<p>Daffymom - it sounds like schools are the same all round the country. It was always like reinventing the wheel for us every year with new teachers not even being informed of the problems. Wish I had had access to a forum like this at the time - might have handled things differently and being able to use a word processor or laptop in class might have made school a lot more bearable for my son. It is funny how all these systems to help are in place yet each parent seems to end up fighting for every inch of information and help.</p>
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No, accommodations were initiated in sixth grade. The school suggested informal accomodations but I have learned that, ". . . if it isn't in writing it doesn't exist," so we insisted on a formal 504 (504 if child can complete grade level work with accomodation vs IEP if workload should be modified).
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<p>Legally, there is no distinction as such. IEP's can be, and frequently are, about accommodations only without any modifications of the content. Schools can be deceptive about this because IEP puts further obligations on them that they would not like particularly.</p>
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Pretty consistently, the first few months of each school year, teachers underestimated the severity of his problem sometimes trying to eliminate the accomodations. However, by mid year these same teachers were converts strongly supporting the word processing. Freshman year of high school was the worst. The 504 coordinator asked for permission to run a few quick tests during a study hall as she thought since he was succeeding in honors classes the 504 should be eliminated. (she ignored the fact that he was using the accomodation while earning those grades - ugh!! ). We refused and demanded a complete re- evaluation by the psychologist. Again his dysgraphia was demonstrated on testing and 504 coordinator back down. Schools are required to retest every 3 years.
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<p>Dunno about 504s, but for IEP's, they aren't changed without the full IEP team approval, even if the teacher does a "few quick tests"</p>
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It's unfortunate that parents are forced to be aggressive to get schools to take them seriously on this subject, but that seems to be almost uniformly the case. Our son (like yours) was able to navigate the lower grades successfully by dint of innate intelligence and hard work (and "informal" accommodations by teachers who tended to show some flexibility). </p>
<p>But by high school, particularly in a high-intensity program, it just doesn't work. You may have to jump through some hoops, but you do have the right to insist on appropriate accommodations, and it is worth it. Our son used a laptop for notetaking in class, a word processor for all written assignments, and took tests on a computer at school. He also used a word processor for the essay portion of the SAT writing test and for the essay portions of AP exams where applicable. I can't imagine he would have been as successful as he was in high school without this. We viewed the accommodations as minimal and our son didn't feel it made him "stand out" or seem strange to his peers. (So long as he had the keyboard, he didn't need or use extra time on exams and did not need or use any accommodations on the multiple choice portion of the SAT's or other tests.) </p>
<p>Once he got to college, he had to jump hoops again, as they didn't accept his prior diagnostics and insisted on putting him through their own battery of diagnostic tests. (At least the college didn't charge for the testing, and they came to the same conclusion as the prior diagnostics.) The accommodations are even less noticeable in college, as many other students bring laptops to class, and most do their written assignments on the computer. So the only thing that sets him apart from most of his peers is that he takes his tests on a school-provided computer. (But he says that, so far, there have always been at least a few other students in the computer room taking their tests on a computer too, so he doesn't feel completely alone even there.)</p>
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It's true that life is unfair, but that doesn't mean that a child with a disability should be made to suffer when there's an easy means to alleviate the suffering. Particularly when the remedy - use of a laptop or computer for schoolwork and tests - is one that should be readily available to him in real life after he's out of school. As I said in an earlier post, thank goodness we live in the computer age. Given that it provides a full solution for many who have this particular disability, I can't see any possible reason not to use it.</p>
<p>Tremendous resource for learning about special ed rules is the
website <a href="http://www.wrightslaw.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.wrightslaw.com/</a><br>
It offers hundreds of free articles on special education law, advocacy etc.</p>