#IEP

[theworldoffostering]

H has a three year re-eval meeting this afternoon. I’ve been stressing about it for days. Can’t sleep. Can’t function. Full on cried this morning. I have the testing they did and it appears that they want to discharge him from all services. Currently he receives OT, writing, and reading. Reading is five days/week for 45 minutes. OT is 30 minutes/week, and writing is 3x/week. We have diagnoses of ADHD, auditory processing disorder, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and a bit of depression thrown in. Am I crazy for feeling like he needs the IEP in order to function? Doubt it.

[mouchee23gamma]

USA students with disabilities and disorders: LISTEN UP!

In the USA, a huge issue has gone unnoticed by our government, despite the cries of my people. Since the creation and implementation of IEPs and 504s for students with disorders and disabilities in school systems, this problem has plagued school systems on a national scale.

‘What is this problem?’ Is what you may ask. Well, I shall tell you from my perspective (and other students) as a female who has autism, ADHD, and GAD.

The problem is that school systems are allowing staff to discriminate and ignore students with IEPs and 504s. When I was in 9th grade, I had an English teacher who wouldn’t follow my IEP, which is illegal to do. Even with my case manager and parents communicating to him that he had to follow my IEP, he wouldn’t listen and lied about his actions. My case manager reported him to the higher ups of the school and her supervisor, but they didn’t even reach out to him, nor did they ever get back to us.

I was warned by many students with IEPs about this English teacher, as they also experienced the same exact situation where he refused to follow their IEPs. He was (and likely still is) the only option for 9th grade English, besides the English class for those who may have things like dyslexia or those who struggle with English in general.

I could’ve taken him to court, unfortunately though, I only found that out after I moved schools.

The next year, in my new school, my new case manager ignored my concerns and refused to talk about making a few changes to my IEP. She brushed me off by saying that I would be fine.

I wasn’t fine.

I ended up switching to online school, where I would be at home, yet still receiving the proper education through online meetings and programs.

Those of us who are students with IEPs and disabilities or disorders, especially under the age of 18, are oppressed and our cries for help are ignored.

We are SUFFERING. IEPs are NOT a privilege, they are a NECESSITY for those of us who have it!

My best friend who also has an IEP keeps me updated on the happenings of the school I went to (the one with the English teacher mentioned in the first paragraph) about how those of us in special education or/and have IEPs are being treated.

I have researched and read of so many incidents and situations like mine.

There is a HORRIFYING amount of mistreatment of my community, my people, with disabilities, disorders, and IEPs among schools across the nation.

How could schools claim to treat everyone fairly and that consequences for discrimination will ensue, when the teachers are the ones who discriminate more than most of the students and get away with it?

We need to change, and we need to revolt against schools who let staff get away with discrimination of those of us with disabilities, disorders, and IEPs!

WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED! WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO EDUCATION!

To my dear readers, please share this post across social media platforms to spread the support we so desperately need. Please share this among family and friends, coworkers, and even teachers and school staff.

[stinkyhotsocks]

Sniffing my Chuck Converse and my stinky sox🧦

Sniff me 🧦👣 sniff me

[autisticthings]

if you did have a 504 and/or IEP, I have another poll for you :)

[peridotamethyst]

Yea

[spooksforsammy]

The problem with gifted burnt out kids is that don’t really know when to not add in. As a gifted burnt out kid and a kid with an iep, there are times to talk about being a gifted child that got burnt out. And that time isn’t when someone’s talking about experience with iep, 504 and special education. That’s not when someone’s talking about experience with never having started out strong with good grades in advance classes. Time talk about being gifted not when others talking about not being in school full time or at all. Is not when talking about being drop out or having been a problematic kid to have to point where barely attend. Your time to talk shouldn’t be when someone is talking about experiences that’s looked down on when being see as gifted is good and how we get burnt out because our title is talked about often.

Do need learn back off and let others have spaces. Because they need be talked about aswell.

[deedoo-r]

Genuinely, nothing has ever been as mind-numbing as spending like 10 hours trying to complete like 8 school assignments.

there have actually been times when I just have to stop and go to bed because I have genuinely lost the ability to think

[studywgabi]

My 504 Plan Story

It wasn't until the tail end of my freshman year of high school, after being a student for 11 years, that I found out that such a thing as a 504 plan existed. Until that time, I believed there were no other options, that I was completely on my own, and that I would just have to buck up and power through.

504 plans simply weren't talked about. There was the cookie-cutter general education classroom, or the completely separated special education classroom, no in-between, and absolutely no blending of the two. My therapist was the one who identified that I needed a 504 plan, only after I had already failed a class.

