IEP and 504 Issues and Questions

My 10yo son was diagnosed with brain cancer this summer. When school started he was not doing great, and school pushed for wheel chair and (as we learned last week) made his aide check water intake, bathroom breaks, etc - none of that was requested by us or listed in the doctor’s note. My kid has been feeling better, and he (with support of his medical team) wants to participate in school more, does not need the wheelchair, can attend PE at his discretion, etc. School has been extremely reluctant to easen the restrictions they themselves put in the first place and even reached out to the medical team over my head asking about my son’s prognosis (!) and advocating for phys…

Hi there. I’m the parent of a child in Virginia that is currently not attending school due to PTSD generalized to the school. Several events lead to him being very anxious last year and then after he was physically attacked by a group students his symptoms became compounded to the point he was not able to attend school the last few weeks. Upon return this year in the Fall his anxiety was rising and he has now been diagnosed with PTSD. It’s a long story and it is ugly. The ugly part is the school and their constant denial and lack of support in this matter. They say they don’t want to disregard his diagnosis but…. then they they make a comment or an action that does ju…

My daughter is in 1st grade and really struggling to read. She has between a half hour to an hour of homework each day. I am concerned at this point in the year with her lack of progress. I wonder if she maybe has dyslexia and the teacher said the school does not worry about the possibility until 3rd grade. Unfortunately, she is struggling NOW. What should I do, and, or, ask for to initiate testing?

My son is in 8th grade and has an IEP for ADHD & SPD. He struggling the first semester with his math teacher and it got to the point where she just wrote him office referrals for lunch detention multiple times a week. It was a toxic environment. His IEP Team and I decided changing teachers at semester would be a good idea and he's now been in the new class for 2 weeks. He's doing great and doing his work, etc. No behavior issues. Still struggles with being on task, distractions and starting assignments. The issue is that this new teacher only grades tests & quizzes, no assignments count towards his grade. Because of his struggles first semester, he's behind in ma…

The school is proposing to reduce my child's 1:1 minutes. There is recent behavioral data to support that this is not warranted. An IEP meeting is being scheduled and I just want to make sure I am going about this correctly. If I disagree with the change and ask for a PWN, what are the next steps?

Hi all. My 11-year-old 5th grader has confirmed diagnoses of ASD (diagnosed age 2) and ADHD Inattentive Type (diagnosed February 2026). He has had a 504 plan in place since the first time we were denied evaluations at all at the end of 3rd grade. We are in Missouri. The district completed an initial special ed evaluation and denied eligibility. I verbally disagreed with the determination in the meeting and did not sign anything. I am on a waiting list for a state advocacy nonprofit with no ETA. We have 23 school days left and he transitions to middle school in the fall. MY QUESTIONS: Does this situation call for requesting an IEE at public expense? I…

In my child's newest IEP it says she is to spend 400 hours weekly in the resource classroom for reading, writing, and math. The school has been doing standardized testing for the past month, and during that time it looks like she's been getting maybe 25 minutes for just math, and not even everyday. I think they use the classroom for testing for some of the kids. Are they allowed to cut down her hours like that for testing? She's missed out on at least 1000 hours of instruction time due to this. I need suggestions on how to approach this. I'm pretty sure they are already mad at me because I pushed back before the IEP (politely, but firmly which they are not used to from me…

This is an interesting one ... I have just been notified that the TVI is not going to be back for the rest of the year (we have consultations a direct services with goals listed in IEP) . The case manager does not know why this is happening. They are proposing to attach TVI services through an OT handwriting goal. And then amend the IEP in the fall when a new TVI is on board and can assess and develop their own goals. The contracted company also stated they don't have access to the students file and the TVI did not provide input to the new draft iep (annual) My intake thought it , they need to get a TVI replacement , new assessment and create goals but is that realistic…

My son has an IEP for speech, which he has mastered, and they have kept him on to get him approved for an OHI IEP. We are in TN, and I have had an increasingly difficult time in our school district with accommodations. He has ASD and was diagnosed with GAD also last year he was diagnosed with a neurological disorder in his colon. He is 7 and not potty trained, which has been a problem with the school. He is in Gen Ed, high functioning and they do not provide any kind of assistance. He is expected to go to the bathroom and take care of all his needs on his own, the problem is he won't. I was told due to the medical conditions he needs a 504 but the school is attempting to …

My child has had a migraine/headache every day since January. She’s missed so much school going back all the way to the start of the year. I finally got the school to do an evaluation after asking twice. 25 school days after I first asked and two meetings after they tried to talk me out of it, they finally sent me the consent to evaluation form. And 32 And 32 school days later, I saw the results. She qualified under Part A of Other Health Disability and met the criteria in Part B/they determine the absences were her academically. But they denied her services. I didn’t get a PWN until three calendar months after the evaluation was complete (May 24 vs Feb 19)…

Hello 🙂 i’m not sure the correct forum to put this in, so I’m gonna put it here and I’m in the IEP forum as well. last year I requested a formal full, comprehensive evaluation. At the time my son had an ADHD diagnosis from a medical professional. They denied my son, which I just recently found out stating that he did not mean eligibility, because there was no “academic impact”. That is exactly the reason for denial written in the eligibility report. Over the summer we had him reevaluated by a psychologist. Since we have a family history of autism, they asked questions which showed markers. He is now diagnosed with autism and ADHD. I supplied that rep…

Schools love to say, “That never happened,” or “We didn’t say that,” or “We’ve never done that before.” What’s the worst case of gaslighting you’ve experienced? How did you document and push back?

