My son has substantial vision loss in one eye. He is doing well in public school but needs a few accommodations to help him succeed. First, it's paramount that he have one teacher that is consistently on board. Second, he needs to be close to the lessons to accommodate his vision loss. Larger font certainly makes it easier to see. But at the same time, my son is adamant about not feeling different than his peers. We are in the process of getting a 504 plan in place to make sure that I don't have to address his needs with each teacher, but I am nervous that he will 'freak' out if he feels different.
He's doing good in school, way better than last year!!! He met none of his educational milestones last year and this year he is! He has a great teacher.
Back to the 504 plan. The doctor asked if he needs extra time to complete tests due to his vision issue. I said "I don't know, let me check with his teacher." She responded that his 504 plan will be discussed in the meeting. But I need the letter from the doctor making recommendations for his accommodations and his teacher didn't answer that, which was surprising to me since she works with him daily. He is still performing at below level, but he is catching up.
So do I just ask that it be put in the letter that test times may need to be adjusted if teachers/parent believes it may help him if his eyes tire out because of their inability to focus?
Thanks, as always!
Usually substantial vision loss qualifies for an IEP not just a 504 plan. I have 3 low-vision students for which I must enlarge text 200% as an accommodation and allow 50% extended time for tests. Another helpful accommodation is the human reader or text to speech accommodation for long tests.
Anything you "think" he needs put it in the 504, just because it is in there, does not mean he has to use it..
If he can easily finish a test, then he does not need it. but if for some reason he needs the extra time it is there for him. You do not want him to be in a test situation having a bad Eye day, and need the extra time.. You want to already have access to it.
I would put it in there, so he has it if he needs it! You don't say how old your son is, but this may be important for standardized testing and SAT/ACT testing, etc.
My son has a vision disability. I would have the doctor err on the side of caution and include the test time extension. I can understand your son's not wanting to feel different; his placement near the teacher won't be noticed if the teacher is discreet (my son's teachers have been).
I won't add too much more, except to say that what Maureen said is true-- there are several aspects of my son's 504 plan which aren't being utilized right now, but were recommended by the vision therapist we were working with before he started kindergarten. The counselor and teacher advised against using some of the interventions unless they saw a need-- they, too, wanted to protect his ability to blend in with his peers, so don't be surprised to hear something similar from the teacher or IEP coordinator. It's not that they don't want to comply, but just that they may also be wanting to preserve his 'normalcy', as it were.
Yes, definitely put it in there. That way, if he needs it, they have to provide it.
Also, take a look online. You may find some accommodations beyond what the doctor provides (and that's great yours will provide a list). Our son's 504 plan is for ADHD, ODD and OCD, primarily, and I pulled from a variety of lists when helping to craft our requested accommodations.
The right 504 plan can provide accommodations that won't attract unwanted attention to your son's disability. We have quite a few accommodations for our son, but none single him out in a dramatic way. Moving him to sit closer to the teacher to minimize distractions, for instance, was done at a time when all of the kids were changing seats.
If you do find your son needs educational assistance beyond simple accommodations for his vision loss, be sure to pursue an IEP.
Hi Diana, I'm a school counselor and I write and manage 504 plans.
The document gets written at the meeting, by the team (team is you, teacher, administrator maybe, school psych maybe,counselor or whoever manages the 504's, and your son if he is old enough to attend).
You ask for and suggest whatever you want. The team will come to group decision about what should be on there. Dr's rec's are helpful but what's most important from the doctor is just the general documentation from the doctor about what he is being treated for. That part is necessary for the legality of it.
If I were you I would definitely bring up the extra time for testing, I put that on there for kids all the time. You didn't say how old your son is but it sounds like to me that would be a legit accommodation for him. So yes, go ahead and ask your doctor to include that. Or even if he doesn't, bring it up yourself at the meeting and ask for it.
The teacher was probably vague and didn't answer you because she herself doesn't feel like she is responsible for having final say of what his accommodations will be. There is probably a school psych or counselor who writes them and she doesn't want to promise anything that the other person would nix.
I doubt that they'd nix that though, it's pretty standard.
