“They won’t go to kindergarten in diapers!”…well, actually, they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who will change them? Nurse?

No. The Nurse or Health Aide will take care of the children coming in for illness and/medications.

Former health aide in VA: changing diapers is not allowed and requires special licensing. We are unable to assist with potty accidents and are no longer allowed to store extra clothes in the health offices.

What is the reasoning behind banning extra clothing?

Dp. My kid in FCPS has extra clothes at school for accidents. Maybe they’re not kept in the heath office but extra clothing is not banned.

[Anonymous]

Universities are required to maintain offices of disabilities to comply with the ADA. One aspect is for those offices to record and track all students on campus with a disability.

Approx. 25% of students in many universities (especially west of the Mississippi) are “disabled” according to recent surveys of disabilities offices.

Worse still, subtracting the international students (who are generally never disabled) the rate of “disabled” rises close to 40 - 50% in some schools.

Personally, I doubt close to half of any university student body is really disabled.

Meaning: tens of thousands - maybe hundreds of thousands - of Americans are cheating the system to get an unfair advantage as “disabled.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who will change them? Nurse?

No. The Nurse or Health Aide will take care of the children coming in for illness and/medications.

Former health aide in VA: changing diapers is not allowed and requires special licensing. We are unable to assist with potty accidents and are no longer allowed to store extra clothes in the health offices.

NP here. Who changes the diaper then? I do not believe this should be a job that falls to teachers. But also, I have sympathy for these kids/families because no one, just no one, wants to keep paying for huge pull ups and chasing around a 5 y/o with a dirty diaper. And they must be consulting with a doctor for the 504 plan (I doubt anyone is calling up a telehealth doc for this).

So assuming the teacher doesn’t have to change the diaper, I don’t really see how a child having a diaper under their clothes in case of an accident disrupts anything (in fact a diaper seems better than sending a kid to school to have an accident).

Hopefully the kid can manage to wipe themself and put on a new one by that age. If not, the nurse could call the parents to pick them up or change them same as any health issue like spiking a fever. OP didn’t mention she has been instructed to change the child’s diaper (unless I missed that in an earlier post).

This thread is filled with a lot of nastiness toward children who are likely struggling.

Cleaning up a child with a poopy diaper is a difficult job even for an experienced parent with a cooperative child. It’s not a couple quick wipes and you’re done. That’s only what happens if the kid actually uses the toilet.

Teachers, aides and school nurses did not sign up for this and may not even be parents who have had any experience with it. Adding it to their list of duties is completely unreasonable and will just drive more of them out of our schools.

Teachers, aides, and school nurses are not expected to, and in fact are not allowed to, change a child's diaper. There is no indication that the OP or any teacher is being asked to change diapers. This is a made up narrative designed to whip off conflict between teachers and parents of kids with special needs. Those of you playing into it are either trolls or very gullible.

No one is asking teachers to change poopy diapers. No one. The 504 in these cases exists not just to permit the child to wear a diaper to school but to create a procedure for the school to follow if the child needs assistance with a diaper (which they may not, the kids may simply be wearing the diaper as a failsafe just in case they have a poop accident due to underlying medical issues, specifically to avoid the possibility of an unsanitary event in the classroom).

+1. I know someone who had such a 504 plan and it involved finding a private space at school for the child to change clothes if soiled or to wait until the parent could arrive from work to change him. The teacher was not allowed to change him, it was not a request of the plan at all. It also involved counseling services for the child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Universities are required to maintain offices of disabilities to comply with the ADA. One aspect is for those offices to record and track all students on campus with a disability.

Approx. 25% of students in many universities (especially west of the Mississippi) are “disabled” according to recent surveys of disabilities offices.

Worse still, subtracting the international students (who are generally never disabled) the rate of “disabled” rises close to 40 - 50% in some schools.

Personally, I doubt close to half of any university student body is really disabled.

Meaning: tens of thousands - maybe hundreds of thousands - of Americans are cheating the system to get an unfair advantage as “disabled.”

