Progress- 504 done testing for iep in progress...

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by jen h
Saturday, June 06, 2009

We continue to make progress ..  finally,after almost a wasted eigth grade school year, we obtained a 504 for anxiety. At least, we can start high school with a document that will allow us to speak to each teacher about the anxiety. Now, not that all the teachers will follow, as we are well aware. Maybe, just maybe some of them will have some compassion... Can you beleive in a meeting one of the teachers said, and I quote, "I dont care what this says, if I want to do it differently I will...."

Still working on getting my child classified. How I wish that back in kindergarten I had not declassified and thought the "professionals" were telling me the truth.  I had no idea how hard it would be to get services back...Back then, I beleived the school system had the childs best interest at heart. How cynical we have now become...

That was then this is now... No child left behind, many restrictions, etc.. The parent resource guides are confusing, the acronyms unclear, and the double speak and talking down to us lay people is daunting at meetings. Is someone fudging the results to meet the quota of not too many children classified?

What about the children? What about the parents who do not have the time to fight? I think of the children of parents who have no idea how to fight, or the resources - who are bullied by the child study teams, where do we go?  Who is looking out for all of us?? Has anyone tried to navigate the state websites? Filing a complaint is not easy, and does that penalize you more?  Will you be treated like a whistleblower???

I am sure my case is the norm, not an isolated incident. I would ask specific questions with no replies..They wear you down, you almost give up... But,  then you have a child continuing in the district and if they dig in their heels, you will get no where. It is so hard to walk that fine line.

So, as I look at it, I have my 504 for the time being even though  it was crafted without much of my input. I expressed my concerns about some of the details in it but rebuffed,so I sit and wait... They spoke to my child about the 504-  before I had the opportunity to bridge the gap to tell her about it. .. I voice my concerns.  No reply on that issue either..I wait as I chose to pick my battles until the testing results come in. School year over, and now we have no other children in the middle school anymore...

Now, I must sit back and wait the 65 business days for them to finish their review of their testing.  They didnt count on me getting a nuerodevelopmental pediatrician visit within a couple of days...It forced their hands.. even with my own private reports....

I will have two days to review the reports. This time, tho, I will be ready. I have two providers who promise they will look at the reports to see if they make any sense... As one of them said, they could be inaccurate...

This time, I will ask for an independent evaluation, should they find her ineligible due to a technicality. In a time where money is tight, the district will be paying for this one.  I await the genetic testing for this deletion.. This is being done in two weeks. I have auditory processing testing next week too. I have no idea how we will pay for that one, or if the insurance will cover. I have my one year old independent reports that the district will not use, and I will subject my child to even more testing. Funny, no one thinks about the stress and anxiety the child is being put through having all this additional testing done.