I was having nightmares last night about my oldest son. In Florida you have to fill out a 504 to get help if your child has special needs. Which my oldest needs extra help because of his dysgraphia. I’m trying to get everything in place BEFORE we go to a new school next year. The part that sucks the most is that he is too smart… hence he doesn’t fit into the mold that gets him ALL the help he needs. He can tie his shoes and button his shorts and read… Which makes occupational therapy through the school darn near close to impossible… and now there is a new ‘way’ to go called an RTE… which is what he really needs. That will allow him to give verbal answers on a test that all the other children give as written. Trust me, his writing is BOTTOM of the class and desperately in need of help. Because he has a neurological disorder… did you catch that? It is a real problem that cannot be solved by ‘time’.
I have been blessed this year to have a teacher that works with him and realizes he does know the answers even if the written answer suck. They are missing verbs, the words are twisted in the wrong order or spells words with all the right letters in the wrong order, he repeats a sentence… yaa, not a good situation. 504 will give him extra time on a test but not help him if he spells the words wrong or unreadable or any of the situations above. And for him to be able to give it verbal requires that RTE and that can take over a year to obtain and usually it has to be in the SEVERE category not the MODERATE. Did you catch that? My son is not mildly dysgraphic but MODERATE. Yet, not eligible for stuff from the school. Also, he is considered ‘gifted’ because he is so intelligent and THAT counts against him. Do me a favor and say some prayers. I’m going to need them to work this out. I want what is best for my son to make it through school and actually LEARN. Not be punished for being a square peg in a round hole. (blatantly stolen from Bou). Just pray the right answer comes my way before school starts in August! Thanks!
Prayers forthcoming! Hope the right answers come your way!
Naturally, you have mine. High IQ and a disability like that? That sucks, the system simply isn’t geared to deal with it.
Pam , Gray Monk… Many thanks!
It sucks that all the schools, particularly public schools, are able to do is categorize kids, and too many of them just do not neatly fit in any single category. And it’s heartbreaking to know just how bright and gifted your child is, but be held back because the schools just aren’t able to accomodate his learning style.
Struggling here too. I wanted a 504. I was told he has to have a neuro psych eval (check), low test scores (check) and a history of failing… who in the hell is going to LET their child fail? And they won’t get us set up until he’s in class and proves on the FCAT that he can’t pass…
They lied about the failing. You do NOT have to fail to get a 504. Call me sometime.
Demand that in the 504 he gets the accommodation of being able to give verbal answers!! The 504 is for areas that can’t be serviced in other ways, including COMMUNICATION! I’ll check with my school’s counselor for the specifics so your child can be successful.