Had our 7th grade son’s IEP this morning. He’s dyslexic (my term - not theirs), dysgraphic, and ADHD-inattentive. He has made great progress in the last two years and is on grade level in everything (so they say), getting great grades, and will be 100% regular Ed next year. So they are ready to switch him from an IEP to a 504. The 504 would be mostly tied to the ADHD diagnosis.
I have trouble with this. Do they think his language-based disability has gone away? He still can’t spell at all, and he is still misreading words (saw for was, upspring for uprising) even though his reading skills are significantly improved and he passed the state reading certification with flying colors.
When I balked at this change, they put him in as “Consult” which as apparently somewhere inbetween.
On the boards, there have been posts lately that getting College level accommodations would require an assessment certifying the disability within past two years. Going off IEP means no trienneal assessment. The staff at the IEP said “you wouldn’t want him to take the assessment now [and prior to college] anyway because it would show no discrepancy since he’s on grade-level” and then we would lose what we have now.
Any thoughts on this…?
Re: Going from IEP to 504?
On (www.fetaweb.com) you will find a section in there on how to prove with facts, graphs, etc. that your son has not succeeded and has possibly regressed especially if he still has some of the same issues that were being addressed on his previous IEPs. The ball is in your court if you want to prove what you feel to be true and just because they say he is on grade level, it may not be accurate. Plus, have they done a complete re-evaluation before determining that he is no longer eligible for his existing services? It is required by law, they can’t just decide that he is no longer eligible. If your gut tells you its not right, DON’T DO IT. They have to keep him at least at the services that he has been getting now until you and the school come to an agreement. Please, please, if you do not know about this already check out the website above as well as (www.wrightslaw.com) They thoroughly explain IEPs and 504s. You’ll be a pro by the time you are done reading these. Both books were written by Pete and Pam Wright. Pete is an attorney that represents children with disabilities, Pam is a psychotherapist who writes about advocacy for children with disabilities. They wrote these two wonderful books that no one should be without. “From Emotions to Advocacy” teaches parents how to advocate for their kids by being informed and educated, the companion book “Wrightslaw” contains the laws and regulations that apply to special education. “From Emotions to Advocacy” (www.fetaweb.com is it’s website) is excellent and I bet it could help you decide what to do. Right now, DO NOT SIGN until you are absolutely sure what you are doing. You are his voice and you might have some homework to do. I hope this is helpful and best of luck to you.
Re: Going from IEP to 504?
After making the mistake of allowing my son to be removed from and IEP because he was ding so well with it, I wouldn’t go down that road again without a fight! It was not nearly as easy to undo as they lead me to believe it would be. My son has NEVER been below grade level, and has been on an IEP every year of his school career except 3rd grade. (which was a dismal, horrible, frustrating experiment)
There may be some LD’s that can be “remediated” to the extent that they “go away”. My experience has been that just because my son can do beautifully ON an ed plan doesn’t mean that he can survive in school without one. My son makes good progress toward his IEP goals every year. But the demands go up every year, and he will ALWAYS need more help than the average child to meet those demands. Both in terms of accomodating his disability where that is necessary and in direct teaching in those areas where his weaknesses make it a little harder for him to “get it”.
How could a child EVER get into college if he were performing below grade level? It sounds to me that a school system that says that it will only help a child who is below grade level is specifically discriminating against a child with a disability in a way that makes it impossible for them to obtain a higher education.
Karen
Re: excellent advice!
Excellent advice! I’m printing this one out and keeping it for my files for future (maybe the much near future) use. Thanks Karen.
Re: Going from IEP to 504?
aj,
I never recommend going out of special ed. even when a child returns to regular class full-time. I always recommend “consultation”…which IS still special ed. and means an IEP. So if that is what they did, then you solved the problem already! Services on an IEP can range from regular class with consultation and modifications/accomodations all the way to self-contained or special school. And there are many combinations in between. It really can be a mistake to let the school do a re-evaluation when a child has improved, because I have seen children “test out” of special ed. when they really were just barely making it. Just leave him on a consultation IEP/accomodations until graduation with no re-eval. You can always have a private evaluation if you are curious about his levels.
Janis
Thansk for all the input
Thanks for all the info. Looks like I have some reading to do (thanks, Lisa!). It is so nice to have the people on this board to turn to for advice!
I’m in WA state and there came a time in middle school
when my eldest son was moved from inclusion class
to regular class.
I called out state LD organization and asked them about it.
They told me, that since he had been diagnosed in third
grade with a Specific Learning Disability in Reading and
Writing that he would always have that classification even
though he was in regular ed. and doing above average work.
I would run a search for your state and LD and see if you
can scare up some information specific to your state.
Anne