While the determination is made for a 504 or IEP school has told a friend child can’t be in school due to medical issue unless they have a physician note on file documenting the condition (or at least providing the explanatory it) do an action plan can presumably be developed. Family is working to get the note, but pediatrician has asked for specialist consults because they don’t want to jump to quick Dx without ruling out other things just in case. In the meantime school has declared with no doctor note on file, student is a liability and just needs to stay home, but they won’t provide homebound (which required Dr. note) or even live streaming in the meantime (because …

The school psychologist is the one who did all the testing on our student. in the IEP She says that she will spend a half hour twice a month helping her. In the first IEP meeting the district representative made a point of saying that school psychologist time is an extremely valuable asset that the District is committing to the student. (the school psychologist really likes the student who is bright, articulate, self-aware, psychologically minded, cooperative. The school psychologist wants to spend time with her.) the student already is meeting with a private education psychologist weekly. The student will be pulled out of class to meet with the school psychologist. …

I'm hoping someone has had some experience that might be helpful. My son had an IEP, and was doing well and was transitioned to a 504. His diagnosis are DMDD (mood d/o) and ADHD. His original IEP had more to do with his mood dysregulation than his ADHD, though there were related accommodations. He is currently in a cyber charter, and is really struggling with executive function related tasks. Especially getting assignments in. I am requesting an evaluation to reconsider transitioning to an IEP, but am wondering if anyone has any experience, tips, thoughts on the best way forward? Thanks!

How does this present with ADHD combined? Are they often confused —like go to an audiologist and you’ll get the auditory processing Dx, but go to a nueropsych and you’ll get the ADHD Dx? Does a language processing eval help to rule out tolerance fading memory or just help to see if other issues are also present? Can anything mask tolerance fading memory? Is it a 504 or IEP?

It has been a long day (month, year) at this school so forgive my bluntness: 11 meetings this year so far (2 kids) and still at least 2 more to go with IEEs 😶😵‍💫😲 Not only have the Generic, drop-box, completely inappropriate crap goals not improved, the newest draft IEP went from 3 crap goals to 1!!!!!! It appears that putting crap goals in IEPs is a great tactic as I have not read one due process case (or met a lawyer willing to take a case) based on crap goals. I am not equipped to write my children’s goals (but will have to learn how to do that too🤷‍♀️🤬🤷‍♀️), but neither is this district ( really Special Services Director in this case as he is the Only …

Is there a requirement that when doing an evaluation, the child has to have input? School did a sensory evaluation consisting of only the school companion of the Sensory Profile 2, but did not provide the parent or student with any opportunity to participate in the sensory evaluation (10 yo). Is the Sensory Processing Measure a better evaluation? Does anything take into account the child feedback versus solely relying on a teacher to be noticing? Seems a little one-sided if only one person is asked to evaluate for a concern, especially if there's very subtle things happening and kid "flies under the radar". Child is not an obviously distracting kid due to anxiety s…

I have a student undergoing evaluation under OHI due to multiple medical conditions that are limiting participation at school and in general with ADLs. What happens if the school decides to deny certification under OHI but the physician on the MET team completes the form stating they are limited in vitality, etc to the definition under OHI? Our state rules (MI) require a physician to be part of the decision making team. The school has been very set against offering support unless the student is failing.

We moved to our 3rd district in TN and they are stating she can't have her personal iPad with her TD Snap app but must use a school issued iPad. IEP from previous district lists her iPad as her speech generating device. In description they specifically mention my daughter "brings her own communication device to school, however the school has a backup device if needed." New school wants to replace personal iPad with school issued iPad after my nonverbal daughter was "caught" taking screenshots of the sentences she created in her own AAC device. ( My daughter is 12 and also has intellectual disabilities and will be further devasted if she can't have her own iPad.) Do …

Posting for a reader: Do you have templates or examples of specific and strongly worded Present Levels statements for highly cognitive teens who face social, emotional, and major executive functioning challenges? My son's therapeutic school tends to downplay his needs in his IEP and progress reports. While he has significant potential, his progress has been severely limited by massive work-avoidant behaviors. Any resources you could share to help ensure his IEP accurately reflects and addresses his challenges would be greatly appreciated.

Lack of progress, missing services, work that’s too easy or too hard… there are so many red flags. How did you know your child’s IEP needed changes? What were the signs?

Whether it’s “Always get it in writing” or “Know your procedural safeguards,” we all pick up little gems of wisdom along the way. What’s one advocacy tip that has helped you the most?

My oldest daughter has had an IEP since she was 3 related to a gene duplication. Recently my youngest daughter (kindergarten, same gene duplication) is showing some of the same behaviors and/or learning difficulties. I previously expressed some concerns and was met with wait and see, so I did. At the last parent teacher conference we discussed her limited retention and difficulty paying attention. We discussed retention for another year in kindergarten and I advised I would speak with our pediatrician to see what his thoughts were. An evaluation was completed and determined she has adhd, medication was prescribed and the pediatrician requested that the school also evaluat…

We're working on this massive project of cleaning out our basement--we've been here 25 yrs and good grief, we look like Hoarders. Anyway, I just found some old IFSP paperwork in a bin with music CDs. It also reminded me that I have not listened to the Dixie Chicks in forever. (now, just The Chicks, I know). Start a fresh folder or binder this week, even if it’s just a plain one from the dollar store. The sooner you corral the papers, the less overwhelming spring will feel. It's a new year, so stay on top of it early. Pro tip: Look at the work assignments you're getting right now, and compare them to May/June, if you still have those kicking around. Gre…