504 Plan

You did not say what state you live in, and laws vary from state to state when
it comes to 504 and special education, so I will try to address this the best way that I can.

You state that this individual has an IEP. In my state, only individuals in special
education have an IEP, and if this child *is* is sp. ed., he is already getting his special needs addressed, or should be. 504 in this case would be redundant.
504, at least to the best of my knowledge as a sp. ed. teacher, is for students
who do not qualify for special services after their evaluation, but who nevertheless have a handicapping condition of some sort. This can range from
a diagnosis of ADHD to an inability to organize materials which adversely
affects your grades. If an IEP is in place, there really should be no need for
a 504 plan.

The doctor may be advising her to get her child’s needs documented because later on her teachers may not be quite as accommodating and will say “you have no proof or documentation of need here, lady, so we aren’t providing.”
I’d advise you not to feel threatened by this. All it is is documentation and formalization of what you are doing already. YOu say it is “like” she doesnt’ trust you, then you say oh, it’s probably the doctor’s recmmendations… please, please give *everybody* a break and give her the benefit of the doubt ‘til you know better.
However, I think Jim’s right — as a rule, accommodations can and should be written into an IEP. OTOH I’m not as up on the latest twists and turns of the legalities — and it could be that she and the doc foresee in the near future that the student *won’t* have an IEP, so they’re trying to get all the pieces in place now.

Jim, what you state is how I always understood it as well. I always understood that you really had more ‘legal’ backing on your side with an IEP - as a 504 you could only file under OCR and it’s only for accomodations? I have also read that some folks had a much more difficult time working with OCR?

However, I’m now real confused on 504 vs. IEP. It appears that in my district(CO), teachers don’t understand the difference either and they really pay no mind to the IEP, but if you have a 504 - well that is a different story to them. They seem to implement the 504. My dd’s teacher recommended to us that we should get our dd on a 504. I was stunned to hear her explain that in her experience most teachers won’t even read the IEP, but they do ‘accommodate’ if you have a 504 because it holds up against law.

I don’t believe the teacher was correct - but apparantly that is how the teachers in my district understand the law??? We currently have an IEP - I’m thinking about having them put a 504 in place as well? Do both?

Dea………here in Louisiana, if one is in special ed. one is automatically in 504
as well, but again, we don’t do a 504 plan in such cases since it would be
redundant. It strikes me odd that parents of 504 kids know their rights better
than those whose children are in special education. Or maybe folks pay more
attention to 504 law because it is a federal program, whereas IEP’s are more
concerned with the states? Yet, IDEA, from which IEP’s are ultimately born,
is a federal law. It perplexes me all the time.

Generally speaking, if a child has an IEP, I would not bother with 504 recommendations. However, as always, there are exceptions to everything,
and if a 504 plan will help the child get better services, then by all means go
for it. The child, being in sp. ed. already, should automatically qualify for the
504 services. Again, it is being redundant, but if it gets the teachers’ attention,
then give it a whirl.

One final comment……….if indeed teachers are more aware of 504 kids than
those with IEP’s because 504 plans “hold up” better, I would remind the teachers that lawsuits for violation of sp. ed. rights are filed on the same paper
as 504 lawsuits, and for just as much money. It’s a shame to have to go that
route, it really is, but if that’s what it takes……..then that’s what it takes!
Good luck to you!

I am a special ed. teacher whose child has a speech language IEP. This IEP has a page for classroom accommodations or modifications just like every IEP does. I do not understand why this mother has not addressed the accommodations on her child’s current IEP. All you have to do is call a meeting and make the changes as an addendum. There is no need for a 504 plan if a child already has an IEP. Someone does not understand IEP’s and 504’s obviously.

Janis

You are absolutely correct…….someone does not understand the difference
between 504 and special education.

Go to wrightslaw and read what he says about 504s. A 504 is for a student who doesn’t qualify for special education services, an IEP and has other health problems such as ADHD, asthma, seizures etc that is impacting their education and gives them the necessary accomodations to help them succeed. Some kids who go on a 504 plan sometimes end up on an IEP. You don’t have both and I don’t think that it should be different in different states. There is a big discussion on one of the other boards about this. I talked to my Dean of sped, he handles the students that have 504 plans and he told me that I had the difference right. Your child can’t have both a 504 plan and an IEP at the same time. If your child is on an IEP now, they would have to exit the IEP, in other words special eduation, in order to get on a 504 plan. I think that the problem is that in IDEA, there is a section 504 that covers all special ed accommodation for special ed kids. The accommodations for a 504 plan are done by the regular ed teacher not a special ed teacher. Many times, if a student is exited from special education in the middle of the year, the school will put the student on a 504 plan for the remainder of the year so that he will continue to get accommodations. He then will be dropped from the 504 plan when starting the next year. I, as a special educator don’t have any idea who the students are that are on a 504 plan, has to do with accommodations not placement.