Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional 504 and vision therapy guidance please

This whole thing seems bizarre. What if a kid was in a car accident and lost the use of their hands or they were stuck in a wheelchair. The kid goes back to school in the wheelchair. The school says "Well, sucks to be you. We don't need to do anything for you for three months. You'll have to find another student willing to open your locker for you. And oh yeah, if you can't write to do your math, too bad. You don't get any accommodations for 3 months because our policy states we have the right to stall and stonewall."

DS was in an accident in kindergarten and went back to school with his eye patch on the normal eye, and the other eye turned in so much that you could barely even see his pupil. He also had a big plastic neck brace so he couldn't turn his head at all. The school acted like he had stubbed his toe. Teacher sent me a few emails implying that he was having problems finding his carpet square in the classroom, and that when he tried to write, he was shaky and the letters overlapped. He was also crying a lot, according to her. One time I pulled up in my car to drop something off and DS was stumbling across glaze ice on his way out for a field trip. The "normal" kid in front of him in line slipped and fell flat on his back, almost striking his head on the sidewalk. That could have been DS who already had a crushed skull. No teacher or adult anywhere. No one even saw the kid that fell. Other than the few random emails from the teacher, the school didn't seem to be the slightest bit concerned about DS. I told the classroom teacher in an email that there was a possibility of him having a seizure, because of the air in his brain, and she didn't respond at all. And when I told them he was supposed to go outside for recess wearing a helmet (doctor's written orders), once the neck brace was off, I got eye rolls. There were times I came to pick him up and saw him running around without the helmet. No phone call from principal or school nurse or anyone else asking what accommodations DS might need. I did insist that he stay out of gym, so he sat in the nurse's office for weeks. Otherwise they probably would have sent him to gym with an eye patch and fractured skull. I told the school that the prognosis for his vision was completely unknown, and still, no one had any suggestions. The bizarre thing was, he already had an IEP, for speech. How hard would it have been for his case manager to call a meeting? I don't think they were being deliberately callous, it just stemmed from profound ignorance and basically a systemic failure regarding special ed in the district. Later on I found out that the school basically never writes 504 plans.

Anyway sorry for that rambling vent. I wouldn't juust take that as the answer, but double check to see if that policy is really legal. I think there is a much shorter time limit and they are probably not in compliance.