I have always benefited from the privilege of having a mild, non-apparent disability, and of course this isn't the case for everyone who has a 504 plan, but almost every accommodation on my plan should have been automatically available to all students. It would be impossible for everyone to have an accommodation like priority seating (and of course not everyone needs it), but many accommodations basically just boil down to respect. It makes sense for me to have a formal written plan because I need these accommodations regularly, but being able to take a break when feeling overwhelmed, show one's learning in an alternative way, have extensions and learn at one's own pace, take tests in a distraction-free environment and with enough time, and have the freedom to feel comfortable and safe should be universal. Students shouldn't have to feel they must earn consideration and kindness from their role models through proving they experience a sufficient level of suffering. Respect for students and their needs should go without saying, especially for those who do not have the privilege of being diagnosed, like I have, or for the younger students whose diagnoses have not been identified yet, or those who are too overwhelmed, stretched too thin, have scheduling conflicts, or are otherwise unable to have the several required meetings that it takes to meet with a provider, get a diagnosis, meet with a school counselor, meet with their teachers, and write and use a 504 plan. I sincerely hope that my classmates do not have the emergencies that would lead them to need my or other accommodations frequently, but when they do (and they will), they deserve them just as much as I do. I have watched my classmates be punished for things outside of their control consistently and throughout the grades. Life happens, in spite of, before, during, after, around, at, unavoidably, and taking precedent over school.

It isn't just jumping through all of the hoops of writing a 504 plan, but the additional, exhausting work of being able to actually use it. Unfortunately, I'm sure all of us 504 plan-havers have had some kind of negative experience around this. We've been told that it's impossible, that our necessary accommodations "aren't really going to work" for a teacher, or have received the unsolicited advice to drop a class, because there is no way to pass it and meet our needs.

Many of my teachers have been amazing, kind people who supported me before and after I had a 504 plan, and many have made assumptions about my experiences and me based off of it or simply refused to recognize it. One high school teacher who required random, unpredictable oral participation which caused me to have anxiety attacks or dissociate frequently asked me to stay back after class had ended to apologize and admit she "shouldn't be doing that to me," yet continued to call on me when I had not raised my hand. An administrator at my high school very publicly and loudly pulled another girl and me out of class in the middle of a lecture, to a chorus of "oohs...". The administrator wanted to tell us about requesting accommodations for an upcoming AP test, which, apparently, could not have been an email instead of an interruption to our class time, and prioritized the convenience of telling both of us at the same time over respecting our privacy. In the hallway, she discussed the girl's IEP in front of me and my 504 plan in front of her. One college professor told me it would be unethical to give me an extension unless she gave it to every other student in her class. I didn't see the issue with that; those who needed it would benefit from it, and those who didn't wouldn't be disadvantaged by having it the way those who do are by not having it.

In high school, meeting with my incredibly understanding and dedicated counselor a very easy and positive experience. She simply opened a word document, typed up the accommodations list my therapist and I had come up with, and emailed it to my teachers. My therapist and pediatrician signed notes, my parents and I met with my teachers and the principal, and that was that. Though using it was sometimes challenging, at least my plan was created by, for, and around my needs and me.

In college, my experience with accommodations was starkly different than my previous one in high school and than what I had expected from a small, liberal, predominantly BIPOC and working adults community college that espoused rhetoric about inclusivity and serving the community. I was so excited for my meeting with a member of the access services division, an entire group of employees whose jobs were dedicated to and revolved completely around accommodations.

The accommodations coordinator had already come up with a list of accommodations prior to our meeting, ever speaking to me, and knowing what any of my disabilities and mental health conditions were. Some of them I needed, and some of them were unnecessary and would have given me an unfair advantage over other students. Many of the accommodations I need were not available, either at all or in the way that I need them. If I need an extension for an assignment, I have to request it before the original due date, and it is up to the discretion of each individual professor to give me between a minimum of 24 and maximum of 72 hours based on how difficult they believe the assignment to be for me. I'm lucky if I can get a professor to respond to an email in the first place, and a professor in an online class with hundreds of students who has never interacted with me will not know how long I need, and should not be expected to make that decision without any information to base it on. Also, they have already decided on the original due date based on how difficult they believe the assignment will be, so it just doesn't make sense to ask them that and give them the responsibility of making a choice for me. Finally, if I was able to spend a stressful hour crafting the most perfectly-worded, respectful, polite, and professional email before the due date, then I would also have the energy, motivation, and emotional stability to do the assignment. When I can't complete an assignment on time, it's because I can't get out of bed and do anything at all or because I can't stop crying and calm down long enough to do it. I'm not in a place where I can write an email, either. Alternative assignments are not available, including for the oral presentations worth 50% of my grade, answering questions on the spot, and spontaneous debates without notes in front of the class.

I had hoped things would improve at my 4-year-university, where there are more resources and staff dedicated to helping disabled students. The rules were much the same as at my community college. My emails and documents to the disability access center were lost multiple times, I have to go through the process of re-requesting my accommodations every quarter (as if my autism will suddenly go away someday) and I was only informed that my dorm room accommodation was denied 5 days before moving in. It has since been appealed and granted but only when space becomes available. I was told that I am waiting for another student to vacate the room, and that students with this accommodation typically require the room until graduation. Oh, do they?

