::Slide - IEPs & 504s:: [Lacey Sorrels] I wanna welcome everyone today to our Lunch and Learn, oh, sorry, my computer's being really squirrely. Bear with me for just a second. Okay. I wanna welcome everyone today to our Lunch and Learn. Um, this Lunch and Learn is being brought to you by a collaboration between Oklahoma Human Services, the University of Oklahoma Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work, and the Oklahoma Adoption Competency Network. We appreciate everyone joining during your lunch and noon hour. We would like to get started so we can make sure to respect everyone's time and the great information being discussed today. So, let's go over a few housekeeping things for our time together this afternoon. First, we are recording this meeting, and by participating, you are giving your consent to be recorded. Second, help us to reduce distractions so we can all focus and participate. We have muted everyone to make it possible for everyone to hear the speakers, um, and we would love for you to express your thoughts and questions, so make sure to utilize the chat box for this purpose. Um, if you're having any difficulty with that, feel free to go ahead and unmute and ask a question. We will be monitoring that chat box and questions will be touched on during our Q&A time in the last 15 minutes. Um, we also want to see you, so if you're willing and able to, please turn on your video. If you're unable to, that is also fine. And then to receive information about any other post-adoption events, please list your name and email in the chat box and we'll make sure to add you to our contact list. Third, let's remember confidentiality. Um, it's vital that we protect confidential information, so we will not be sharing any specifics as far as names, case details, or anything like that about adoption cases, people, or children. Lastly, um, if you are a foster parent attending this training, you will receive one hour of training credit towards your 12 hours of in-service training that you need each year. Um, these trainings are not yet available as CEU credits for professionals. However, um, you may still submit the certificate to your agency and request training credit for your agent's po-- agency's policies. Um, so please go ahead and indicate in the chat if you would like to receive a certificate of attendance and participation. So now I'm gonna go ahead and hand everything off to Kelley Ivey, who will be today's, um, presenter. [Kelley Ivey] Thank you, Lacey. So today we're gonna be talking about IEPs, or individual, Individualized Education Plans and 504s. Um, throughout the presentation, I will regularly just say IEP because I will get tongue tied every single time I try to say "individualized education plan." Um, but if at any time you need a reminder of what that is, feel free to just interrupt me. Um, also I wanna add that sometimes they, there's a lot of gray area in the overlap of IEPs and 504s, so if at any point you just need clarification, um, about like which plan specifically we're referring to, or ask a question about a gray area and the overlap, um, definitely feel free just to raise your hand or put it in the chat or interrupt and, um, I can kind of backtrack a little bit and clarify anything that needs to be clarified. ::Slide - Agenda:: We're gonna talk about what law covers each and kind of the parameters of what, uh, the law dictates for each plan. We're gonna talk about what each plan does specifically, and eligibility for each one, and then how you as the parent or foster care and adoptive parent can, um, plan for, prepare for, and then expect during the meeting and then planning for your child, uh, after high school. ::Slide - Laws governing the 504 plan:: So we're not gonna dive too deep into the laws, um, but just as an overview. So the law that brought the 504 plans into place, they are, they're called 504 plans because they're from section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This law is a federal civil rights law that prevents discrimination against people and children and adults with disabilities. Um, it's, it was put into place to help ensure that a child that has a disability identified under the law can receive accommodations or modifications in, in school, in the classroom, and in the school building as a whole. Um, basically the 504 plan provides a blueprint that the school will follow that will outline, um, what supports can be put into place for the child, and more specifically, remove barriers that are commonly found in the school or in the classroom. ::Slide - Laws governing the IEP plan:: For an IEP, um, the IEP was put into place through the IDEA Act -- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This is also a federal law for children, but this one is specific to children with disabilities as it applies to their education. Um, kindergarten through 12th grade, the IEP plan is developed to ensure that a child with a disability identified under the law receives specialized instructions, certain accommodations, and then other related services. Um, we're gonna go into a little bit more detail about what the other related services are, but those are things like speech therapy, occupational therapy, um, anything that is, is kind of an outside of the classroom type of thing. A big difference between these two laws is that the IDEA Act, um, also loops in some federal funding. So, uh, the IEP, since it's backed by federal funding, it is a little bit more, uh, it's a little bit more, I wanna say rigid, but I don't know if that's right. It's a little bit more structured in how a child can qualify for an IEP plan and then what's required as part of the, the plan. Um, and that can be both a blessing and a curse depending on your child and your specific situation. ::Slide - What Does the 504 Do?:: So, what do they each do? The 504, it is primarily used to, to implement accommodations, and those are, they're accommodations that can be implemented directly in the classroom. Um, things like allowing for additional breaks, um, allowing for, uh, audio readers instead of, you know, reading from the textbook, things like that, that could be implemented directly into the classroom. They can also include things like social skills, additional time in a less distracting environment so the child can be in the main classroom for all class periods, but then go to a separate location just for the tests. Um, additional individual breaks and preferential seating, such as, uh, being at the front row of the, of the classroom or closer to the teacher, um, or somewhere that's has less distractions within the same classroom. As we mentioned, it is less restrictive than an IEP, um, and it will, it allows for a little bit more of school