IEP & 504 Meeting

IEP & 504 Meetings

Any parent that has been to an IEP or 504 meeting understands the anxiety that takes place before and during these meetings. This week I had an IEP on Monday morning and a 504 on Tuesday. I did not have many nerves over the IEP as Karl’s school teachers, admins & I became a team last year. As for Donald’s (504) school, I was a wreck with nerves. Last year it seemed at every turn the school was oppositional to every idea I had to help Donald.

Karl’s – When I got there I explained that my defenses were up because of things I am dealing with at the middle school, that the 504 meeting was the next morning and that my emotions were high because Kyle is having a tough transition into kindergarten. But that I knew this meeting would be fairly easy and it was. Karl’s meeting was pretty routine, getting the same services but we have pushed up some of the goals. We added that a plan for Karl’s seizures this year as he has been having more of them. He has already had 3 seizures in class that we know about. It is a basic plan as we do not know what is happening but it meant a lot to me that they offered to put it in. I know a lot of the time people hear me talk about issues & road blocks but I want to take the time now to say that Karl’s school has come a long way since Karl started there in Fall of 2011. Knowing that they respect my knowledge of Autism, that my ideas work and that I know Karl (& Kyle) better than anyone else eases my mind a lot. I know many school systems believe that only an Autism Specialist can help get a child back on track. That may be the case for many but there are a lot of parents like me that know our child very well, to the point that even the smallest twitch has a meaning and we know what that meaning is. So being able to observe like I did last year made a huge difference in how we went forward. I observed and quickly saw that we needed to get some of the basic tools like schedules brought back and it work we got Karl back on track. I think more schools should do this when the parents feel it is the right as we know our kids and can detect things faster than a stranger so it would save a lot of money for the district.

Karl has grown so much over the past couple of years, I look forward to working with his schools great team again this year.

Donald’s – Overall it went well J  The big issue was technology because Donald is addicted to computers. The 7^th grade class is getting IPads and I did not Donald to have one because of his addiction. He cannot have open internet access because he would be playing games non-stop. Other topics were handwriting, keyboarding and voice dictation. Donald’s printing is not legible, they had stopped teaching cursive even though he was good at it and he was no longer going to receive keyboarding. It was suggested that Donald use voice dictation for which I refused. I had requested an OT be at the meeting as I had been begging for OT for handwriting for 6 years and was hoping this would be the year we get it. I brought samples of how Donald prints and how he did with cursive. Printing is not acceptable for his age but his cursive was nice considering he hadn’t done it in a couple of years but it took a LONG time. I am happy to say that Donald will be receiving OT for cursive and will continue to get keyboarding sessions to help him type. Voice dictation will not be used.

Technology – I think this is a very important topic for ALL parents. Technology is being over used in schools and it is NOT always helping our kids. As I stated Donald is a computer addict so internet activity limits are a must. Plus when he researches topics he cannot pick one because there are too many websites. He will always look to another site for a better answer. As I explained to teachers and admins – “Giving an IPad with internet to a computer addict is like giving a drug addict an open bottle of Vicodin and saying don’t take one.” Our discussions about the IPad went back and forth ‘old school’ verses ‘technology.’  I do believe that technology is good when it is used as a tool but feel very strongly that it should not be a requirement. It was mentioned a few times about how accommodations are made using technology to help children. At one point I turned to the 504 administrator and said “just like some may need accommodations using technology, some may need accommodations using ‘old school’ ways to learn (I may have paraphrased my words a little as I was nervous an may not remember the exact words).

At this point during the meeting it occurred to me that many kids may actually learn better with ‘old school’ techniques and not technology. I know I have always said this with my boys as they always responded better to old style toys like wood blocks, manual items, drawing, color books, etc… When something new is invented there are always marketing plans to target families and this includes targeting kids with special needs. As parents we always want to try something new to help our kids, well except for me. I always roll my eyes when I hear that there is a new IPad, IPhone, etc, heck we do not even have an HDTV and do not need one until our old TV breaks. So I got to thinking how many more kids would benefit with ‘old school’ techniques and not use technology. With the speed of upgrades there is no need for IPads in the younger classes unless it is needed for an accommodation as I am sure IPads will be obsolete in a few years.

In the end, Donald will have an IPad but the teachers will have to put in the password before he can go online. OT for handwriting, keyboarding to strengthen his typing skills and we have to get teacher input on projects. Will the teachers find the websites for Donald or will the fights over projects be handle by the school school only and not at home. As I said the meeting overall was good and I feel that the middle school wants to work WITH me this year J