Well, I'm going to disagree with vicam here-- but only in the details. Not to be flippant here, or anything, but in my ten years as a volunteer parent advocate I've seen a lot of good, bad, AND ugly with both 504s and IEPs. It just depends on the district. A nasty, uncooperative set of school officials can find ways of being obstructionist under either one.



A 504 is absolutely as much a legal document as an IEP.

The difference is that identification under Section 504 can (though not necessarily "must") follow a person into college, and later, into the workplace. This is because it is backed by ADA (and ADAA).

IDEA is specifically about education for disabled children. The motivations behind this law are different. With an IEP, measurable GOALS are always a part and parcel of things simply because of the way that they tend to be written. If the idea is to offer ongoing supports, and not necessarily to be phasing those supports out (as for, say, a student who needs the ability to test blood sugars at will, requires large print materials due to legal blindness, or to carry an asthma inhaler) then 504 can be a better tool.

Presumably the provisions in a 504 plan (other than 'self-care like peers') which are there for static conditions that must be "managed" rather than "improved" are going to be necessary throughout the person's life. Not providing them results in exclusion and presents barriers to access and/or to learning.

IDEA operates on a different kind of premise-- one that revolves around the child's unique, individual educational needs in an ideal sense, if you will. It also assumes that the provisions offered as part of an IEP will eventually fade, or that they'll eventually be rolled into a 504 plan. That happens because IDEA doesn't follow a child to college.


Here are some additional helpful links on the differences between the two:

http://www.ed-center.com/504

http://www.heath.gwu.edu/resources/links/504-ada-idea-compared/


This is a terrific explanation of the differences between the two:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6086

Because of the procedural safeguards and the stay-put provisions inherent in an IEP, most parents would prefer that to a 504 plan. But both can work to provide a student with a disability with access to education that works well for them.






Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.