interpretation of the policies. Um, the 504 plan does not include anything that would count as individualized special education. Um, so kind of that small classroom setting or more one-on-one type learning environment. Anything that falls into that realm would not be covered under the 504 plan. Um, the 50-- the law that put the 504 plan into place, it's the same law that mandates accessibility structures like in public places, in buildings and stuff like that. That law is then applied to the classroom to make sure that the classroom setting is able to accommodate every child. In the classroom, that can look like mobility sight and hearing accommodations, as well as the other accommodations that we just talked about. Um, really anything that is related to a, a different way the child learns, um, that is specifically related to the disability that the child has. ::Slide - What Does the IEP Do?:: And then for an IEP, can include everything that we just talked about for the 504 if needed, if that's what's appropriate for the child, in addition to what the 504 plan does. It also, that, this one does include the specialized individual education. Um, so these look like the smaller classrooms. And then, like we mentioned, the different therapy options. Um, occupational therapy is a very common one, so I'll probably refer to that one a lot. Basically, kind of the easiest way to think about it is anything that the child could need that would have to happen outside of the mainstream classroom. And this is where the funding comes into place, because those extra things that happen outside of the classroom, um, those things are, are supported by federal funds that are not tied to the 504. ::Slide - What Next?:: Feel like I'm moving through these real fast, y'all. You can interrupt, raise your hand, let's talk about some stuff. Um, but a lot of it is just kind of that stuff that's, uh, written into law and not much interpretation on that stuff. So if you're a parent, um, and you are wanting to implement a 504 plan or an IEP, you just, or you just see that your child is, is struggling and has some gaps in their learning style, the steps that you're gonna take is that you'll first request the assessment, um, which would lead to getting the diagnosis. Then, um, once you submit the request, you can submit it by sending it to the principal, um, the school counselor. Some schools will also have a special, uh, education advocate or coordinator. You can, if you have one of those, you can email that person to request the assessment. At that time, the school's gonna look at what they already have on your child. They're gonna look at past test results, um, if they have standardized test results, stuff like that, and kind of do an overview of what they already know on your child's school experience. If they still need more documentation, which more times than not, they will, um, at that point, they're gonna request further assessments and further testing. They will send you, um, you have to consent to that. So they're gonna send you a consent form. Once you sign that consent form. The school has 45 days to go through and do their assessments and what they, um, need to do, the assessments will be done by the teacher. They will more than likely send some assessments home for you as the parent to complete on your child. Um, they might have kind of, sometimes they'll bring in outside professionals to do different assessments, and they're really looking at every, um, kind of every, uh, module, every section that could apply to the child. So they're gonna be looking at academic performance, but they're also gonna be looking at social performance, social interactions, how they function in the classroom, um, in between classroom settings like lunchtime or recess, and then also in the home environment as well. Uh, I will add, I forgot to mention, when you make your request, it's a very good idea to do that in writing. Um, do it via email or something like that so that you can, uh -- we wanna think that when you make the request school goes through and does their 45 days and everything goes as planned. That's not always the case. So just, uh, for security for yourself, if you ever do need to escalate a, a complaint or escalate the conversation to someone higher than the principal, it's, it's a great idea to just cover your bases and have your documentation. Um, and also the same thing when you sign the consent form. Um, when you return that consent form is when the 45 days start. So just keep documentation of what that date is, um, so that you can, you can follow along and make sure everything's happening, happening the way that it needs to happen. So, uh, then once all the assessments are completed, the school will decide kind of where the supports are needed and what that needs to look like. They're, they can come back and say, "The child doesn't need any additional supports," they can say, "The child could, their needs could be met by a 504," "Child can be met by an IEP," or sometimes they do just special education services that aren't necessarily looped in with an IEP or a 504, that's gonna be less common. But they're gonna compile all the data and come back to you and say, "This is the plan that we think needs to happen." It's very important as the parent to review whatever it is that they give you. Um, we're gonna talk about more, I was about to go into a whole thing about what you need to review and what you need to look into, but that's a different slide. So, we'll, I'm gonna save that for later. Um, you're going to make a plan for either what you agree on or what you think is missing from what they've given you. If they say, "Your child needs a 504, this is what's gonna be included in the 504," You're going to kind of make your own documentation and be prepared to talk about that when you attend the meeting with the, the professionals. Um, I'll also add that depending on the age of your child, you may consider including them in the meeting as well. Um, definitely if your child is a high school child, um, I would say for junior high probably, but that's kind of as your, at your own discretion as the parent, depending on, uh, the, the maturity and the ability of your own child. But once you get into high school, uh, the child really needs to be prepared to advocate for themselves and, and be able to speak about their needs, because that's gonna come into play when they go into college and enter into the career field. Um, so I highly suggest allowing your child to attend the meeting if you feel like they're of an age where they can, um, fully comprehend and understand what's happening. After the meeting, whatever is agreed upon will, you know, will be put into place. And then the next steps are reviews. I