What exactly are these students cheating the system out of? What kinds of accommodations do you think these students are getting?

Do you think a child with chronic constipation who cannot always control their bowel movements should be denied the accommodation of wearing a diaper? Is there any situation in which you would approve of a child wearing a diaper to accommodate a medical issue?

This thread is not about students getting extra time on the SAT. It's about kindergarteners getting a 504 so they can wear diapers to address a medically diagnosed constipation issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who will change them? Nurse?

No. The Nurse or Health Aide will take care of the children coming in for illness and/medications.

Former health aide in VA: changing diapers is not allowed and requires special licensing. We are unable to assist with potty accidents and are no longer allowed to store extra clothes in the health offices.

NP here. Who changes the diaper then? I do not believe this should be a job that falls to teachers. But also, I have sympathy for these kids/families because no one, just no one, wants to keep paying for huge pull ups and chasing around a 5 y/o with a dirty diaper. And they must be consulting with a doctor for the 504 plan (I doubt anyone is calling up a telehealth doc for this).

So assuming the teacher doesn’t have to change the diaper, I don’t really see how a child having a diaper under their clothes in case of an accident disrupts anything (in fact a diaper seems better than sending a kid to school to have an accident).

Hopefully the kid can manage to wipe themself and put on a new one by that age. If not, the nurse could call the parents to pick them up or change them same as any health issue like spiking a fever. OP didn’t mention she has been instructed to change the child’s diaper (unless I missed that in an earlier post).

This thread is filled with a lot of nastiness toward children who are likely struggling.

Cleaning up a child with a poopy diaper is a difficult job even for an experienced parent with a cooperative child. It’s not a couple quick wipes and you’re done. That’s only what happens if the kid actually uses the toilet.

Teachers, aides and school nurses did not sign up for this and may not even be parents who have had any experience with it. Adding it to their list of duties is completely unreasonable and will just drive more of them out of our schools.

Teachers, aides, and school nurses are not expected to, and in fact are not allowed to, change a child's diaper. There is no indication that the OP or any teacher is being asked to change diapers. This is a made up narrative designed to whip off conflict between teachers and parents of kids with special needs. Those of you playing into it are either trolls or very gullible.

No one is asking teachers to change poopy diapers. No one. The 504 in these cases exists not just to permit the child to wear a diaper to school but to create a procedure for the school to follow if the child needs assistance with a diaper (which they may not, the kids may simply be wearing the diaper as a failsafe just in case they have a poop accident due to underlying medical issues, specifically to avoid the possibility of an unsanitary event in the classroom).

+1. I know someone who had such a 504 plan and it involved finding a private space at school for the child to change clothes if soiled or to wait until the parent could arrive from work to change him. The teacher was not allowed to change him, it was not a request of the plan at all. It also involved counseling services for the child.

Yes, there is no situation in which a teacher would be asked to change a child's diaper. In part a 504 in a situation like this is to ensure the teachers/staff understand NOT to change the child's diaper and to follow a set procedure so that state laws regarding toileting in schools are followed.

As this thread makes clear, lots of people (including sadly some teachers) are unaware of the rules regarding toileting issues in schools and thus it makes sense that parents and administrators would prefer to have a formal plan in place. Sounds better for everyone. I bet the parents would much rather their kid not need diapers and they could avoid this conversation altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who will change them? Nurse?

No. The Nurse or Health Aide will take care of the children coming in for illness and/medications.

Former health aide in VA: changing diapers is not allowed and requires special licensing. We are unable to assist with potty accidents and are no longer allowed to store extra clothes in the health offices.

What is the reasoning behind banning extra clothing?

Dp. My kid in FCPS has extra clothes at school for accidents. Maybe they’re not kept in the heath office but extra clothing is not banned.

