http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-504faq-201109.html



Direct from the horse's mouth, as it were.

One helpful technique when you're dealing with willful stupidity in the 504/IEP process is to encourage the person you're speaking with to call OCR themselves for technical assistance. Some of the most thoroughly, CLEARLY incompetent people I've encountered in public education have been in special ed, I'm sorry to note.

Let me see what I can find on the "variety of sources" clause in eligibility. I know that technically, this is a loophole for a determined district/school-- but that most of them aren't savvy enough or smart enough to utilize it well. (Frankly, excluding parents from meetings is just not wise, nor is playing expert v. expert with parents' private specialists unless they are willing to spend BIG $$$ on things, and most of them simply can't.)



Okay-- this is a terrific overview of the entire process:

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html

It also does a nice job of pointing out the interrelated nature of IEP and 504 in the school setting. I'm going to skim that one again and see if it contains clarification on "variety of sources" of information. I'm betting that it does.

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