wanna just add a little side note here that the, uh, 504 and IEP can be adjusted in between review periods. But again, keep documentation of that. Whoever on your 504 plan or on the IEP plan, there's gonna be a person that's designated as kind of the coordinator, or the person that's gonna oversee what is laid out in the plan. Keep that person, save them in your phone, save them in your email address book, because if you feel like something is not being done that was written in the plan, or something in the plan needs to be modified, email that person so that it's date and time-stamped. Um, and that will be, that will be your go-to person as you move forward with the plan. And then, um, reviews will happen annually. So be prepared to, uh, kind of come, come to the table and come to that meeting at least once a year. And then once every three years, there'll be a full reevaluation to see if services are still needed. ::Slide - Eligibility:: Eligibility. This one's fun. So there are some similar, similarities and there are some differences. Um, in order for any child to qualify for a, a 504 or an IEP, the first kind of golden star is the, the child has to have a diagnosis. And then, that diagnosis has to affect the child's educational performance. Um, there have to be barriers in order for the 504 or IEP to be put into place to help, um, modify or remove those barriers. The 504, like we talked, like we mentioned, is very broad. It's kind of an overview definition of, the child has to have a disability, whereas the IEP, um, is a lot more structured and the child has to meet one of these 13 that are listed. Um, so if you notice, the second bullet point is an "Other health impairment," the school can use that to, uh, you know, if they don't have one of the, the other 12 on the list, they can sometimes fit into that other health impairment. If it's obvious that the child needs the individualized education portion that isn't covered by the 504, but a lot, that, it falls a lot on the discretion of the school. Um, so when we're looking at a diagnosis, uh, the school will do their own assessments and come up with a diagnosis that way. As a parent, you can go and have an outside assessment done. Um, they can have a different diagnosis from, you know, your medical provider or, uh, a behavioral health provider. However, it's up to the school if they wanna accept that or not. They can do both. Like they can take your outside assessments and intertwine them and work them with their private assessments if they want to, but they are absolutely under no obligation. They do not have to, and more likely than not, even if you come in with a private assessment and a private diagnosis, they're probably still gonna do their own anyways. A big time this comes into play is if the school does their assessment and says, "You know, we don't see any deficits." "We don't think that your child needs to have any supports in place." And then you have a private plan that's saying there are deficits, there are needed supports, that gives you kind of a groundwork to ask for, um, a reevaluation basically. Um, but the school doesn't have to take your private assessment and use it in their diagnosis process. ::Slide - IEP - Planning for & attending the meeting:: So when we're planning for meeting, you've done all the assessments. Um, you, they've come back and they said, "These are the results," "and these are what we think we're gonna do." If they come back and say, "We wanna put an IEP into place," your first step is to request a copy of the IEP. So you are legally allowed to have the copy of the full, this, the written plan as the school has written it three days prior to the meeting. Um, that I will highly stress that you do, because there's a lot of information in there. Um, and quite honestly, it could look, and this is even from personal experience, an IEP is written in such a way that it could look very negative and very overwhelming. Um, there's gonna be a lot of data and a lot of information in there that just talks about the things that your child struggles with. Um, and you're gonna need a minute to let that kind of sink in. I, you can have an emotional response and you're just looking at all this like, "Oh, my child is, you know, below grade average at this point, and they're," "they're struggling in this point." And as a parent who just wants your child to exceed, that could feel really heavy. So, you know, read it on day one. Let the-- feel the emotions and think the thoughts that come along with it. And then on day two, have a game plan. And then on day three, attend the meeting where you could, uh, maybe kind of be more ahead of the game when you're looking at, at the things that don't feel so good, uh, as part of an IEP meeting. There is a section on the IEP form specifically written, uh, to include the positives. So if your educational professionals have not done a very good job filling in what your child's doing well and what their strengths are, take time to write out, you know, put a whole paragraph in there, "My child," you know, "They are struggling in math," "but they could tell you the distance between the earth and the sun," "and then from sun to Mars, and they can, you know," "tell you when what planet was discovered and who discovered it." They get, like, include that stuff that your kid's doing really well and their strengths in there. And that can kind of be a support when you're in that meeting and you're reading all these things that your child is struggling with, just as your own, you know, emotional pep talk for yourself. Look at that paragraph of saying, "My kid is amazing in these ways," "and these things that they're struggling with do not define them." These are not the end all be all, but they have to be included. All those negative things have to be included because again, it's, it's tied into the funding. In the laws it's written that the child's needs have to be met in the least restrictive environment. So in order to prove that their needs cannot be met in the general classroom, they have to include all this very heavy data. Um, of that clearly documents all of the, uh, not so strong points of your child. The, so the plan will also include, um, goals for the year, what the, what the IEP wants to accomplish. They're going to include what services are going to be provided to help meet those goals. Um, and then they're gonna include the present level of performance. That's the part that I talk about that's gonna be heavy in data. It's gonna have all the results from all the assessments, um, and can be, can be heavy to read. I will, so on the IEP parents are generally updated every semester on progress on the IEP, but that will also be documented in there, like how