I emailed the following the the school psych when she told me last year that DD is not impaired enough (i.e. failing) in order to qualify for a 504 plan. Her teacher thought she was doing just fine on medication and she'd "grow out of" any processing speed issues that she has (hahaha). Don't know if this helps. 6 weeks later she wrote back to me and said "I was unaware of this."
According to Section 504 Under the 2008 ADA Amendments, there have been many changes. Some of these changes include:
1)Mitigating measures (in the case of my DD, meds) cannot be considered in determining substantial limitation (except for glasses/contact lenses). When determining whether the disability materially restricts a major life function, school districts must do a "look back" evaluation to determine what a child is like when off medication or without the mitigating measure
2)kids who have learned to "self-accomodate" or adapt--or compensate, now cannot be penalized for learning to manage the disability on their own. Learned adaptive skills are a mitigation that may not be taken into consideration when determining substantial limitation
3)Evaluations under the new interpretation of section 504 must be comprehensive and look at all areas of learning: thinking, concentrating, communicating, and so on.
4)Accommodations and modifcations must actually level the playing field in order to be 504 compliant.
5) School districts must have updated their 504 evaluation criteria, procedural requirements, manuals, materials, parent letters, prior written notice letters, and so on, and must have trained personel not to make statements or policy that violates Section 504 in a manner consistent with the ADA Amendments Act. Perhaps the most challenging issue facing school districts is understanding that even children who are DOING ADEQUATELY in school may qualify for Section 504.