When my kid was in 3rd grade, someone else spilled their drink all over her shirt. She was loaned a sweatshirt from the health room. I washed it and returned it. Wondering why that’s not allowed anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had two last year and one this year. We’ve never had any before these two years. This is one of the many things we’ve gotten from kids being at home with their parents. That and screen addictions. And not ever hearing the word “no” before.

I agree with this -- it's a combination of all these things. The parents think they "can't" train the kid. The habits become more ingrained. YES, of course there are some medical exceptions. But it's also a collapse of expectations. At a certain point, this tips into a hygiene/mental health/self confidence issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had two last year and one this year. We’ve never had any before these two years. This is one of the many things we’ve gotten from kids being at home with their parents. That and screen addictions. And not ever hearing the word “no” before.

I agree with this -- it's a combination of all these things. The parents think they "can't" train the kid. The habits become more ingrained. YES, of course there are some medical exceptions. But it's also a collapse of expectations. At a certain point, this tips into a hygiene/mental health/self confidence issue.

You are not privy to the medical information of that child. In the case of my friend whose child had a 504 plan, he eventually needed surgery. It had NOTHING to do with his parents’ willingness to train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had two last year and one this year. We’ve never had any before these two years. This is one of the many things we’ve gotten from kids being at home with their parents. That and screen addictions. And not ever hearing the word “no” before.

I agree with this -- it's a combination of all these things. The parents think they "can't" train the kid. The habits become more ingrained. YES, of course there are some medical exceptions. But it's also a collapse of expectations. At a certain point, this tips into a hygiene/mental health/self confidence issue.

You are not privy to the medical information of that child. In the case of my friend whose child had a 504 plan, he eventually needed surgery. It had NOTHING to do with his parents’ willingness to train.

I call BS. It’s absolutely on the parents and their inability to parent. 100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had two last year and one this year. We’ve never had any before these two years. This is one of the many things we’ve gotten from kids being at home with their parents. That and screen addictions. And not ever hearing the word “no” before.

I agree with this -- it's a combination of all these things. The parents think they "can't" train the kid. The habits become more ingrained. YES, of course there are some medical exceptions. But it's also a collapse of expectations. At a certain point, this tips into a hygiene/mental health/self confidence issue.

You are not privy to the medical information of that child. In the case of my friend whose child had a 504 plan, he eventually needed surgery. It had NOTHING to do with his parents’ willingness to train.

I call BS. It’s absolutely on the parents and their inability to parent. 100%

You can’t be serious. You think a child going into surgery has an issue of parenting and not his GI system? Um, ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I 100% guarantee you that if this is a public school, the teachers are not being asked to change diapers and in fact are not permitted to do so. Which, if OP is actually a teacher, she would know. I could see potentially a private school having the right licensing to do diapering if they have a preschool program that that starts young, though most private elementaries will not bother with this.

Literally what OP is complaining about is the mere existence of kindergarteners in diapers, as though this by itself indicates some kind of breakdown in society. OP acknowledges the parents in this situation have obtained 504s and the the diapers are for a medical issues (constipation).

IF this is a trend (and there is zero indication in this thread that it is, I am not even convinced OP actually works at a school and is not just a troll trying to stir up some pearl clutching over late potty training), it is related to constipation in kids. Not "lazy parents who refuse to potty train." A lazy parent who refuses to potty train is not alerting the school to the issue four months in advance, or getting a diagnosis of constipation from a physician that would enable a 504. There is a lot more awareness of constipation in kids now and more efforts to actually treat the issues rather than ignore it. It's entirely likely that the reason these kids are in diapers is because they are currently being treated for constipation, are on a daily laxative dose, and their doctors/parents are not confident that the constipation will be resolved before they start K so are using diapers specifically to AVOID the children having poop accidents or leaks at school.

But apparently some of you think that children with medical issues should simply be kept home and are not entitled to an education? Okay, good luck with that, the law says otherwise.