often they're gonna update the parent on average. It's written in there that every semester. So I wanna take a minute and talk about the prior written notice. Um, so this comes into play several ways with an IEP, and it's very important for you as a parent. Um, the prior written notice. They have to send you the notice anytime there's a change or modification. Um, so you, you know, you've done all the pre-steps, you've done the research, you've written in the, the plan is how you want it to look. Like you go to the meeting, they lay out all this stuff, and there's, there's holes, there's gaps that aren't meeting what you know your child needs. You can not agree to the plan as it's written. So when you're there in the meeting, you're gonna have, like the very last sheet of the IEP, um, is basically an attendance sheet. You can, you can sign that and that's fine just saying you participated in the meeting. But there will be a, the prior written notice that says, "This is what the plan is gonna be and we're gonna implement it starting on this" date." "And these are gonna be the services." That form, you do not have to agree with or sign. You are allowed to say, "I want X, Y, Z services, and these are the reasons why." And again, I urge you to write those into the IEP in that meeting, and then not sign the form and request to have another meeting. Um, then the school can come back and say, "No, we're not having another meeting." Or, "We agree there could be more things." "We'll schedule another meeting for this date." If they say, "No, we don't agree," "This is the IEP that we're gonna use, we're not having another meeting," ask for the prior written notice on why they're saying no. Um, it's, it's sometimes easy, you know, again, we want to think the best of every school district, but some are better than others. So it's sometimes easy to say, "No," "We've written this IEP and this is the plan we're gonna use." It makes it a little bit more harder when they then have to back up their decision in writing. Um, so that's always, ask, ask for it in writing, have it in writing, document everything. Um, so if you need something that they're not able to provide or they're saying they're not able to provide, ask for that prior written notice on why they cannot provide it. [Lacey Sorrels] Kelley, I'm gonna pop in for one second. [Kelley] Yeah. [Lacey] Um, on the note of, and you may cover this later, but if not, you guys remind me at the end, um, if there's a situation where there's something that the school cannot provide and it's absolutely needed, um, there are ways to address that. So if we don't, if you don't cover that at some point, remind me in the end to speak about that for just a second. [Kelley] Um, I don't think I do, but this is probably a very good place if you wanna, talk about it. [Lacey] Okay. Yeah, I can do that. Um, so I'm gonna give an example, um, of a prior child I worked with that can kind of help illustrate this. So sometimes, maybe if you're in a smaller school district, or if you are in a school that just doesn't have as much resources as other places, um, the school system is responsible for meeting your child's needs regardless of what they are. So if there's a situation where they feel like they cannot provide the accommodations or supports or resources that your kiddo needs, they're responsible for figuring out how to do that. Whether that is transporting your child to a different school district who can meet those needs, whether that is, um, paying a portion of funding for an outside program. So, for instance, I had a child on my caseload previously who, um, had an autism diagnosis, um, and was very much on the lower functioning spectrum. The school system he was in did not have resources to care for that, and he really needed a residential program to help with some of his other, um, things that were going on. And so, because the school could not provide the academic piece needed based on, you know, his diagnosis, his functioning and all of that, the school actually ended up paying a portion of his tuition to a private program. Um, that took a lot of work. And it's not the usual situation, but like I said before, if the school can't meet those needs for whatever reason, they are responsible for figuring out who or how those needs can be met. So just keep that in mind. If they're saying, "Oh, well, we can't," um, and if it's like, "We can't provide a tablet to the student," obviously they're not gonna send them to another school district for a tablet. Um, but if they don't have the resources, they don't have the staffing, um, maybe they don't have the necessary, um, you know, PT or OT avail-- availability to come to that school, something like that, they have to work with you to figure out how to get that need met. So just keep that in mind. [Kelley] That's great, Lacey. Thank you for sharing that story. Um, 'cause that, again, it's, if some school districts have limits that, um, they're not able to overcome within their school, but they have to figure it out. ::Slide - 504 - Planning for & attending the meeting:: So the 504, um, the 504 is, it has less regulations. It's not tied to the federal funding. Um, so it's a little bit more broad. It has a little bit, it has wider definitions of things. A lot of schools go ahead and use the outline that is required for the IEP for the 504, just to streamline the process for everybody across the board, but they don't have to. So what this looks like for you is gonna be very dependent on the school and just kind of what their policies and procedures are. But because the 504 is not, uh, as structured by law, there's a higher need for you to, uh, keep that documentation that we've been talking about. Um, the school, for an IEP, has to keep very structured documentation on their own. So if you, you know, miss recording a date or don't keep a copy of a paper, the school's gonna have that copy. Whereas for the 504, they are not obligated to keep that, which makes it more important for you to keep it. Um, a big difference in this planning part as well is that the parent does not have to, there isn't that prior written notice. Um, again, some schools use it just for convenience, but they're not obligated. They don't have to, um, consent once the, you don't have to consent once the plan is created. So, um, you do have to consent for the assessments and the evaluations that are gonna be done once the plan is written and is going to put in place. The parent does not have to sign formal written consent for that plan to be like, put into place in the classroom. Um, so on this one, again, you kind of have to advocate a little bit more, um, don't necessarily just, just be okay with them being like, "Oh, We have a 504 and we're