Ah, yes, it’s that time again.
The start of the school year, you mean? Well, yes, but it’s also the dreaded season of IEP 1 and 504 2 meetings. Nathan has the first, and Sarah Kate has had both (she has a 504 plan at the moment), so I’ve done both in years past – and will again this year. Although we’ve had pretty good luck over the years, I still dread it like the plague. So how do I make it through these meetings?
I take a deep breath and remind myself of a few things:
1. I’m my child’s primary advocate … for now.
I need to speak up and ask for what the kids need, but the older Sarah Kate gets, the more involved she will be in her own 504 plan (and eventually Nathan should have input into his IEP). In the past, I showed up at the school, met with the guidance counselor, her teacher, and anyone else that needed to be there (it has, at various times, included therapists, resource teachers, school nurses, administrators, and others), signed the paperwork, and went home. The past two years, she was not in the meeting, but was given the plan to review and sign.
This year, she was included in the meeting, made suggestions and requests, and signed the plan. Although she spent most of the meeting sitting back and deferring to “the adults in the room,” her input was important, because she’s the only one who knows what it’s like to be her.
2. Although 504 and IEP meetings can feel adversarial, those folks on the other side of the table aren’t the enemy.
I’ve heard plenty of horror stories, and I’m sure some of you reading have your own battle scars and tales of woe, but in over eight years (including preschool), three different school systems and five different school administrations, we’ve had no major issues. None. In fact, I’d even go a little farther and state that we haven’t had any minor issues, either. We’ve had a misunderstanding here and there, but nothing that wasn’t resolved fairly quickly, and all of the instances I can think of happened at the beginning of the school year before everyone had All The Things figured out.
3. A positive, open attitude goes a long way.
I know some moms who bake cookies to take to their child’s IEP meetings. I think that’s an awesome idea, if you’re the kind of mom who does that kind of thing. I’m not, so I don’t (also, never will you ever see me as room mom and I can count on one hand how many field trips I’ve done in six years). I do, however, make an effort to be friendly with my children’s IEP/504 teams. My mom taught first grade for 28 years and my dad was a high school principal turned assistant superintendent, so I know that teachers (and administrators) are people, too. It’s easy to focus on the things that aren’t going well, but I try to focus on the things that are so that the bumps in the road can be more easily smoothed out when they appear.
4. Everyone has a different perspective – and that’s a good thing.
It’s tempting to think that the school staff is in the wrong or isn’t doing enough because “they don’t understand” what a child’s specific needs are, and in some cases the criticism is deserved. But the school staff have information I’m not privy to as a parent – the flow of the day, the makeup of the class, the quirks of the building, the intricacies of the dismissal procedure, and many other things. Instead of focusing on a specific way I want things to be done, I try to communicate the need.
Now it’s your turn – tell me how you tackle your child’s IEP or 504 meeting!
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For information about the similarities and differences between IEP and 504, go here.
1 Individualized Education Program – For more information, go here.
2 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (the precursor to the Americans with Disabilities Act) – For more information, go here.
Me! Me! Pick Me!!!
I was dreading my teenager’s 504 meeting because at the last one, I met a less than friendly teacher. I was feeling a little guilty leaving the 504 in place because, to me, it doesn’t seem like we even use it that much – and after meeting Mr. Less Than Friendly, I felt that if I spoke up, that would just make the situation worse so I left it to M to handle. He handled it and it resolved well. So why was I keeping the 504 alive? It felt like a security blanket.
One friend supported my idea of asking to just stop the 504. Another, a physician, was very upset at me. “If you suggest that, they’ll GRAB the opportunity and it will be IMPOSSIBLE to get services again once you stop them!!!!”
I went in, just like you did, very open and friendly. Only two teachers showed up and one left right away because it turned out, our AP (Assistant Principal in this case) got double booked – two 504s at the same time and mine was the one she didn’t even know about! (BTW, the teachers were both very nice and I understood why the first teacher left. I got to talk to her before she did.)
In the end, a different AP ran the meeting for us. It turns out that his own child has an IEP and the same diagnosis as my son so that gave him a personal perspective. M is taking five AP (Adv. Placement AP) classes this year. His history teacher suggested that her only concern is that kids taking multiple APs can get really stressed out as the year goes on, so she suggests we keep an eye on that issue.
Which is my long-winded way of getting to the ultimate decision: The AP ENCOURAGED me to keep the 504 in place. He said that our plan is very simple – one of the simplest he’s ever seen – and completely reasonable. He said that between the teacher’s very valid input and that even though our plan seems simple and obvious, sometimes in high schools, teachers don’t always agree to reasonable accommodations in the heat of a situation. So he had no problem keeping the 504. My son was in the meeting and agreed. (He also said that if I DID quit the 504, it really would NOT have been a difficult thing to call for a meeting to put it in place again. And I do believe him.)
And so there you have it. I left on cloud 9 feeling very supported by the school and really confident that they have my son’s best interest at heart.
Interesting what your physician friend said about not letting it go – I’ve heard similar sentiments about moving from an IEP to a 504. I had my own reservations about doing so when Sarah Kate changed a few years ago … what’s in it for them? … what will she lose? … is this just a back door way of getting out of providing services? … and so on. But when I stepped back and thought about it, there really was no reason to hold on to that IEP, and a few really good reasons not to: she didn’t need a different education, just a little extra help in navigating the physical aspects of school, and I didn’t want to be That Mom who wouldn’t let go of the IEP. I felt that would set me up as an adversary Every. Single. Meeting. and I didn’t want that.
I totally get that. I think that’s one of the reasons why I didn’t want to hold onto the 504 if it wasn’t necessary. It really is a very simple 504. And I never want to be That Parent.
As a teacher so much of this post was spot on. When people cone to the table ready to cooperate so much more positive is done than a battle. Moving from an IEP to 504 is not bad because you can always go back . When you remove them completely that’s when it’s hard to go back b/c you have to prove something drastic changed to need services again. Getting a meeting is easy its qualifying for services that is hard because you have to prove there is a deficit in their learning again due to their illness, disability, etc.
I do want to add.. a lot of kids I see, teaching high school, have reduced services by the time they are in their last two years but still have an IEP or 504. However, legally, the modifications and accommodation in the 504 and IEP allow them to have those accommodations on ACT, SAT and other state/federal assessments. Having that in place a school applies for accommodations and the College Board is strict! You want them in place just in case. I have students taking college prep, honors and even AP with IEP’s and 504’s… they dont pigeon hole you into special education just level the playing field for all students.
Good point that you made about “special education pigeon hole” – when Sarah Kate moved from an IEP to a 504, it was suggested to me that the 504 would benefit her because she wouldn’t get stuck with the “special ed” label. At the time, I thought that was a good point, but looking back now I see that it really wasn’t. She’s in gifted ed now, so I highly doubt there was any danger of that! But even so, I think Nathan’s label of Down syndrome has the potential to negatively impact him much more so than a stack of papers labeled IEP.