IEP/504 help

Tau

New Member
I've been reading here for just over a year, and have found all of your advice especially helpful. Because of what I've learned through this forum, we skipped the round robin of differing diagnosis's and went straight to a neuropsychologist when we realized we were over our heads with our daughter.

daughter has an IEP already for speech therapy, and we're going in for our review tomorrow. We just got the neuropsychologist report back with the ADHD - combined type diagnosis and a list of recommendations.

We'll be bringing that in with us when we go tomorrow, but when we called today to find out what we needed to prepare for, we learned that they don't like to give IEPs for ADHD, and usually go with the 504.

I know that a student cant have both at one time, but the speech therapist has been hinting that this year will be her last for speech therapy, because of all the wonderful progress shes made so far. (and I don't disagree)

One of the recommendations was for my daughter to have periodic breaks during class time to go out and get some physical activity. My concern is that this will require an extra staff member to be with her during that time, and that the school is going to balk at it because of the extra expense, that will be the schools responsibility with the 504.

Is there anything I should go in armed with? Any extra planning or strategizing I can do to make sure that my daughter gets what she needs? Is there certain criteria for an IEP that I could push for instead of a 504 - or are there advantages to a 504 that I'm missing?

Any advice is most welcome - we're desperate to start making real headway after a could of years of struggling.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
My understanding is that a 504 plan isn't enforceable, while an IEP is. Go for the IEP. I'm going to suggest that you copy & paste your post over to the Special Education forum so you get some expert advice.
 

oceans

New Member
Someone with ADD usually needs lots of supports. It is much better to have an IEP. If she has rages, does behavior become an issue at school? As the years go by, school tends to get more difficult with an ADD diagnoses. Many kids with add need special seating, non verbal cues, a set of books at home, increased time for finishing an assignment, reduced assignments, special accommodation's for testing, help with organizational skills. If a child has educational needs, the school can't get away with saying they can't do it because of money when you have an IEP. It is better in lots of ways including being able to hold the school accountable for following it, having recourses if they are not, and also the school not being able to suspend for more than 10 days because of change of placement.
 

Tau

New Member
For the time being, her rages are limited to home. Shes been successful at "holding it all in" until she is in the safety of our house. While its no picnic for us, I'm glad shes been able to manage that.

I don't expect it to last as she grows, however. I am hoping to be able to put good practices in place now, though, so we can mitigate some of the challenges that are surely ahead of us.

The neuropsychologist suggests that:

1. The school help daughter remember to bring assignments home. (currently they have a "family folder, where assignments are written down - but it rarely gets in her backpack)

2. She be allowed to engage in a "parallel activity" when trying to focus on a specific task. (like fiddling with a toy while taking tests)

3. Take more breaks during school for physical activity.

After the reading I've done, Im especially concerned that she won't fit the criteria for an IEP and that we won't get any of the above services.
 
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