gonna put it into place, and these are the things we're gonna do." Um, request it to be in writing. Request it to be emailed to you. And then same thing, if there's gaps in that, email back and say, "My child has this need that's not being met by these plans and I'm requesting whatever it is. X, Y, and Z." Um, so that if there, uh, if it's not happening the way it's supposed to be happening, you have documentation that you requested it when you requested it, the discussion that went back and forth on, you know, how to get the needs met. Um, what the 504 plan will include is, it's going to include what supports are gonna be put into place, who is going to implement those accommodations or supports, and then who is going to monitor to make sure those supports are happening. Those are pretty much the only like required things in the 504. Um, it also does not require documentation of how often the parent is gonna be updated on the plan. So if that's something that you want or that you, you know, are interested in, request that it's written into the plan. Um, again, that generally looks like every semester, um, but that's gonna be dependent on your child's needs. If it's not written into the plan, they don't necessarily have to update you. So that's gonna be at the discretion of, of the school, um, on how often you're included. ::Slide - Both - Planning for & attending the meeting:: These are things you need to consider for both, for an IEP or for, uh, for the 504. So, you know, I mentioned that the, the results can be overwhelming for an IEP, but that's not any different with the 504. The needs of the child could be very similar to what the needs are, that, for an IEP, it's just whether the needs can be met or how the needs are gonna be met. So regardless of whether you're on the IEP track or 504 track, get the, get the results as early as you can, at least three days. Sit with them, take some time, process your feelings, um, and, and take time to think about, "What are realistic goals for my child?" "Where are they at today, and where can they realistically be at the end of the semester, at the end of the school year?" And then write up the goals yourself on what you want to see in them, and then, you know, kind of compare and contrast to what the school has has suggested in their plan. Um, and don't be afraid to say, you know, "I need," "I need a little bit more." Or, "I feel like this is a, is too lofty of a goal for my child." We wanna set realistic goals that they can meet in within the timeframe. Uh, as part of that, it's, it's really important to look at, uh, we often call them "smart goals," but just things that can be measured and are in a time constraint. And you want to avoid kind of the wide-arching goals. So for example, regardless of whether it's a 504 or a IEP, don't put a goal in there that says, you know, "Timmy is going to, uh, increase their reading ability", or "They're gonna increase their," "their mathematics skills." You want to say something like, "Timmy will be able to complete grade level mathematics with the accommodations X, Y, Z." "And he will pass these with a letter with a C letter grade by the end of them school year." and then take it a step from there and add steps on how you're going to, to reach that big goal. So you have the big goal: By the end of the year, Timmy's gonna pass, you know, his mathematic test with a C or better with certain accommodations. Then the steps that we're gonna take to get there, those are gonna look different for an IEP or a 504. So for an IEP, a step could look like, um, I'm trying to think of one that goes along with my mathematics thing. Um, "Timmy will receive small classroom instruction and he will receive tutoring two times a week. Progress on this goal will be assessed at the end of the semester, and tutoring can be increased or decreased as necessary." So we know these are the steps we're gonna get to get him passing, or, you know, with a C or better. These are what we're gonna do, and we're gonna reevaluate at the end of the semester and see if this is meeting the need, or if we need to increase it or decrease it. For a 504, um, you know, those don't, those are gonna be, those needs are gonna look different. So the step for a 504 could look like, uh, "Timmy is going to receive his mathematic exams in segments, and each segment will not have more than 10 questions per page. And he will receive verbal and written instructions prior to the test." And then same thing. "This will be assessed at the end of the semester to see if this is meeting his need." And on either plan, I'm, I'm gonna say this like 110 times, document every -- document who's going to put the, the modification or accommodation in place? Who's responsible for what? So that if you get to the point where something's not happening, um, you can say, you know, whomever, "Susie Smith was supposed to make sure that whatever happened and it didn't happen." And so there's some as accountability to make sure that, uh, whatever's documented actually happens. ::Slide - The 504 Plan And IEP After High School:: So, planning for high school, this is, this could be a challenge. So basically the 504 and the IEP does not follow your child. Um, the IDEA law, the law that put the IEP into place only covers, uh, till graduation, or to the age 22. Um, so when we're talking about, you know, the, the child has graduated high school, they're going into, into college or into higher education, that law no longer covers them. The, the law that put the 504 into place, that covers anybody of any age with a disability. So that law still covers them going into college. However, it's no longer called a 504. Um, more than likely if you go into a college and say, "My child was on an IEP or a 504," and you say, "I want a 504," they're gonna know what you're talking about, but they're not gonna be creating one for you. Um, so if you go into college expecting, you know, you're gonna have a plan, you're gonna have steps of action, that's not the service you're gonna receive. They do have to provide accommodations under the law still, though, that part doesn't change. It's just gonna look different. Um, it's gonna be wildly different for your child. 