How would she know? I teach kindergarten and I don’t know. My own kid has a bathroom accident in pre-k as and I was called to clean him up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m deeply concerned that the kindergarten teacher who started this thread does not understand that the three children wearing diapers that she’s talking about do, in fact, have special needs of some kind. If they are getting 504 plans, they have medical or mental health diagnoses of some kind. It’s troubling that the teacher doesn’t understand that.

Why do you assume they have special needs? Some parents just don’t want to be bothered. You’ll see it more and more.

You need documentation of a disability to get a 504 plan.

You need to post things that you actually know about. Your statement is blatantly wrong. My kid can get a 504 for having a broken leg. That’s is not a disability and no documentation needs to be provided.

But the do need a diagnosis!! In your case, the diagnosis is a broken leg.

It’s not remotely the same hurdle as getting an IEP. Some random teledoc or urgent care person could write you what you need for a 504. It’s just not remotely comparable. If the kid is truly SN, they will have an IEP.

My child was diagnosed with ASD, ADHD and anxiety by the end of elementary school (with full neuropsych exam). We hired a consultant for the IEP process. Child still didn’t get an IEP. Child in high school now. Made another attempt at getting an IEP. Special Ed representative tried to discourage us at Child Find meeting from even having child undergo evaluations, saying child wouldn’t qualify. We pushed for school to do evaluations and child ultimately qualified. Even having documented disabilities doesn’t automatically get you an IEP. If these kids haven’t even started kindergarten yet, their parents haven’t had the time to jump through a lot of hoops and they may not have an extra $5k for private evaluation.

+1 my 5 yo has ASD. Thankfully DC did not have major issues with potty training.

Was only diagnosed with ASD after attending a $3k intensive therapy program for another issue which
led to a recommendation for a $5k private eval to get the diagnosis. None of the providers take insurance. And child will not be getting IEP
in K (we tried and also consulted advocate who said it wasn't going to happen).

The persistent claim on DCUM that all kids with disabilities are able to get IEPs in time for K or their disabilities are not real is offensive and a testament to the willful ignorance about disabilities and special ed among supposedly educated people.

SN mom here. If you child has focus or behavioral issues that keeps them from accessing the curriculum in K they will get an IEP. If your child is doing fine learning to read & write, doing circle time, lining up for recess, not hitting anyone or hiding under tables, they won’t get an IEP. In the DCUM crowd there are SN and there are “SN.”

Yes, unfortunately many "SN" moms that post on DCUM are just here to bash other parents and never got the message that not all disabilities are visible to you. Just because a child isn't bothering teachers or disrupting class does not mean they are not struggling.

If your child is keeping up academically and behaviorally they don’t qualify for an IEP. End of story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My siblings and I were raised in traditional cloth diapers before the advent of disposable ones. All potty-trained before age 2, according to my mom.

WTF is the issue here?

In my experience as a special Ed teacher, constipation issues seem to be common in kids with autism. There are also other factors that may make toilet training hard for kids with ASD (loud flushing, reluctance to use public bathrooms). Many more students with autism are mainstreamed now because they have average to above average intelligence and can be successful in the mainstream classroom. The schools need more staff to make this all doable.

No they don’t. Autism is not actually a reason not to work to potty train by five.

No one said kids with autism shouldn't potty train before 5. They (a special ed teacher, so someone who would know) said that toilet training can be harder for ASD kids. Meaning it could take longer. An ASD kid might start kindergarten in diapers despite working on toile training for years prior.

My kid trained at 4 after years of working on it. And among the obstacles were a seeming inability to know when peeing was urgent, a rigid refusal to interrupt an activity to use the toilet, and intense fear of using a regular toilet (as well as fear of flushing, fear of wiping, and definitely fear of using any toilet outside our house). Also severely picky eating that can cause digestive issues.

Guess what diagnosis my kid got at 6?

And you made an effort and trained your kid at 4.