I would say put it in the plan. My son has dyslexia and has a 504 plan. We put everything in his plan we can get in there, within reason of course. :-) The stuff in his plan is there to help him so should he ever need to utilize the accommodations they are there. Some of them say 'at the teacher's discretion' and my son can also speak up if he needs help, he's in 5th grade. We try not to use the accommodations because in college, there are no 504 plans and we want him to learn to accommodate on his own. Long story short, put everything in his plan that you think he could benefit from should the need arise. Good luck.
Yes, put it in there. There will be evaluations periodically which will tell if he needs it.
I suggest that the teacher was trying to say that all his needs will be discussed at one time while all of you decide what your son needs at this meeting. I suggest that you can get the doctor's recommendation after that.
I suggest working on helping him feel that being OK with his disability is important. I suggest that when you protect him you are telling him he's not ok. See if you get help with this as part of his 504 plan. My granddaughter has a 504 plan in middle school and we get this sort of help from the special ed teacher.
He is different so he will feel different. What counts is helping him feel OK with it.
I am a certified parent educator and former teacher---w/ special ed , too.
You are your child's advocate. You are going to be his voice when he is young.
I have a child w/ a 504, too. I tell the teachers to be discreet as possible.
You have more say of there is a 504.
Is there a dr that does vision therapy near you? My daughter has 20/20 sight...her vision (which is different) needed intervention. The vision theraphy was fantastic.
My child gets to sit near the teacher, hear stories on tape, has extra time for tests, gets to chew gum for her sensory issues, stops hw after a certain amount of time and does not get called on unless her hand is up.
Again, please be your child's voice. Make sure you have a PPT mtg when you feel it's necessary. At the end of the yr, I would always talk about the teacher my child should have the following yr. too.
Does he need to sit near the board, away from the window...Tell the doctor what works for your son. Feel free to use any of the suggestions above to talk over w/ the doctor.
You will need to address his needs with each teacher each and every yr.
Having 2 yrs of training as a teacher in special ed (in addition to my regular ed certification) , I found that many of the teachers were looking for my help.
Yes, have the doctor do it. Even if he's doing okay with it right now, as soon as he moves up a level, the amount of effort to focus will be so much more, and having the extra time could make the difference between making it or failing.
If your son balks, tell him point blank that he will REALLY feel different if he fails when he could have done well.
Just tell the doctor Yes on having more time. And whatever else you can imagine might ever come up. It is better to have it in there, just in case. If he never needs it, great!
You should have any what ifs included. You never know what might come up. And the plan can be adjusted if necessary. My son got a 504 in place in middle school. There were a bunch of what ifs just in case but were never used. It has followed him to high school and some things have been adjusted already as some assumptions have been made and then clarified.
The short answer is yes - better that have accommodations in there that he doesn't use than to not have something in there that could be helpful and have to go through the process again to get it added. My oldest son was on a 504 plan before his IEP and anything that seemed even remotely helpful or reasonable was in there. He didn't like being singled out either so over the years he has opted to not use many of his accommodations (he's in 10th grade now) but they're there if he wants them. And he could definitely use them.
We just set up a 504 plan for my 10 year old son. He has Asperger's and ADHD.
What we put in HIS 504:
1) He has extra time to take tests, especially if it is heavy on writing. He STILL doesn't have a lot of fine motor skills. His handwriting looks like a 1st grader's, and he's in 4th grade.
2) He has a off in a quiet corner he can go sit at if he is starting to feel overwhelmed.
3) He also has earplugs if things are getting too loud for him.
4) When he's starting to feel out of control, he is allowed to go to the school counselor.
All of that is as needed.
I would get recommendations from your doctor. You can always reevaluate the 504 at any time and modify, remove or add stuff as needed.
I don't think any of the kids in my son's class know WHY he gets to do some of the things he does, but I've never heard of a problem in the classroom.
My nephew lost his eye in an accident when he was 2. Never needed any extra time, or accommodations. Since he is so adamant about feeling different, why go for,a 504. Teachers talk to each other year to year, so there is no real reason for it to be made a big deal of. I am with your son on this one. He does not want to be treated differently. Could it be that his partial vision loss has nothing to do with how he performs. My nephew did fine with one eye and one glass eye. Maybe he is just an average or below average student. What you don't want to do is use this as a crutch. Anything happens, oh it's because of his vision. That would not be good.
Treat him normally. That's what he wants and that's what he deserves. Keep telling him he needs extra time, he cannot do,this and he cannot do,that and you will create a totally dependent child,afraid to go out I to the world.