'cause at this point they are now advocating for themselves, which is why, you know, it's important that we include them in those early 504 plans or the IEP meetings. They, uh, they have to request them. These things aren't necessarily, like, advertised. There's not gonna be an instructor that comes to them and says, "Hey, I see you're struggling with reading. Like maybe we should do some accommodations." The child will need to go to the disability services of their college, request accommodations, and generally advocate for what accommodations are gonna meet their needs. Um, some of those can look the same. It doesn't hurt to have your IEP plan or your 504 plan when you go and have these meetings with the disability services, 'cause some of them might look similar. Um, they can use those as kind of like a ground, you know, ground floor of what to base the college accommodations on. Um, but they're, they're probably gonna, they're gonna be not as structured and not as readily available when we're talking about the college environment. Because of this, it's very-- so every college has a disability service, but how accessible they are, how, um, attuned they are to special education needs are gonna vary depending on the college and, and the special education department of that college. So when you're talking about college planning, um, or higher education planning in general, those are gonna be important things to research and have your child call the disability service and say, "Hey, I've had this. Can I have a meeting?" You know, "Can we come and talk? I've had this 504 plan and these are the things that I'm used to having. Can we come and talk about what it would look like if I come to your college?" And, uh, that's a big part in deciding where to do higher education, is what supports are they able to provide? Some pretty common ones that you're gonna see at most universities. Uh, they can get extended time on tests. And I wanna add the caveat that extended time does not mean unlimited time on tests. It's not just like, I think there's a miscon misconception that when a child has accommodations, that they just get this like, free for all that they could do whatever test and turn it in, whatever, whenever they feel like it. And it's an easier test and all of that stuff. And that's just not accurate. Um, the kids get the same tests with the same questions, um, it's just presented in a different way. So, uh, an extended time on tests is a pretty common accommodation. The use of laptops for tests, um, is, especially in, you know, today's learning environment, it's a pretty common accommodation. Being able to use calculators on exams, um, audio recordings, they're, I mean, it's pretty common in the college environment for professors to allow the students to record. But if you get that, you know, one random professor that doesn't want recordings, there can be accommodations made that allows you to record the lectures, um, and different ways of taking notes. Uh, they can also get priority registration for their courses so that they could, uh, you know, make sure that they're getting into the courses that fit, that are taught in a certain way that meets their, their learning needs. They can make sure that they get enrolled in those types of courses before the classes fill up. Access to audio books is very -- recording, text to speech programs are very common. And, um, voice recognition software, that's another very common one. Some of the ones that are available but not necessarily, uh, kind of readily available, you're kinda, you have to work from a little bit is if you have a disability that is, uh, gives you times where you just can't function, you can get more of that like blanket, uh, extension to where, you know, kind of like FMLA if you get sick and you can take off an extended period of time at work, if you get sick, you can take off an extended period of, of college time, um, without it being held against your grade. That one does require a lot of documentation. Um, I've, I've done a little bit of research in, in the, to the different disability service departments at various colleges. And that one's available. It happens. We just have to work for it a little bit. Um, they also require different documentation. So like I said, if you come into the, into the special education department with your high school IEP or 504, that's not necessarily, those assessments and those diagnoses aren't necessarily gonna be enough to get the accommodation, um, put into place in the college environment. So be prepared to have new assessments done, um, by, or, you know, a medical exam done, kind of, uh, to meet the documentation requirements of, of the college. They set their own, uh, documentation needs basically. So that's it. That's my very, still has lots of gray area overview of the 504 and IEP. ::Slide - Questions:: Um, but if you have any specific questions, we can try to work through those together. [Lacey] While you guys are thinking about any questions, I'm gonna put a link in the chat box to a training, it's called the Rights Law Training. Um, it's an incredible training that goes, it's like, it's exactly this training, but way, way, way more in depth. It's a day-long, six hour training, um, that really dives super deep into all the things that we've talked about today. Um, it does cost money, um, but as a part of paying for that, you get three different books. Um, and they're like sexual education law from emotion to advocacy, and then all about IEPs in those books that also contains templates for if you want to request certain things or templates for anything you may need to submit in writing. So I'm gonna-- and they hold those trainings all across the United States, so you'll just have, kinda have to find one that's gonna be close to you. Um, but I'm gonna put the link to that website in the chat box real quick, um, because it is super, super helpful. You can also just order their books. You don't have to take the training to get the books. [Kelley] Um, so Jennifer, I'm just reading through the chat. I see that, that, uh, Lacey and Katie were answering, but if we can, so for the ADHD and PTSD, um... oh yeah, Jennifer, feel free, ask whatever question you have. Um, I'm gonna go back to that slide a little bit though. On the, maybe. ::Attendees visible:: The question Nevermind. Didn't work. [Lacey] Yeah, go for it. [Rae Scott-Pettit] Oh, okay. Um, in prior years at my [cuts out], there was this [cuts out] called a resource room, go and be [cuts out] small group, um, and just learn better from the distractions and, um, phones like that. And beginning of last year, [cuts out] [Lacey] You're kind of cutting out just a little bit. We can't quite hear what you were saying. We heard the very beginning and you kind of cut out. [Rae] Okay, is this better? [Lacey] Yes, now we can hear you. [Rae] Okay. Um, so my child's middle school is now saying that they no longer have a, quote- unquote resource room or free, uh, or not free, but it was like a study hall. They don't have anyone to do that. They're out of special ed teachers and he really needs that small group, um, uh, he needs a small group setting. Um, he won't open up and he needs to be able to ask questions frequently. What should I do when the school is saying