Who has kids on 504's?

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Want to share some accommodations?

I do not have any currently in place (changed schools) but at the last school:

Son (NVLD, ADHD)
My son is allowed to leave the room at his own discretion if he feels he is getting "ramped up." To my knowledge, he has not done this in over a year.

He is always allowed to use graph paper for math, even on tests where kids are told they cannot bring paper.

He is never given a 0 for late assignments.

He can ask to have test questions read to him and clarify if he understands the question.

He can have extended time on tests (though he has never required it)

I did not ask for this, but he did have one teacher who would re-test him if she felt his test score did not reflect his true knowledge of the subject. She also let him verbally explain his answers if she thought he understood the core concept, but did not understand the question.

He gets preferential seating. Away from kids who talk or fidget, not directly facing doors or windows.

He has also been allowed to take remedial math, even though his standardized test scores are too high to qualify. It is interesting to note that when he is in remedial math (in addition to "regular" math), he gets A's and B's. When he is not in remedial math (only regular), he get's D's.

In the last year, as we transitioned from a 504 to an IEP, we found that the school lockers where they hung up jackets and such were a source of stress for DS. We got him preferred placement on an end so he would be less likely to bump into anyone (a teacher suggested that he could put his stuff in her own closet if the locker didn't work out.)

Also note: we found out the hard way that the 504 did not follow my son around the school, and none of the "specials" teachers knew about it - worth asking.

He was also allowed to meet his teacher and preview his classroom the week before school started, as many times as we felt necessary. We usually visited twice.

He also had preferred placement in line (as long as he knows his place, DS is OK - but he doesn't do well when it's ambiguous. The teacher had them line up alphabetically and that was fine with DS.) and didn't have to line up with the other kids to get into school, he was allowed to go to the classroom early and leave school a little early.

He was allowed to use a calculator in math. I have changed this to ask that he be required to use a copy of the times tables, so at least he has a visual that he might memorize.

Be aware, sometimes a 504 is not enough - not because the accommodations can't be made adequately, but mostly because accountability isn't built into it like an IEP, and sometimes it just isn't taken seriously. If your son is doing well academically and they're saying that makes him ineligible for an IEP - they are wrong. If he has sufficient deficits in functional skills (like social skills or pragmatics) he is eligible for an IEP.

Interestingly, we had the same experience with math with my son. He struggles with things like computation and sequencing, but if he gets adequate support, he's brilliant at things like algebra, maps, measuring, etc.

Up to this point, he has not needed an IEP. We used to be in a very small private school (less than 20 people in his whole grade) and his teachers just did whatever they needed to do to have him succeed. I think as long as all of his teachers adjust the way they need to, he should be fine.

This SD seems pretty good, although we have been here less than year. Last year they put my daughter in a social skills program without even assessing her or making me provide documentation that she is on the spectrum. They said "If you think she needs social skills help, then we will give her social skills help." I was floored because my old district made you fight for everything. When we went to the middle school orientation, over half of the presentation was on Response To Intervention, so I am anticipating them to be as proactive as my daughter's school was.

I am going to ask for an accommodation that he be allowed to chew gum whenever he has to have sustained attention for longer than 20 minutes. I don't know how that will go over, but if they just sit with him and have him read for 20 minutes without gum and then compare it to reading for 20 minutes with gum, they will see why I am asking for it. He goes from not being able to recall anything to being able to recite some of it verbatim.

My daughter's only 6, so there's nothing much so far. But, last school session, she got to go to a desk outside the classroom, if the noise, etc was too much for her to concentrate. She went back to school last Wednesday and, so far, this does not appear to be happening at all. I've asked my daughter about it and she says the teachers say the desk is too far away and they're arranging for another desk to be placed in a better spot.

Communication between the school and parents is pretty poor. However, following on from my daughter's diagnosis of Aspergers, on Wednesday, the head teacher says she's putting her on the assisted needs plan. She should really have already been on it, but they had argued about it, because she's not failing academically (which is actually irrelevant). Anyway, this should hopefully make communication a bit simpler.

Also, sometimes the teacher gives her a sheet with what she has written on the board on it. This is to make it easier for my daughter to copy, without losing the place all the time (this has been a recurring problem). I don't know if the new teachers are doing this at all (daughter hasn't said) or even know that this was done by previous teachers. Yet again, lack of communication, so I'm in the dark.

Right - this is what I meant. My son's accommodations could and should all be handled with a 504 - but we found out the hard that they just weren't. I started out as a parent who believed in public education and supported the school and the difficult choices they have to make...until I found just how much they were playing the system against us.

In other words, if you have a 504, you - the parent - are the only avenue for accountability, so to this list I would add some measure of accountability - a log, signed by his teachers, of how many times a day your child asks for/gets an accommodation, etc.

I see what you are saying. I know one thing I will ask for this year is that the teacher in each class initials that my son wrote his homework correctly in his planner. I mean, all of the assignments are on the computer and therefore accessible from home, but I want to teach him how to use a planner because I think the overall benefits of learning how to organize are worthwhile.

I am hopeful. But I realize I also have to be pragmatic and watchful.

That is exactly what I mean, and such things can be written into the 504. I know I must sound cynical, and I realize that not every school district is like ours.

I hope that things happen the way they should more often than not...but I'm glad to know you'll be watching.