And my kid has a milder form of autism and the sensory issues were easier for me to overcome than some of the traits of more complex ASD cases when it came to toilet training. Most people don't realize my kid has ASD when they meet her and our K teacher was skeptical about the diagnosis because she has no academic challenges and she uses advanced verbal skills to mask social challenges and negative behaviors. The belief that all kids with ASD who aren't toilet trained by four had parents who just failed to "power through" is BS.

The point is that when we were struggling with toilet training, no one gave us any grace or considered our child light have been tougher to train. I blamed myself a lot and bought into the idea that it was my fault. It was only after diagnosis, the summer between K and 1st, that I realized that the phobic behaviors and rigidity we had encountered were more than just a "threenager" or normal toddler resistance.

and yet you DID potty train before K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Universities are required to maintain offices of disabilities to comply with the ADA. One aspect is for those offices to record and track all students on campus with a disability.

Approx. 25% of students in many universities (especially west of the Mississippi) are “disabled” according to recent surveys of disabilities offices.

Worse still, subtracting the international students (who are generally never disabled) the rate of “disabled” rises close to 40 - 50% in some schools.

Personally, I doubt close to half of any university student body is really disabled.

Meaning: tens of thousands - maybe hundreds of thousands - of Americans are cheating the system to get an unfair advantage as “disabled.”

What exactly are these students cheating the system out of? What kinds of accommodations do you think these students are getting?

Do you think a child with chronic constipation who cannot always control their bowel movements should be denied the accommodation of wearing a diaper? Is there any situation in which you would approve of a child wearing a diaper to accommodate a medical issue?

This thread is not about students getting extra time on the SAT. It's about kindergarteners getting a 504 so they can wear diapers to address a medically diagnosed constipation issue.

They’re getting extra time on tests and assignments. It really is rampant. I spend a lot of time on the SN board and while most of us have kids who “earned” their IEP, there are regular posts by parents who clearly use psych meds out of some goal to perfect their child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I 100% guarantee you that if this is a public school, the teachers are not being asked to change diapers and in fact are not permitted to do so. Which, if OP is actually a teacher, she would know. I could see potentially a private school having the right licensing to do diapering if they have a preschool program that that starts young, though most private elementaries will not bother with this.

Literally what OP is complaining about is the mere existence of kindergarteners in diapers, as though this by itself indicates some kind of breakdown in society. OP acknowledges the parents in this situation have obtained 504s and the the diapers are for a medical issues (constipation).

IF this is a trend (and there is zero indication in this thread that it is, I am not even convinced OP actually works at a school and is not just a troll trying to stir up some pearl clutching over late potty training), it is related to constipation in kids. Not "lazy parents who refuse to potty train." A lazy parent who refuses to potty train is not alerting the school to the issue four months in advance, or getting a diagnosis of constipation from a physician that would enable a 504. There is a lot more awareness of constipation in kids now and more efforts to actually treat the issues rather than ignore it. It's entirely likely that the reason these kids are in diapers is because they are currently being treated for constipation, are on a daily laxative dose, and their doctors/parents are not confident that the constipation will be resolved before they start K so are using diapers specifically to AVOID the children having poop accidents or leaks at school.

But apparently some of you think that children with medical issues should simply be kept home and are not entitled to an education? Okay, good luck with that, the law says otherwise.

How would she know? I teach kindergarten and I don’t know. My own kid has a bathroom accident in pre-k as and I was called to clean him up.

Well, first, if you are a kindergarten teacher you should be aware that it is likely not legal for you to change a students' diaper. You're welcome for this basic information about your job.

But also, if your own experience as a parent was that you were called to take care of a bathroom accident for a pre-k child, then why would you think the expectation for you as a kindergarten teacher would be to change one of your students. Shouldn't you be able to put two and two together and realize "oh, if one of my students had a bathroom accident, I probably just need to contact their parents to come handle just as my own child's pre-k teacher did"? Like where is the disconnect here.

As a kindergarten teacher, have you ever been expected to clean up a poop accident or do any more than facilitate a child changing into another set of clothes (likely provided by the parents) in the event of a pee accident?