New diagnosis - 504/IEP assistance

[KidsWhoRock]

Suggestions welcomed! My 7 year old is in 2nd grade and was recently diagnosed with ADD Combined presentation along with General Anxiety Disorder. She loved school in Kindergarten and 1st grade but has had an abrupt change of heart in 2nd grade. I believe much of her experience, in addition to aging and more complicated classroom expectations, is attributed to great teachers the first two years and unfortunately, the opposite this year (the evaluation process has taken nearly the whole school year and the teacher/school has been aware of the suspected ADHD cause of behaviors). I recently shared her diagnosis with the school and will be meeting with them next week to discuss if she will be evaluated for a 504 or IEP. The school has indicated that their evaluation is not always aligned with the medical evaluation. Because my child's executive functioning needs much assistance, I am inclined to push for an IEP evaluation. However, I would very much appreciate hearing your experiences on how best to advocate for my kiddo now that there is a known diagnosis. Do I drive the decision to evaluate for 504 vs. IEP? If the school does, how do I ensure that they are not taking the easier path so to speak with a 504 if she really needs an IEP? Would love to hear your wisdom - thanks in advance!

[Aspen797]

If you would like an IEP, you request an evaluation in writing. A great website with good tips on this is A Day in Our Shoes: adayinourshoes.com/sample-l.... The school district is required to assess all areas of suspected disability, so the more specific issues you raise (I.e., the executive functioning concerns, pragmatic language/social skills, emotional regulation, etc,) as concerning, the more detailed the evaluation should be to encompass them. Another great website with detailed information on the process is here: parentcenterhub.org/evaluat....

Both of these websites give more detailed information about additional steps you can take if you disagree with the school’s evaluation or decisions. We feel similarly about our son—wanting to ensure he is taught the skills he needs to develop to eventually manage independently. We have found that overtime many accommodations (but not all) are temporary crutches while skill building (through special ed, related services) is under way and competency is developed.

[KidsWhoRock in reply to Aspen797]

Thank you so much @Aspen797 - sincerely appreciate you taking time to share! Looking at those websites now.

[SkiiingMO4]

Hi, I have 4 kids, 2 with 504’s and one with an IEP for ADHD. The reason my daughter (2nd grade at the time) had an IEP evaluation was because we had concerns about her dyslexia and reading/ writing progress as well as how ADHD impacts learning (she also has an IEP for speech articulation).

The first step is to request an IEP evaluation review, and your daughter’s team has 25 days to set a meeting with you. They will discuss her progress, areas of concern, and recommendations to test or not to test with a school psychologist (then 35 days to test). This might push you to next fall because some school districts will use the full 60 school days). If they don’t want to test you can then set up a 504 with your schools coordinator (often a counselor). With a medical diagnosis your daughter qualifies. Your pediatrician or professional who diagnosed can submit recommendations for 504 accommodations.

In my daughter’s case with an IEP for ADHD, the school psychologist suggested we do an IEP for ADHD because it’s a health impairment and will be with my daughter longer even if she overcomes her reading challenges (they label as a learning disability in that case). My daughter had very slow processing speed as tested by “word naming speed,” which can be considered a part of her executive function/ ADHD and can affect her schooling with memorizing math facts, etc. For comparison, her processing speed was the 3rd %, her intellectual abilities were 84th %, and reading/ writing skills were also very behind.

If the school determines their current interventions and teaching methods are helping your child progress with her peers in a reasonable way, then they won’t want to approve testing for an IEP. Does that help? Good luck!

[KidsWhoRock in reply to SkiiingMO4]

Thank you so much for sharing! That was helpful! I had a meeting with the school team yesterday and they are opening up an IEP evaluation. So, it is good to have the process kicked off. Again, thanks for taking time to share!