.com and read about 504 plans, and pay careful attention to any state specific information about your state. You should have recieved a copy of your rights under the Rehabilitation Act (from the school-when you requested or they suggested a plan.) If you did not, request this today. Everything you do, do in writing and save a copy. If someone calls you to discuss it instead, send them a confirmation email that notes what they said, and at the end write "if you do not correct me in writing, I will assume that I am correct." Be pleasant and try not to burn any bridges, and let the teacher and the staff save face when ever possible, but stand up for your son and what you think he needs. If, when you are writing the plan, the staff says that he can't have what you are asking for under section 504, request a special education evaluation (again, in writing.)

For 504, the school will be offereing primarily accomodations (more time, quiet rooms, special seating) not modifications of the curiculum (with the exception of dyslexia reading programs-which are often offered through 504 programs.) If you do not own a psycho-educational evaluation for your son, invest in one ASAP. Nerupsychologists are excelent resources, and you may be able to have this covered by insurance. You should never know less than your child than the school does.

If you need help, check out the yellow pages for Minnesotta on the wrightslaw site and find an educational advocate. It may cost you a little money, but will be worth it in the long run if you get appropriate services for your son.

M.

There is a program called AEA that helps to get these written. Ask with the schools office and ask as this service is free to you but the schools often won't tell parents about it as it is at their cost. The 504 is not supposed to be written by the parent but by an AEA worker or special education teacher. When I had one done for my son who has ADHD and sensory problems, it was required that I attend a meeting with the teacher, the principal, the school counselor and a worker from the AEA along with my son to work out a plan that worked for all parties involved. We also met at the begining of each semester to go over the plan to make sure it was still working and to fine tune any problems that had croped up in the original plan. Good luck to ya hun!

I live in Oregon and it sounds like a 504 plan is called an IEP, Individual Education Plan in Oregon. The IEP is written by the professionals who have evaluated the child and then the parents are asked for input and approval. Your school should be able to help you get the process started.

For my grandson and granddaughter, the first step, after their pediatrician recommended further treatment, was an evaluation by the Intermediate Education Service District which is part of the local school district. There is no charge for the evaluation. When the evaluation shows that the child needs special treatment to be successful in school, a team of professionals provides treatment and works together to write the plan.This is a part of the President's "No Child Left Behind" legislation. I found quite a bit of information about the IEP and what it should include by googling IEP.

Other terms that are helpful for find information on the Internet are special needs and education.

I am sorry to hear that Sandy S. has had difficulty at her son's school. My grandson is in a special education class because of a speech disorder, possible sensory processing disorder, and some behavioral difficulties. The program has been of great help. My daughter, their mother, receives help from all of the people involved in making sure that her children are getting the help that they need. They regularly communicate with her.

My granddaughter is in a regular classroom and has received some extra tutoring in math and reading because of having ADHD. Her school has a full time counselor who has provided help in making her IEP a success.

I have had much personal experience with bi-polar disorder. I'm surprised you haven't needed a plan for his education. You don't say how old he is. Perhaps he's had especially sensitive teachers until now. But there could be other reasons that he needs a more directed educational plan that are unrelated to the teacher. My first thought is that the teacher may not understand the dynamics of the illness. My second thought is that he is now older and his classmates are acting out more that they were when they were younger. My third thought is that being older may also mean that he's handling school differently than he has in the past.

I would hesitate to blame the teacher. My first approach would be to assume that she's not knowing how to handle this situation. The 504 plan, if I understand what it is, should do that. Making an educational plan has to include professionals as well as parents. I would start by asking the principal of your son's school who to call to get help writing this plan. I would then work with the office that organizes special education in your district.

When I use the term special education I'm using it in the new expanded version. It does not necessarily mean a special education class separate from the regular classroom. It means providing children with the resources they need to succeed in school. Legislation has provided more structure so that children can get the type of help that they need. The evaluation and educational plan is provided by the school district at no cost to the parents.

Isn't that the same as an IEP? If so I can help you. Our oldest some is ADHD and bipolar and has an iep at school. We have learned to make sure that not only are acedemic goals included but also fequent breaks durring testing and most importantly of all communication between teachers and parents. Specify that you want to be made alerted if your child falls three or more assignments behind, if his grade drops to a d or lower, if they do point sheets for behavior that you want to know immediately if that drops below a certain point. We have learned that the schools focus on behavior and would be told that our son was doing great only to find out at grtade time that he had all d's and f's. Their definition of great was different than ours and the only way to get them to communicate the information that we wanted was to put that in their iep and hold them to it. If I can be of any further help please let me know. -H. (mom of 6)

Great response from Martha--I taught in MN and got my license here--a 504 is NOT an IEP. In the schools I've been in, an IEP is managed by a special ed teacher; a 504 by the guidance counselors. I'm not sure why you're asking HOW to write one; there should be professionals at your school that can walk through the process with you. If they are, but you don't trust the work they're doing, it looks like Martha offered great resources. Or, even if you simply want to be a better advocate for your child. BUT...all that said, school districts should be helping you out here, and if they're not, and you want them to, you can start climbing the chain of hierarchy--guidance counselor (perhaps a school psychologist, if your school has one), principal, superintendent. If you live in a large district, and are not getting help at your school, I would even suggest going to the coordinator for the district (you can probably find it on the website) or a person in a similar position at another school, who can "tattle" on someone not doing what they're supposed to be (or, to be kinder, who can motivate a coworker to help you)! Good luck!