Advertisements
My son has been diagnosed with autism and has an iep. He is very high functioning and is in a normal kindergarten class, and actually is very smart and learned all of his sight words in the first week; he was supposed to learn them over 9 weeks. He also knows much harder sight words such as "handicapped" and "automotive". The biggest problem I see now is the severe and life threatening nut allergy. With that and his asthma he is at high risk should there be an exposure. We are having problems getting the school to comply with the plan they agreed upon and were supposed to follow. These are not onerous things that they have to do. The whole snacking in the classroom has become a problem because of incorrect notes sent bome to parents twice now and attitude from the teacher who doesn't seem to know the difference between tree nuts and peanuts. I am hoping she doesn't take anything out on the kid.... we are not trying to antagonize her, believe me. And they just give us the yesses but don't actually follow through and do the things. So my huband says we need a 504 plan in addition to the iep, but we have asked for it before and were toldno because the iep is supposed to cover the food allergy, or so tbey say. Would a 504 help or if not, what steps should I be taking next? I have an iep meeting coming up friday and I don't wantto keep him out of schoolbecause of this. Any comments and suggestions would be much appreciated! :)
Like
Share
An IEP is higher than a 504. 504 is mostly for accomodations, which, yes, food restrictions are accomodations, but they're also medical, which is covered in an IEP. Do you have a parent advocate in your district? If so, call them and ask them to come to the IEP meeting with you, or at the least, give you the words that you need to say at the meeting to get action. The allergy will fall under "Other Health Impairment".
[url=http://www.peanutallergy.com/articles/school/iep-plan]IEP plan[/url]
Advertisements
Ocean - We had a 504 at the beginning of Kinder last year but at mid-year an IEP was put in place. I was told the IEP replaced the 504 and was more enforceable. I am in Texas if that makes a difference.I agree with PP to take a parent advocate. You can take any expert with you to that meeting. There are people (physicians, parents, etc) who are experts in handling the IEP. I would try to find one who knows the ropes. I found a psychologist who was a former teacher, former principal, and former SPED teacher. He is our advocate for IEP meetings. Great to have him in the room to make sure my daughters needs get met.That being said, I got a note last week that said we are not allowed to bring any nut products because we have a child who is highly contagious in her class. So, I will find something else to send for lunch other than PB&J. It's not worth risking any childs life. Good luck at your IEP meeting.
Ocean - We had a 504 at the beginning of Kinder last year but at mid-year an IEP was put in place. I was told the IEP replaced the 504 and was more enforceable. I am in Texas if that makes a difference.
I agree with PP to take a parent advocate. You can take any expert with you to that meeting. There are people (physicians, parents, etc) who are experts in handling the IEP. I would try to find one who knows the ropes.
I found a psychologist who was a former teacher, former principal, and former SPED teacher. He is our advocate for IEP meetings. Great to have him in the room to make sure my daughters needs get met.
That being said, I got a note last week that said we are not allowed to bring any nut products because we have a child who is highly contagious in her class. So, I will find something else to send for lunch other than PB&J. It's not worth risking any childs life. Good luck at your IEP meeting.
An IEP is much stronger and detailed than a 504. The 504 is one page form that lists some basic student information and accommodations. I have seen private schools do 504, but the public schools are required to maintain IEP's. You do not need both, and everything on a 504 would be in the IEP.
One thing I will say is that you also will need to teach your son to always be on guard and careful. Even if the school makes strict rules things happen. A mom has a baby and grandma is packing the big kids lunch, grandma won't know about the no peanut rule. New kid on the first day, mom sick and dad making lunch, kid sneaking a snickers from Halloween into his lunch, etc. If your child thinks all food at school is safe, these situations can be deadly. My best friends son has similar allergies. He brings his own snacks and foods to everything. He carries wipes and wipes down the table in front of him before eating and puts a paper towel down first. He has been taught to wash his own hands right after eating and often. It stinks, but my friend has requested the school not outlaw peanuts because she fears her child will get a false sense of security and that could cost him his life.
Advertisements
just to clarify--a 504 plan makes accommodations to help a child succeed with the regular curriculum.
an IEP is a special education instrument that modifies the curriculum to help a child have access to success.
both of these instruments affect ONLY the child--not their environment. usually you have only 1 of them, not both, especially when an IEP is already in place--anything can be added to that.
sounds like they already know that he has a big, life-threatening allergy. according the special ed expert on my campus, the IEP would/should contain a component about the allergy. since he's already identified as on the autism spectrum, you would gain nothing by having OHI added other than just some more letters on the IEP.
my guess is that what you have is a failure to comply. no amount of 504/IEP/doctor notes is going to increase the effectiveness of keeping nuts away from your son until the school takes it seriously. seems to me that the way you can make this meaningful to the administration is with an attorney.
no, i do not advocate filing a lawsuit against a school (particularly when i teach), but sometimes it takes some severely stern action with some thick-skulled individuals. this isn't an educational issue--it's a safety one. in all of the years that i've had kids in schools, i've invoked the word attorney exactly once.
and it worked.
maybe you should consider talking first to the administrators about what can be done to ensure that your son's safety is being addressed. and if that doesn't garner the results you need--and deserve--then mention the A word.