they don't have a resource room anymore? They're not gonna have one, and that's just that. [Lacey] That's a perfect example of the situation I was kind of mentioning earlier. When they, um, they're still responsible for figuring that out for you. However, um, you will have to have some sort of documentation showing that that is going [to be] beneficial. So whether that's from your, maybe it was previously in the IEP, um, or 504 and now they just don't have the resources anymore. Or if you had some sort of outside evaluation that said, "This is the recommendation of what is going to help, um, kiddo to learn best." Um, so some of the things they could do is either facilitate transporting him to another school within the district that could, um, assist with that. They could transfer him to another school within the district. Kind of depends on where you are. Um, but those are some things that they could do. But if you don't have somewhere in writing showing that, that would be most beneficial. Um, so for example, a prior IEP that listed that as a, you know, a recommendation or maybe a psych eval or some sort of other outside evaluation that recommends that, that would probably be the first step. Um, 'cause they likely won't try and figure that accommodation out without having that. Um, so that would be the first step. And then secondly, in writing, requesting that they provide that accommodation, um, and just making sure that you, like you said before, making sure you have that in writing and just making sure that they have that documentation that goes with that as well. [Rae] Okay. Okay. Thank you. [Lacey] You're welcome. [Lacey] Jennifer, did you have a, another question? [Jennifer Freese] Yeah. Um, I have a middle schooler and he's been diagnosed with PTSD, ADHD, um, mood disorders, all of that kind of thing. Um, and he had been on an IEP until this last year and they switched him to a 504 because academically he was doing well. This last year with the 504, um, I don't know that the things that we put in place were either the right things or were followed or whatever, but, um, especially the second semester, things tanked, and his academics tanked. His, um, behaviors tanked. Everything just kind of fell apart. And so, I don't know which way to approach it for this year, whether we continue with the 504 and just do more specific things, or if I push for an IEP now that he failed a, failed a class and made Ds in other classes, or what the best way to go, what that is. [Lacey] Yeah, I think you could kind of do both. Um, so I think you could request that he be reevaluated for the IEP, and they could kind of redo some of those assessments and see if they feel like he meets that criteria. And then if they don't, then you could dive back in with, "Well then I," You know, "if he doesn't meet that, "Then I want these very specific accommodations for his 504." [Jennifer] Right. And then how do you make sure that the accommodations are actually happening? Because I know that an accommodation was on the plan for reminding him to take his medication that he needs. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Jennifer] And I know through him and through teachers and through the office that that was not consistently followed, which resulted in some behaviors that might not have been there otherwise, which resulted in suspensions and, you know, all of that, that kind of thing. So I wanna set him up for the best school year that he can possibly have and make sure that he gets everything that he needs, um, to get there. And I think a lot of the academic part was because of medication things. And, um, we also had a death in the family earlier that summer that kind of hit everybody around that time. So, um, just trying to set something up that will support him through this. [Lacey] An accommodation you could put in the actual, um, 504 regarding, instead of the medication, just saying they'll remind him, they'll remind him to take his medications and complete a daily log. [Jennifer] Okay. [Lacey] That way you, you have it written down by him, the teacher, somebody is filling out that daily log when they've reminded him of when they've taken it. And maybe he takes some part in that, writing down what time he took it. Any other ideas on that? Kelley or Katie? That was just the first thing that popped in my head. [Kelley] Specifically, yeah, the log's a great idea, but also who's doing it? Who's going to remind him? Like, where the medication is going to be kept in the school, if he keeps it, or, you know, school office keeps it. Who keeps it, who keeps the log, who reminds him? Is someone watching him? Like a, a point person for each of these things? So if it doesn't happen, there's account-- accountability on why it didn't happen. Right. And then there will be a monitor, um, on either one, the 504 or the IEP, there's gonna be someone who's responsible and named to monitor. So if something's falling through and not being done, you, you know, you can email that person who's the monitor with a copy of it and say, "Ms. Whomever, Ms. Smith is supposed to be doing this. And, you know, it's," "it's not being done." Mm-hmm. [Jennifer] And, and I did, um, approach that several times and was just told, "We're not going to do that." "We're not gonna tell him that he needs to come take his medicine." [Kelley] If it's written into the plan and it's not happening, that's where the documentation comes into place to go up, uh, the chain of command. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Jennifer] Okay. [Kelley] If it's by, if it's written into the plan by law, they have to, that's not an option. [Jennifer] Okay. [Lacey] And something that I feel like a lot of people are afraid to do, which I mean makes sense. You wanna do the chain of command, but, um, if the school level is not taking care of it, don't be afraid to go beyond that and go to the, um, you know, the district level of the school board -- or the school system, and then maybe even the school board if you have to. Um, it's perfectly okay. I mean, it seems a little like, like you're tattling, but at the same time, like you have to advocate for your kiddo. [Jennifer] Right. [Lacey] And so don't ever be afraid to go as high up the chain as you need to. [Jennifer] Right. And I definitely wanna get him to where he is, is able to stay on track enough to do it himself. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Jennifer] But we're just not there yet. [Lacey] Sure. That makes sense. [Jennifer] Thank you. [Lacey] You're welcome. Mm-hmm. Rae in the comments said, "I had to do that, it's awful," "but that's when things happen." Yeah. It's really unfortunate. Some school systems do really well with these things and some of 'em are a little less than perfect. And so it's, it's frustrating when you have to do that, but it can sometimes get some good results. [Jennifer] What are some behavioral accommodations that can be made for kids that, like he's gotten in trouble for fighting and usually it's after what he says has been consistent bullying for a long period of time and he's told to ignore it, but then it gets to a point where there, it comes to a head and he ends up fighting. Is there something that can be put in place to kind of help with that? And is counseling one of those other things that you can add in to, um, have the school help with, or? [Kelley] One that I've seen, um, like, you know, in real life with a kiddo is that, um, if there was conflict, the, the child had the responsibility of going, you know, to the office, going to the school counselor first, but then school counselor's, next step of action, written into the plan, was to call the parent, um, so that the parent can come and intervene prior to it escalating into a physical violence situation. Um, and for this child that I'm specifically talking about, it wasn't all just fights that, you know, the child would, um, lose their temper and throw items or do something or whatever. So before it ever escalated, the child had to initiate the contact and then the school had to contact the parent. [Lacey] Another idea, um, so if maybe these things are happening in-between classes, I've had kiddos that were allowed to switch classes five minutes prior, or they would have somebody walk with them in the hallway. That's a little bit weird for middle school and high schoolers. You don't want to have that stigma of like, somebody's walking me to class. Um, but I would have kiddos that, um, they were allowed to leave their previous class five minutes early. They would go and either sit in the counselor's office, sit in the front office, sit with the [cuts out] person, you know, wherever, um, until everybody switched classes, and then they would join their next class, um, you know, one to two minutes after. So they're not missing anything, but they're also not in the hustle and bustle of the hallway with all of these people. Um, a lot of bullying happens in the hallway during transition time, stuff like that. And so that's an idea that I've seen as well. [Kelley] Yeah. We had one that, um, there was a lot of conflict at the lunch hour. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Kelley] So for this specific child, they, um, what would be their grade level lunch hour, they did a, um, a music class and then did, you know, a lunch hour at a different time. So they just kind of flip-flopped where they were in class and, and when they did class and when they did lunch. So, Rae, if you don't mind, um, I was curious when you had to go up the chain of command, you, once you left the point of in the school, so like you went above the principal, who was your next chain, who was your next contact? We'll give them some time to, to type. [Lacey] I was just looking at this rights law website too. Um, so they do private training in addition to these, like, public trainings that you can sign up to attend. Um, they also do private training, so if you work for an agency or, um, it says agencies, organizations, private schools, clinics, et cetera. So if you work in some kind of space, um, that you would like that training, you can also request that they, um, come and do it in a small group just within your agencies as well. It doesn't say what cost is associated with that. So I'm not entirely sure. Um, there may not even be one. It may just be each individual's cost of, um, attendance. But that's another really cool thing they offer. [Rae] I got myself unmuted again. Okay. So, um, I ended up contacting, um, the Oklahoma Parent Center. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Rae] And then, um, I ended up from there, them transferring me to, um, a spec, the Special Ed Resolution center. I think that happened. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Rae] And then that got back to the district's SPED coordinator, and I contacted my state representative. So [Lacey] The Parents-- [Rae] by that time, it had already been nine months of agony and I was done. So. [Lacey] That's great. Did you find the Parents' Assistance Center to be helpful? [Rae] I did. Um, I did in some ways. Um, when I got to the meeting, it seemed like, I, I don't know if they're there just to be there, present. I mean, it was virtual. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Rae] Um, but I kind of, I kind of felt like there was just a little break between the conversations I had and then when it was time to have those in front of the school. Um, but I just went ahead and did kind of what I was told that I need to say and just stood on my own kind of at that point. I just, um, I just recommended whatever they had previously said. [Lacey] Mm-hmm. [Rae] And then I just went up, I just went up the chain of command, and then the resolution was that the Director for the district had, we had called another meeting, like it was like a few days before school ended. It dragged out so long. And then, um, she attended the meeting and that really cut down a lot of the, I guess I hate to say it, but it was like a lot of pettiness, um, just between the SPED teacher, um, that was disagreeing with so much. And then, and then the, um, district, the Director of SPED had said that, you know, at the beginning of this year, we were gonna call a meeting very early in the year with all the teachers just so we can meet and know, get everything out early, um, and just meet my son and, and talk about what works for him with the new team early in the year. [Lacey] That makes sense. That sounds like a super frustrating process. [Rae] It was really awful. [Lacey] But it also sounds like You did really good at advocating and figuring it out. [Rae] I tried my best. I, I did. And I, I, I feel the frustration and the pain behind it, Jennifer, I really do. [Jennifer] It's been difficult because I'm also a deaf education person and work at a school for special needs children that are deaf. And so I have the teacher side of things, but then as a parent, it's very different and feels very different when you're trying to advocate for your own child. And trying to figure out which way to go with things is hard, so. [Lacey] Well, any other questions, um, or things that you wanna discuss before we hop off? And then just a reminder also, if anybody does want that certificate either for training for your employment or as a foster parent, um, just drop your email in the chat box real quick and we will get that out to you this afternoon. [Kelley] Thank you all for, for spending your lunch break with us.