Is a 504 Plan Right for My Child? - Página 2

504 Option: When Your Child Receives Informal Accommodations at School

Sometimes, teachers or schools will provide informal or "undocumented" accommodations, support, or services to students as a way to shore up their daily learning. They may share this with you in a casual way and your first reaction may be to just agree to it and allow the school to use their best judgment about your child’s learning needs. While their efforts may be well-intentioned and may also be helpful to the child in the short-term, it is inappropriate for such informal accommodations to be provided in any ongoing way — especially if they aren’t formally agreed to between the school and the family. Why? Because, if in fact your child needs these accommodations and the teacher or school suspects they have a learning disability or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, they are obligated to do more than casually accommodate him. They must, in fact, provide an evaluation to determine the cause of the child’s ongoing need.

Also, if your child receives these informal accommodations on a frequent basis and needs them due to a qualifying disability or disorder, you want to make sure you have the paperwork (i.e., documentation) they will need later in life (e.g., when applying for accommodations for the SAT or ACT) or, when they leave that particular school or classroom. It’s important for you to talk with the school, and if you believe they are supporting your child due to any suspicion of an LD or AD/HD, you should ask in writing for your child to be evaluated.

Some examples of informal accommodations that should be formally documented are:

• Providing extra time on assignments or tests because the child is struggling to meet deadlines or take timed quizzes or tests
• Offering to give consistent verbal or non-verbal cues to your child to get them back on task or focused
• Reading assignments or test items out loud to your child when the other children are reading it for themselves
• Providing a backpack check to keep your child’s homework and assignments organized
• Offering any of the accommodations provided in the case studies on an ongoing basis
• Providing instructional support or interventions that are targeted toward supporting a persistent learning need (e.g., giving scheduled time in a spelling/other software, pulling the child out for small group instruction for any length of time for any subject*)

*Sometimes schools will provide targeted interventions that are meant to reinforce or strengthen an area of learning (e.g., spelling, reading, math). These may be offered through a tiered intervention or instructional program, often called "Response to Intervention", and may be part of the school’s regular education program. However, you should fully understand why your child is in the program and have a written instruction or intervention plan that explains:

• the type of intervention or support provided
• why your child needs it
• how long it will be provided
• how your child’s progress will be monitored
• how they will communicate your child’s progress with you

Case Study: A Child Receiving Informal Accommodations

David is in second grade. It’s January and David’s parents and the teacher have met several times since school began to discuss his inability to sit still, to pay attention, and his struggle to turn most of his class and homework in on time which has affected all of his grades. David’s parents have been working with him at home to try and help him complete his work by providing both structure and a reasonable reward system so he’ll want to finish on time and feel confident when he accomplishes tasks and assignments. At both home and school, David struggles to remember directions, to keep his things organized, and regularly interrupts others while they are talking. Since the fall, the teacher has occasionally and sporadically:

• provided verbal cues to David to get back to work,
• allowed him to stand up at his desk to write if he gets too wiggly in his seat; and
• placed a cardboard cut-out around his desk to create privacy during reading and writing assignments which has started to embarrass David.

The teacher has also mentioned to the parents that they should consider medicating him so he’ll sit still. David’s parents realize that he needs consistent and systematic support – a real plan throughout the day and that the school is actually accommodating him without any formal agreement or discussion about whether these supports are exactly right for him. They deliver a letter requesting an evaluation and also bring a doctor’s note stating that David has AD/HD. The school schedules a comprehensive evaluation under IDEA. Although it is determined that David’s AD/HD does not meet the requirements under IDEA, they do agree that his attention disorder substantially limits his ability to concentrate. Together with David’s parents, they develop a 504 plan which spells out the accommodations he will receive in both the classroom and formal testing environment.

Remember, the case studies in this article are designed to illustrate types of accommodations that could be included in a 504 plan. However, each student’s plan must be customized to meet their individual needs. Remember: There is no "one-size-fits-all" set of accommodations.

A 504 plan can be a powerful way to support a student with a learning disability or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, especially for students whose learning needs can be met full-time in the general education classroom. There are several resources that can be of help as you further explore whether this is the right approach to take for your child.

For information on how Section 504 applies to college students, read our publication, "Transition to College: Strategic Planning to Ensure Success."