concussion and accommodations w/ or w/o 504 plan

[Anonymous]

I cross posted this in the special needs forum, but wonder what the experience is of other families in MCPS or other MD schools on concussions and "return to learning".

DC had a concussion and has been out of school for several months (MCPS). We are having great difficulty with the school. Teachers refuse to provide missed work for weeks at a time (despite repeated requests), then complain that she is behind and set artificial deadlines for completion. In some classes, DC has not been given missed work for 4-6 weeks, but she is still expected to make it up. School informed us that DC "must" drop certain classes (even though DC has made up work in the classes and has an A). Have finally had a 504 meeting and school does agree that DC is eligible for accommodations. Meeting was tense, but some key decisions about schooling were made in our favor.

But, school still refused to limit the amount of work DC has to do to "essential" work, even though doctor's note specifies this. Teachers (and principal) insist that all work is essential. They are insisting that DC makeup all work since they will extended deadlines. We made suggestions in the meeting about how to limit schoolwork, but all were shot down. They have said DC can tell them when DC can't do something and they will discuss each assignment individually. I think this puts tremendous burden on DC. The concussion means that she has limited cognitive endurance, so without the "limit school work" accommodation, DC will potentially spend time on less valuable work and then when she needs to not do something, she will be told "but this is essential."

School also has not provided a HH teacher even though it's been more than a month since we made the official request.

I'm somewhat acquainted with 504 law and know that a lot of what DC's school initially proposed went beyond ridiculous to flat out illegal.

I'm wondering about other's experiences either with concussions or on 504 plans or for other medical reasons which would have a profile similar to concussion (out of school for weeks/months, significantly behind, but cognitively capable of catching up with home/hospital teacher and limited work). Here are a few Q's.

How long did it take Home and Hospital to assign a teacher?
Has anyone ever been assigned a home and hospital teacher that could come during the day or do they only provide teachers during after school hours?
Did your kid get "limited work" accommodation?
Did school say that your child could not participate in extra-curricular activities, even though there was no medical reason not to?
If your child had a concussion, what kind of accommodations were given? Is it common for teachers to be uncooperative? How did you resolve problems?
Did the school ask that you leave a class that was accelerated or advanced or did the school refuse to adjust workload in accelerated or advanced classes?

Any experience out there on contesting 504 plans? We got a due process notice that mentions the following options for dispute resolution -- Section 504 review with Section 504 coordinator in MCPS Dept of Student Services, mediation thru MD Office of Administrative Hearings, or Section 504 Hearing thru the MD OAH. Are these sequential steps you have to go thru or can you choose any option? Any benefits to one over the other?

[Anonymous]

I don't have a child with a 504 plan, but wrightslaw.com can be a useful site for parents. I just googled "wrightslaw concussion 504" and came up with something for bipolar depression- http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/sec504.idea.eligibility.htm

If you dig around on that site, you may be able to find something helpful.

[Anonymous]

I know that great colleges, such as Williams, accommodate concussion recovery MUCH more humanely and intelligently than what you describe. And that's college! I cannot believe they would suggest that your injured DD should deteine for herself on an ongoing basis what she can and cannot do. She CAN do lots of things, I am sure, but she should NOT without risk to her long term functioning. There are many resources about this on the web. Could you possibly take an MD to the next meeting or arrange for a call between MD and the ignorant bureaucrats?

[Anonymous]

I would push on the HH teacher. If you get nowhere, HOMESCHOOL!!!! You can re-enroll in PS when your child is better. There are tons of local homeschool forums on yahoo where you can ask how to get started. There are TONS of resources out there to use to teach your daughter. How old is your child. Homeschool is fun and you can adjust the level and workload to meet your child's needs and have fun in the process. The last thing your DC needs is STRESS. Also, it is my understanding that work completed outside of classwork cannot be graded. Now I'm sure they are making an exception for illness--but I think this means they do not grade homework..maybe just check it off? So you might find out what work is actually graded. Also, dont worry about the grades. Who cares? (Unless your child is in HS). Again, a big vote here for homeschooling until DC is recovered. Your child can pursue MUCH more interesting things in homeschooling and not suffer a loss of skills (or whatever skills school is working on at re-entry can be picked up quickly). Best wishes to your DC!

[Anonymous]

What is the schools reccomendation..repeat the year?

[Anonymous]

Former mcps teacher here, just FYI, the hh program is almost non existent. Don't count on it Too much. Get a private tutor if u can. Keep pursuing the 504. Also see if u can get a student advocate. (jssa of all places Is helpful)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former mcps teacher here, just FYI, the hh program is almost non existent. Don't count on it Too much. Get a private tutor if u can. Keep pursuing the 504. Also see if u can get a student advocate. (jssa of all places Is helpful)

OMG, this is so true -- the HH program being non-existant. That is def our experience! And, every staff person we have talked to has acknowledged that it typically takes forever for HH to assign a teacher. But why is it non-existent? I can see from the MCPS HH regs, that MCEA (the teacher's union) provides teachers for HH to vet. Does that have something to do with it? Private tutor would be $$ we don't have and not FAPE.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend whose daughter needed HH and it was set up right away and really helped her keep up. This was last year. So I wouldn't rule it out.