If your child has a 504 plan…

[Anonymous]

We requested it. He was holding it together at school but fell apart each night at home, so only we saw. We had him in counseling and paid for our own battery of tests which came back inconclusive for a lot but conclusive for one thing which was enough to get the ball rolling. The actual diagnosis doesn’t matter, just that accommodations get in place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. So it’s a mix of school-initiated and parent-initiated. I’m the OP and the school initiated our DD’s 504 plan. I wasn’t sure if that was typical. Sounds like it is. I’m glad our teachers are looking out for our kids. Her accommodations have helped her a lot.

My daughter’s kindergarten teacher initiated a plan because she noticed something about her wrist and the way she wrote was off. I never would have noticed. She colored within the lines unlike my son. She got occupational therapy for two years. It sounds like it might be a 504 but I never noticed. I was just glad the teacher recognized such a subtle problem and she got help for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers can’t guess at a diagnosis or disability, that’s true, but they can absolutely observe that a child has trouble staying focused and is impulsive. They can ask parents if they see similar behaviors at home. They can ask parents if they share the concern about the child’s ability to learn because of the impulsiveness. And they can ask if they have shared these concerns with the child’s doctor. None of that is inappropriate or overstepping.

Teachers are highly discouraged from referring too many kids. So if you have 5 kids like this in a class, you can refer maybe the two worst ones.

[Anonymous]

do they need a disability to get one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:do they need a disability to get one?

Yes. It’s accommodation without specialized instruction.