I know for sure my classroom will be different when I am a teacher. I understand how demanding and difficult that career is, and I do not want nor expect my teachers to upheave the tried-and-true teaching methods they have used for decades. My accommodations are simple, clear, and reasonable. If oral participation is required, then I will do it at lunch, before school, after school, during office hours, in-person or over zoom, whenever the teacher is available in a one-on-one conversation, or record myself and email the video. If that's not a possibility, I would feel much more confident with a weekly schedule posted online, so that I could at least know in advance and prepare myself for public speaking. I don't ask for special treatment. I can and will do the exact same amount of work and to the same standard as everyone else, but it may not be possible for me to do it on the exact same timeline.

A student's grades shouldn't have to suffer in order to meet their accommodations, or because their accommodations aren't being met. A student's selection of the classes they're signing up for shouldn't be informed by fears, anxiety, or doubt that their accommodations will be met. Many times, both before and after I received my 504 plan, I deliberately failed an assignment because completing it was not a possibility, or skipped class because I did not feel safe enough to attend, which made coming back the next day even more terrifying.

Going to school should not be a dreaded, stressful, draining series of almost insurmountable hurdles. School should be a place where students feel safe, included, and respected, not only because they deserve it, but because it will provide an example for them for how to treat others and themselves. Students should be taught from a young age to advocate for themselves and they should know that there are options available to them, and that their disability, circumstances, and who they are should not prevent them from receiving a quality, comprehensive education.

There is always, always, always a way to meet a student's accommodations. There is a way for a student with social anxiety who is unable to complete any assignment that involves public speaking to earn an A+ in their speech and debate class. There is a way for a student who has severe depression that significantly reduces their motivation to pass AP calculus with flying colors. There's a way to teach students with disabilities without the student's learning or the academic rigor of the class being sacrificed or the student's mental health being pushed aside or ignored, or an additional burden being placed on the teacher. There is a way for every student to be supported, celebrated, and challenged, in every subject, to succeed and to fail, to find their strengths and weaknesses, to be self-actualized, capable, and independent, to give and receive help, and to learn, if we are willing to find it.

[chadots]

I have a 14yo who’s failing half his classes, with an IEP, and I get weekly emails about how he’s not doing well.

I’m very close to saying, NO SHIT.

It’s very likely that he’ll drop out as soon as he’s old enough for a job.

I can see it coming and can’t think of a way to prevent it.

[theworldoffostering]

I had my interview with the Department of Public Instruction today regarding the complaint that I filed due to the district not following DS’ IEP. The woman I spoke with was so much friendlier than the last time I filed a complaint on behalf of DD many years ago. I spoke to her for about an hour, and she was direct and kind.

The complaint has to be sorted by 8/6 so now she will speak to the district. The special education teachers that DS worked with all year have both quit, so it will be difficult for them to get information from anyone. The Director of Student Services didn’t attend any IEP meetings, so he has no first hand knowledge of anything.

One of my complaints is that we did not receive progress reports which should be sent quarterly. I received one of the four. The DPI person said the district sent her the reports that were written. That surprised me because I didn’t even know there were any. Apparently they wrote them, but didn’t send them to us.

They also didn’t provide any pull out services from September-February. We had a review/revise meeting in February and then they said they would provide compensatory services, but didn’t say how many or for how long.

[ihavea-natural-curiosity]

so i’ve realized how difficult it is to think of accommodations for yourself for an IEP or 504, so here’s a list of some of the ones i havé for reference to help some people :)

longer passing periods - my school typically has 5 minutes for a huge school, so they gave me an extra 2 because i may be slower (fibro)

phone allowances - this is for when i need to distract myself from pain, communicate with my mother about BP or anything health related, or to abate panic/anxiety attacks

hot pass - this is where im allowed to leave class at any time to sit in the hall, go to the nurse, or to a separate room (separate accommodation), it’s for panic and/or anxiety attacks or when my pain gets too much

separate room - there’s a specific set of rooms/places that i’m allowed to drop in just whenever if my pain or anxiety is just too much

fidget accommodations - this is for my ADHD, i’m allowed stim toys in class and my teachers are not allowed to take them or get me in trouble for drawing in class

elevator access - it does what it says on the tin, especially try to get this accommodation if you have a parent who will fight to hell for you, maybe you can make your school listen to the ADA over elevators

absences - i’m still working on this, but right now i can’t get in any trouble with the school for missing school for appointments, but i’m going to make it so that i can have more than 9 unexcused absences in the entire year for pain days

feel free to add on to this post, i think it’s important that people in school should be able to have the best experience possible

[stinkyhotsocks]

Gotta cum on them 🔥

[autisticthings]

Check out this poll next :)

[iamunabletothinkofablogname]

MUSIC FUCK YEAH

[spooksforsammy]

Have iep meeting today during 2nd (? Maybe very end of 1st) and they expect me to know what I want do after highschool. What want be in future. What new goals want with iep and speech.

And i simply don’t know the answer for those questions. With speech want work on AAC, but don’t know how bring that up without feeling embarrassed or scared.

Don’t know what do. Hoping won’t have speak there, just have sit. Just want sleep.

[paperboy-pb]

"Learning Disabilities: Appropriate Practices for a Diverse Population"

Written by Barry Edwards McNamara. [1998]

A reblog with my thoughts, as a former NYC Special Ed student of the 2000s & 2010s will be posted on all PB platforms at a later point. [02/23]