eco, you did a great job! Good work!
I was really uncomfortable at many points in the 504 meeting, because it was clear that school people thought I was being "over the top" in wanting very specific wording about the communication accommodations. When I'd try the "last year this didn't happen and it caused problems" angle, at one point I was instructed to "lay last year to rest and start fresh." So I guess my communication was perceived as complaining, when I really meant it to be informative to the process.
I totally understand how this feels uncomfortable - I've been in very similar situations in meetings with our school and it does feel really uncomfortable. It's important to just remind yourself that if it's feeling uncomfortable, the reason here is that the school staff didn't do *their* job last year - they want to "lay last year to rest" because you have evidence that things were not handled appropriately last year. In this case, with no previous 504, it's perhaps ok for the school to look at this as "a fresh start" - but if the 504 isn't followed or things don't work this year, keep notes and don't be intimidated into not bringing it up at future meetings - learning from what's happened in the past is a very important way of understanding how to provide FAPE to a student who has any type of challenge in the classroom.
Best wishes,
polarbear
