JSD24

The difference between an IEP & a 504 is special instruction. Does your child need special instruction to keep up with learning grade level standards? If this is needed, an IEP is needed. If they will do OK with accommodations, then a 504 is needed. There are gen ed services called RTI or MTSS that provide a lower level of support w/o the need to have an IEP. Is this what your child gets in math & ELA or are these services via the IEP? If they are gen ed services, the can & should continue. Read through the current IEP to see what the services are that go with the IEP. What's not mentioned on the IEP is gen ed that can continue. ADHD generally gets the OHI box checked. You don't mention what box is currently checked on the IEP. If your child is young, it might be the DD box. Know that if 504 supports aren't enough, you can ask for a sp ed eval and start the IEP process over. Often, in MS, when a student goes from 3 to 8 teachers, EF issues tend to crop up and students w/ ADHD might need to get IEP services.

IEPs are covered under IDEA, 504s are covered under OCR, IHPs do not have any oversight agency or rules to follow. IMO, the health plan should be in the IEP or be an addendum to the IEP so you can change it w/o needing an IEP meeting but where it's still covered as far as following it goes same as the IEP. Having it on a 504 also provides protection/oversight. This sort of thing comes under the school nurse so they are the one to follow-up with. I'd keep escalating it. We have a nurse in admin as well as a Pupil Services director who oversees nurses. You need to go outside of the school to admin if the principal isn't taking care of this. You could get a lawyer to write a letter but I feel that expense isn't needed at this time. Meanwhile, keep asking for IHP meetings until you get one that your child's doctor is OK with.

I did answer your question but my answer is hidden. When I posted it, it said that a moderator had to approve the post. I hope that happens soon.

What causes this message to pop up? I wrote a longer reply with a link to a blog page from adayinourshoes as well as a YouTube video. Was it the length, link or video that triggered the message? I know we're in beta mode now. Will this still happen once the new forum is fully up & running?

6 weeks does sound like a long term position where the sub would have access to the IEP. I would cover this wager by asking: Will the sub have access to my child's IEP during teacher's maternity leave? I'd also ask: Can I see the portion of the sub notes that you have written about what accommodations and SDI my child gets when there is a sub in the classroom. I'm suggesting this because, with a pregnancy, anything can happen where the teacher might need to be out longer plus they will likely take 1/2 days for doctor appointments related to the pregnancy because odds are all appointments cannot be scheduled outside of school hours.

First HIPPA is a misspelling. HIPAA is the correct acronym. Most schools don't bill for healthcare services so HIPAA doesn't apply to schools. FERPA is the privacy act that schools use. (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act - intesting how a copy & paste worked here) This is what Lisa has on classroom observation: https://adayinourshoes.com/can-parents-observe-classroom-iep/ My question is how does your child communicate? Have they ever had an AT evaluation? One of the most important things a person does is communicate to others. How does your child do this? If they are not reliably verbal, do they use PECS? A devise? A letter board? Sign language? Smoke signals? Method doesn't matter so much as they can reliably convey information to you and others. This eliminates the need for the teacher or para to tell you what's going on. Your child can do this themself. Back to your original question about how do you find out what your child's day was like given his IEP isn't teaching him how to tell you himself. What about designing a checklist - something that will be easy for the teacher to fill out? Ask if they follow a schedule where they start the day with A and then do B...and can you have a copy of the schedule? Can you meet with the teacher and ask them to describe a typical day? What about meeting with your child and their teacher & showing them how he knows more when he works with you? What about requesting an IEE at school expense because you don't agree with the present levels the school lists for your child? I think you also need to remain vigilant. Kids will not do well if they don't feel safe. I always worry that anyone who can't talk cannot tell their caregiver that they are being abused or witnessing classmates be abused. This is one reason I feel that everyone needs to be able to communicate. If you live in a state that allows people to record w/o their permission, parents have sent recording devices to school to audio record the school day. I know this is illegal in my state but there are places where this would be OK to do. You can search 'two party state' to see if yours is a place where you need permission to record or if you're in a 'one party state' where you could record. This is a short video on Spelling to Communicate. Many of these individuals were in self-contained classrooms being taught 'life skills' when their potential was hidden by not having a way to communicate due to autism combined with apraxia. I don't want this to happen to other students.

What does your child want to do after HS graduation? Work, more schooling? Does the IEP prepare your child for this? For example, if your child gets extra time for tests and wants to go to college, this is an accommodation they can get on SAT/ACT as well as on tests in college. I'm not sure with a homeschooler, who applies to the testing companies for any accommodations. In a public school, the guidance dept tends to do this.

Not sure if they will give it to you, but I'd ask for a copy of the FBA so I can become familiar with it before you meet with the school team. Not sure what to do when an IEP team isn't on the same page as you are with knowing how services are being delivered. What does it look like? is a good question to ask when they tell you about a service your child will get.

Not sure about including self-advocacy with this. Since your child is older, they need to learn to reach out to their teachers to catch them up when they are out. Would it make sense for them to email their teachers and ask what they missed when they were out? This could be part of the IEP. My SD has a policy when a student misses more than 20 classes over a year, the school doesn't have to give them credit for the class - even if they pass it. I would see about making sure that the excessive absences don't mean they won't get credit - even if they do all the work for the class & have passing grades.

Therapists are not 'legally' required to be at an IEP meeting. There is an exception: When it's a speech only IEP & it's the speech therapist. The therapist should provide written input when they are not at the meeting. Not in the gen ed classroom really depends on the child & their disability. This was not appropriate until my child needed a 2nd senior year that covered how to navigate college. I believe the placement was classified as 'community' and not as sp ed.