5th Grade Son Denied Special Ed — ASD + ADHD — IEE Appropriate? 504 Meeting Risk?

[pamata27]

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?
• Is there a time limit after denial in which I have to request an IEE?
• The school wants to schedule a 504 Update Meeting. Is there a risk that attending or agreeing to updates could be used against me if I pursue an IEE? If so, should I send the IEE request before agreeing to that meeting?

Thank you for any guidance. More context below if needed...

The School's Position:

• The 504 is working
• Standardized testing scores are average to above average, so no academic need exists
• Executive functioning struggles are not pervasive across all settings because one teacher rated him average
• Even if he had qualified, he would only receive task initiation goals — no specially designed math instruction — because his standardized math scores don't show an academic deficit

My Argument:

• The current 504 requires constant teacher prompting and nightly home reteaching to sustain passing grades — that is not independent functioning
• Standardized scores were obtained one-on-one in a quiet room with no competing demands and do not reflect classroom performance
• Executive functioning deficits are the core barrier preventing him from independently accessing, learning, and retaining curriculum — especially math — and this is showing up clearly in his most academically demanding class
• His real classroom math data shows a consistent pattern of failure on unit tests despite passing daily low-demand work, which the standardized scores do not capture
• I believe he needs both executive functioning support AND specially designed math instruction that accounts for how his disabilities affect learning and retention in a real classroom

The evaluation findings:

• WISC-V: Full Scale IQ = 99 (average)
• WIAT-IV (one-on-one, quiet room): All scores average to above average. Used to rule out SLD.
• CELF-5: Core language score 98. Used to rule out Language Impairment.
• BRIEF-2 (executive function):
  His math/science teacher rated him clinically elevated on 6 scales including the Global Executive Composite (73).
  His ELA teacher rated him average (54).
  I rated him potentially clinically elevated (69).
  My son rated himself in the average range (62).
  The school concluded his difficulties are "not pervasive across settings" (said verbally in meeting) and denied on those grounds — despite clinically elevated ratings from the teacher in his most academically demanding class and a potentially clinically elevated rating from me at home.

What the classroom data shows:

• iReady Math: Scored at Grade 4 level in August and again in December (1 scale point of growth over a full semester). Jumped to Mid-5th grade level in March — during the period I was reteaching math at home nightly. School cited this jump as evidence the 504 is working without accounting for my home support.
• Unit tests in math: Consistently 50% or below. Daily 2-4 question exit worksheets after instruction: consistently 100%. 
• The school's own Tier 3 social intervention was described by the teacher as having "minimal success."
• The denial PWN lists his current math grade as an "A." His report card has never shown an A in math. His grade in math specifically has been Q1: B-, Q2: B-, Q3: B, Currently in Q4: C

 

[JSD24]

The school doesn't have data on how much help he gets at home.  Start writing down what you're doing and how long it takes for you to to this.  Send this to the school and ask for it to be added to his 504 file so they have a record of what happens at home.  Or you put a time limit on help.  I know it's not easy to watch your child fail and end up with poor self esteem but the way the system works, this is what needs to happen.  If the student scrapes by with outside help, the school doesn't have to offer an IEP.  This is why the 504 appears to be working.  (They can't read minds.  They don't know if you or a tutor are helping him so they attribute his progress to what they are doing.)

Did they assess social skills and pragmatics as "areas of need"?  These are the 2 areas that kids will tend to qualify for an IEP with.  The social skills assessment my school uses is the SSIS -The Social Skills Improvement System .  Also, with smart kids, they will mask.  My child looked average on the TOPL - Test Of Pragmatic Language.  I was told if they had done the optional extended assessment, the issues would have come to light.

[Janis]

I write this putting aside my ineffectiveness with my own kids…

If I am reading correctly, he was diagnosed with ADHD after they denied an IEP?  I would immediately ask for him to be evaluated (yup, again) for an IEP.  I think his new diagnosis (definitely share this with them in writing) would be reason they could reevaluate, even if you were still within the time frame to ask for an IEE. 
So ask, and if they say no, immediately request the IEE in writing.  No need to elaborate why, just make the request in writing.  If they agree to evaluate for an IEP again, this is your opportunity to rebut/provide everything in an eligibility meeting.

Due to timing, this would be next school year:(.

I am not well-versed in 504 meetings, but I would attend.  You can agree to anything they offer that would be helpful while also clearing stating (when you agree to the meeting, at the meeting, and in a follow-up email) that you believe your son needs an IEP, that you asked for them to evaluate/or for an IEE, and that pending those results, you want his 504 to be as robust as possible because You Believe He Needs an IEP!

Lastly, get every piece of evidence you can that shows your kiddo’s struggle.  My kiddo tests at the 87% (this is just in average) in written expression one round, then I show up with his actual work, any writing I can get my hands on, because standardized scores are not everything (not always).  Another example: written expression score is “average” on one standardized test, but Below Average on a different one.  Look at the subtests carefully.

Teachers ratings cannot always be trusted and should not be a “tiebreaker”.  My kids rarely mark anything that comes up elevated, and I have years of teachers ratings vs my ratings that are very different at times.  Fortunately and unfortunately, time has shown that my ratings are accurate, and teachers much less so.  Do not let them say that one or two teachers ratings determine anything.  Just show them all the proof of what the teachers were not seeing.

(If this sounds nutso, think of this situation:  I pick up my then 7 year old at school, he is pale with wide eyes and falls into my arms burning up.  He has pneumonia.  Teacher never noticed all day the many sign that I saw immediately:  moms see differently than teachers.  These are our kids and teachers have to notice what is happening with many, so nuances of one can be missed).

I am also going through the end of school panic:(.  I don’t think there is much you can do to change the beginning of middle school…. But I could be wrong, so see what others say here.  In addition to asking for the IEP eval or IEE, I would also try to get as much information about his 6th grade schedule and see what you can do to just get him prepared over the summer, and be very communicative with the middle school right away, and document as much as you can (always) but every day of middle school.  Things went very haywire very fast for one of my kiddos at this point….not to scare you, but to let you know that this is when previously small things get pushed front and center.  For us, social skills.  
Lastly, do not let them show you As and Bs and use them to mean anything.  Get every piece of your kiddos work, make copies, and keep it!  I can only see my kiddos assessments one time per quarter (now in 9th), and have found where they are not making wrong answers (in math!).  
It is really disheartening, but it begins to feel like their objective is hiding or twisting data to make everything good, while parents are forced to have extensive evidence to prove otherwise.  
Please keep us posted!