Since the drawbacks are minimal I will try to explain those
first. Also keep in mind my experience is with Washington State. Your State may
have different requirements.
Any classes taken at the Middle and High school level under
the IEP or Special Education will not count toward College placement. A 4 year
college generally requires at least 4 higher math classes of Algebra 1 or better
and 2 years of a foreign language. A 2 year college or community college
generally requires half the math and no foreign language prerequisite and
generally you take an admittance test and if you do not pass you can take unaccredited
courses and when you pass those you can go on to regular credited classes. Though
these requirements will vary State to State it is generally accepted that
Special Education classes will not count toward college credits. If you want
your child to be accepted to a 4 year college you need to make sure that they
are taking the general education requirements for college entrance. These can be
discussed with the guidance counselor at your child’s school.
Minor drawbacks may be ostracism by their peers and/or loss
of quality time forming social relationships resulting in slow social
development/skills.
Your child may attend Special education classes as well as
general education classes at the same time. If they are capable of achieving the
grades they need in the regular classes without the assistance of the Special
Education Staff the regular classes will count toward college credit. At one
point we had the Special Education teacher come into the regular class to help
our daughter in areas she was not able to keep up with the rest of the class. We
did this in Grade school so no effect on College credits but if we were to have
done this in High School she would not have been credited with those classes.
However as a way to get around this in High School, we hired a private tutor to
come into our home and help as needed. This allowed our daughter to attend
regular classes and still do well despite her learning deficits. We also made
sure she was under the 504 plan so that she would receive some additional
support.
When even this was not enough we got her an IEP and used 1
class as a study class under SPED to get extra help from the teacher. She
maintained her regular classes and now (2010) is just a few months away from
graduating high school with all required subjects passed to go on to a 4 year
college. She has a GPA of around 3.3 right now.
We fought very hard to get this special education in the
general class setting in grade school. Our daughter was taken out of the regular
class setting a few hours a week to have one on one education with the special
education teachers but we felt she needed to be with her peers in the regular
class room setting as much as possible. We were able to make this compromise in
that she would attend special education class a few hours a week and the special
education teacher would help in the regular class setting a few hours a week and
the rest of the time she would spend in the regular class setting. We tutored
her at home as much as we could and as much as she could stand.
But in Middle
school she was no longer under the IEP nor the 504. In Middle school they graded
her on effort and her grades were quite respectable graduating 9th
grade with a 3.792 GPA . But their having graded her on effort did not bode well
for her in High school as she was low on test scores and placed in remedial
math, after having passed algebra 1 with an A- in 9th Grade. This was
a crushing blow and we went straight to work contacting any who would listen and
got her under the 504 plan and began a lot of little battles to get her moved to
a higher math class and we also hired a tutor to help her get through it all.
Her self esteem is low as a result of this remedial math thing and she no longer
likes school and is in many ways rejecting her own goals as a result. We have
done all we can and I hope she will turn it around. But we still are active in
her education and are always vigilant that she gets what ever the 504 plan can
provide.
Now the 504 plan has no effect on College placement but
does not allow for Special Education. The 504 plan allows for special needs
within the regular class setting. These needs can be broadly interpreted, or
not, depending on your school district. (See
Parent & Educator Guide to the 504 Plan) Do not be afraid to fight through the
red tape and take it as far as you have to, to get your child the education they
deserve. Under the 504 plan the school is "required" to follow
procedure and hopefully make accommodations for
your child like extra time getting to class, verbal testing if needed, sitting
at the front of the class, recording of lectures, extra time doing tests or
special test accommodations like verbal tests, tests in a more conducive
surrounding like a private room if needed and even more time to take tests.
Perhaps even tutoring to some extent. This will all depend on your child’s
needs. Should those needs be too great they will need to be under an IEP but for
many just the 504 is sufficient. And the 504 will not handicap your child should
they decide to go on to college. Nor will tutoring at the high school and even
the college level.
Many schools will not provide what is not asked for, or
demanded, as they have limited budgets and many teachers are reluctant to make
accommodations. You will need to fight for your child but if you are tenacious
enough and are willing to take it up the ladder to as high an official as
necessary and/or engage a private advocacy group or lawyer you will be amazed at
what you can get for your child to help them get the education they deserve.
