The school can't tell you she doesn't qualify for anything unless they evaluate. We got the same line. I had outside OT/PT assessment results and gave them to the school, and they were shoved into a folder with no one even looking at the reports. I would do some research on what the names of all the disability categories are in your state (names may vary between states, but all states have to provide the same types of services), for instance see if the information is on your State's Department of Education website under "Special Education". I found the eligibility checklists for each special education category and I could see that DS would possibly qualify as either "Other Health Impairment" or "Physically Impaired". For the latter, he qualified by having a diagnosed physical/motor disability (DCD) and the results of observations showed that he is "slow" in the classroom and has problems completing work at the same rate as peers. He was the last to get in the classroom because he kept dropping things on the floor taking stuff out of his backpack, and then last to get his math worksheet (which was a mess in terms of handwriting) turned in and join the rest of the kids for "circle time". So the "educational impact" was demonstrated. Once a kid fits into a category, the school can do pretty much whatever they want for services (OT, adapted phy ed, speech, etc). Your DD may benefit by seeing a school OT, esp. if she gets help with things like letter formation, pencil grip, beginning keyboarding skills, etc. Is it worth a fight with the school just for that? I guess it depends on the attitude of the staff. It's not worth it to fight to get services from incomptent people who don't understand or see an issue. I prefer IEPs over 504s because with an IEP, they need to meet with you and have you sign off on things, document progress, etc. With a 504, it's harder to enforce and there's really no monitoring of progress. But I do think the most important thing is to have appropriate modifications/accommodations and if you can do that effectively with a 504, then that may be all she needs at this point.
If you want her to be considered for an IEP, I would put in a written request to the principal and/or the spec. ed director for the district, detailing what your concerns are. They need to respond within a certain amount of time and plan an evaluation that addresses the concerns. Even for a 504, there still needs to be some sort of eval process, but not as comprehensive as what you would get for a child to be considered for an IEP. If they know there is a disability, they really need to do a comprehensive eval under the "Child Find" mandate if you and/or teachers have any concerns. You shouldn't even have to request it. But not all districts/schools are up to speed. Our district seems to evaluate only when it's a blantatly obvious case of a child needing an IEP (which is illegal, but worth the risk for them if it saves them money/time).
