I'm not sure which would be more taxing--continuing to advocate for DS or continuing to do what I'm currently doing in over-functioning for him. Since odds are I'll have to continue doing that part, is it even worth it to keep trying to have school give services? What if the services aren't of any use, anyhow? I know nothing about the SLPs in the district and DS' psychologist told me he didn't know how helpful the school would be with the EF issues.
Who would I call at State Department of Education?
Sorry, I meant to type procedural safeguards, not "parental" safeguards. Although parents really need safeguards as well, to keep from going insane.If you have that, it will hopefully give you the phone number that you'd need to call for the Dept. of Ed.
What specific services do you think your DS would benefit from? If you can answer that question, and then think about what the school would provide, that would help answer that question. Some things can be put into a 504, like a para to make sure he has his stuff and is organized (if the current plan isn't really working). DS has "organizational skills" in his IEP, but it's only a sped teacher coming in about 1X per month for about 20 min., mainly checking in with teachers to give support. I don't know that she ever really interacts with DS that much. Maybe with an older kid, it would be different (DS is only 8). What you want is someone to make sure that the teachers have some sort of system in place. Normally a 504 manager could do this, but it doesn't sound like this one is exactly on board. We are re-writing DD's 504 (while awaiting the results of a new eval), and her current 504 states that someone should make sure she has the items needed to do her work at home. Teacher stated "I can try, but I can't guarantee that will always happen." I felt like saying "Not my problem. If DD is going to succeed, she needs to bring home her folders/books." Instead I asked if there is a para that can help with this, and got blank stares. It's something that can be put into a 504 (I checked).
Also, if he has an IEP and is classified as having a disability that impacts his education, would that make it less likely (or more likely, or have no effect) that he'd be kicked out of the gifted program? It's nonsensical for them to claim he has no disability, when he has a 504. What's the point of the 504 then?
