United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

More than a year a ago my severe BPI Kindergarden child was denied 504 services. Then I later learned that the decision-maker there, a PhD, has a young relative with BPI, during an emotional and angry conversation.

Before that point she played "stupid" with me regarding the BPI, when in fact she was very familiar with it. Her young relative had fully recovered from the BPI before meeting me. I believe that she is prejudiced and I am having a very hard convincing my school system that I need a more objective person over my child's needs.

I need your suggestions....

I'm sure that you can appeal it. You should have gotten a bunch of papers on "right" and how to appeal it. I would tell you how we do it in our state, but it could be that each state or county is different. I don't know for sure. Hopefully Rich Looby (richard@ubpn.org) will see this post and respond. He's very knowledgable about this stuff.

"right" should be "rights"

I live in a very tiny, rural vindictive town.

In the 504 meeting there were alot of important school people there (people that I see everytime I go for groceries), and my child's OT. In that meeting everyone in the circle took their turn to present good reasons why my daughter should receive services. But that ultimate person wrote "NO DISABILITY FOUND." I burst into tears. A year and one-half later I requested that same document, and that statement had been whited-out. I live in a very small community, and an appeal would be so damaging to my reputation and could actually cost me a job as I was also an unemployed educator: which I finally got but my Principal told me that she was going out on a limb becuase I was very unpopular with the school system due to my advocacy for my child.... If I had appealled I think that my situation would have been even worse...

I would like to say this, that a 504 is only "APPLICABLE" if the child's academics or social skills are being effected. I know, what a bunch of hog wash but that is the way it is......I would advocate for my child till I exausted all means. Rich, will be on here I am sure and can give you a list of place , websites etc, which can help you alot. I went through this last year.....and with Rich's help was quite sucessful. Quote statutes etc, in everything you do......it is amazing how that works ! GAYLE

Ahhhh, 504 services. The bane of every parent whose child is not "classified". I don't know who wrote the %*&^%& thing, but I will tell you that if I ever meet him (and you just KNOW it was a man).... he will be sorry.

The language of 504 is incredibly and undeniably vague. And its vagueness allows school districts to "interpret" the language to their desires. Additionally, once you have exhausted the school district, your next avenue is a federal one, and the Civil Rights division is so overloaded that your child would be in college before your case saw the light of day.

Juliana was denied "services" under her 504 plan. She was given "accommodations", however. Her accommodations are: rolling backpack, second set of books, classroom notes, preferential seating, help on and off the bus, adaptive pe, monitor on the playground, extra time on tests. If you are looking for the ot, you will not find it. We have a school district that is in a nasty place. (We are the school district where the superindendent stole $11.8 million ) They hired a new asst super of special ed and gave him a mandate to lower the costs of spec ed. Juliana is not the only 504 child to lose services. They even took away services (like extra time) that cost the district nothing.

Interestingly, they admit that her having switched hands slows her down (hence the classroom notes and extra time) but won't give her ot so she can improve her handwriting skills. Nifty huh? Hard to appeal to the superintendent when he is leaving or brand new and another "interim". Yup, we still don't have a permanent superindendent. My only hope is BLS (you should look into this). Building level services. This is where a teacher believes that a child is in need of help. They ask if the child can be tested, and if the child appears to need help after testing, can be given ot, pt, speech, reading, math etc without a formal 504 plan. This is my hope for Juliana. Amazingly, she went from ot2x/week and pt 1x/week to nothing. And, she switched buildings... no desire on the part of the new asst super to "transition" her. This is why our bright little bpi kids are at such a disadvantage. Juliana's iq is such that she compensates for everything. So many of our kids do that. I will keep fighting, keep hoping. But plan on nothing.

I even hired a lawyer who specializes in spec ed cases and she led me thru as far as we could go. I could sue privately, but this isn't a big town either.

good luck,
claudia

Just curious....what kind of modifications does your child need to be successful in the classroom? Does he write with the injured hand?

Oh yeah...does he get OT at school? He should qualify for that for sure...

There are many threads on 504 services and IEP's. Try using the search feature to find some of the past conversations and how it may be applicable to your situation.

The 504 laws as Claudia stated are civil rights. Your child qualifies as protected under the 504 if he/she 1) have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; 2) have a record of such an impairment, or 3) be regarded as having such an impairment. Section 504 requires that school districts provide a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to qualified students in their jurisdictions who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

You must show how that injury substatially limits a major life activity:
Major life activities, as defined in the Section 504 regulation at 34 C.F.R. 104.3(j)(2)(ii), include functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working. This list is not exhaustive. Other functions can be major life activities for purposes of Section 504.


A school can be pretty hard-lined with this interpretation, and say your child is doing just fine without services. But if your child is being penalized for things that is related to the injury (not being able to sit for longer periods, needing to stretch the arm and hand, messy handwriting, not being able to stabalize the paper for writing, not cutting out shapes easily), then they will need some accomodations to give him/her the same opportunity for success as her non-injured peers. Also like Claudia said, extra books, help at lockers, with shoes, zippers and buttons in the winter. As they get older, use of alpha-smart and laptops for writing assignments. They may assign a note taker, or give an aide to help with standardized testing when filling in little dots for hours.

While there is a method for decisions with IEP, there is less standardized methods for 504. BUT, there is or should never be one decision maker. The decision is still based on specific test data, evaluations, early intervention suggestions, doctor and private OT and PT input, and just as importantly the parents evaluation of their childs needs.

Unfortunately you can not expect things to go easy, and it either requires ALOT of reading and preperation by you or someone you can rely on, or through the hiring of a special Ed advocate (which some counties offer free representation).

If there is any specific questions or you need links to your specific state or district I usually can find that pretty quickly and would be glad to help. just give me a hollar!

-richinma

richard@ubpn.org

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html

I forgot to add: one of the things you can do is get an independent evaluation. We are going to do this for Juliana. We know she was spoon fed the ot tests to make the school ot look better ("look, she improved!"), so we will take her to an ot to have her tested again. If she does worse than with the school ot, then we will ask for another 504 meeting and show our results. Nifty thing about outside testing.... you don't have to bring the results to light. If they show the same thing as the school, but your child is faltering and they are thinking about going to building level services... you don't have to tell them that you had your child tested privately.

Also... there is a big difference, especially from the school's point of view, in "accommodations" and "services". When I tell people that Juliana lost her ot services, they are aghast. Especially since she switched hands. But the school says that "she is learning". Well, duh. The principal of her new building says "she has to fail so well in order to qualify and she never will." Unfortunately, most, if not all, schools work on a fail-first principle. Once your child fails, they will swoop in and save them. The idea that they could avoid that is not in their lingo.

I have already scheduled juliana's next 504 meeting. I will not let up.

it is so hard, but keep at it. document EVERYTHING the teacher says to you about your child's performance and lack thereof.

good luck,
claudia