But remember this, The school has no obligation to provide what you ask for,
even if you can document a need. Also there is little teeth in enforcement of a
504 plan. The OCR will look into procedural issues but those specific needs of
your child can only be addressed through a Due Process hearing through the
school or a lawsuit.
Even children who will never be able to attend regular
classes and are forever in need of special education do not always get all that
they deserve and all that is required they receive. The thing is if a School
receives any money from the Federal government they HAVE to provide an IEP if
one is asked for, and they have to do whatever they can to ensure your child
gets an education. AND this is the best education that they can provide, not
just sit them in a class and ignore them. Many excuses will be made from budget
allocations to teacher time restrictions but even so you need to fight the
system and if you are tenacious enough you will often prevail.
The Links I provide to various parts of the IEP and the
subsequent IDEA 2004 was taken directly from the U.S. Department of Education
Website. Also the 504 plan. If they feel this information is not in the Public
Domain and want to sue me for copying it they are welcome to do so. I figure my
tax dollars were spent publishing this and it should be available to any who are
in need of it. I have posted the IEP overview and The IDEA 2004 amendments as
well as the 504 plan Q&A and relationship to the IDEA. Not in their entirety
but as much as I felt was appropriate. I would advise you to go to the U.S.
Department of Education website for more information. Also the Parent
& Educator guide was developed through the OSPI (Office Superintendent
Public Instruction) Here in Washington State as well as 5 Puget Sound School
Districts and the aide of the Anchorage Alaska School District. It not only has
a review of the 504 but it also has real life examples of 504 accommodations in
Appendix E.
IEP overview
504 plan & IDEA Q&A
Parent &
Educator Guide to the 504 plan
Title I--Amendments to the Individuals With Disabilities
Education Act.
IDEA 2004 summary&
Title 1 IDEA as written
There
are parts A,B,C, etc as well as Title II and Title III. I do not expect you to
read any of this lengthy legalese, but just post it as reference to how convoluted our government
makes things. I expect you to get a healthy dose of what you need in the
overviews, Q & A, Parents and Educators guide.
U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs’ (OSEP’s) IDEA
website
http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home
And I would also advise you do a more detailed search for
the relevant information that you need for your special child.
The
overview and Q &A of the 504 plan was done by the Office of Civil Rights
(OCR) and is stated to be:
OCR, a component of the U.S. Department of
Education, enforces Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
Therefore
I look upon this as another .gov and as such the information is public domain.
And
I was right. Upon further looking I found this information is public domain.
This publication is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in
whole or in part is granted. The publication's citation should be: U.S.
Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Washington, D.C., 2007.
IEP overview
504 plan & IDEA Q&A
So I guess they can't sue me after all.
Remember when dealing with the schools you have to be aware of your rights
going in. Many school administrators have limited budgets and they try like hell
to only provide the basics and some not even that. Remember that if that school
receives any money from the Federal Government (and all public schools do) then
they are required to provide an IEP and SPED or the 504 plan and are required to
provide the best education they can to your child. There will be battles to be
fought and you may lose some even taking it as far up the ladder as you can go.
But in the long run you will win more often than you lose and your child will
benefit from your tenacity. If you give up it is your child that will suffer, so
don't give up.
You will not create friends in the system. Enemies more likely. But you start
with the teachers and work your way through the Principal, the Districts office
for special education, the elected school board then on to the State level at the Department of Education and
if you have one the State Education Ombudsman's office. Also if you feel
you have been denied unfairly, file a Due process hearing complaint if under a
504 or a complaint through the States office of Education. Contact the Office for Civil Rights
for violations of procedural issues or if you need more information and the US
Department of Education for information and through them you can get information
of filing a civil suit. Until you have totally exhausted every avenue you have
not done all you can. Remember there are private advocacy groups and you can
always hire an attorney or if you are low income there is usually free legal
service for the impoverished.
Your Childs future is dependant on what services they get while they are
young. It is up to you to see to it they get everything possible so that their
adult years can be as fruitful as possible. To look back and know you did not do
everything possible will haunt you the rest of your life. More importantly it
will haunt your child.
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2007
-2010