I submitted my DD8's DYS application last month and received notification that the application was complete. I am curious to see by what date others received the decision on their application. I find myself checking multiple times a day - the email said a decision would be made before the end of the month (October). I am in the process of setting up an IEP/ 504 meeting at school (for dysgraphia) and would love to have DYS guide me through this process. When did you receive your DYS decision?

I'm sad to have to tell you that most people seem to receive their decision around the last weekday of the month. But we can probably help you if you tell us more about what is going on.

An old post may help manage your expectations: It is my understanding that services do not begin immediately, but rather once a family is informed that the child has qualified as a DYS, the family can choose to follow through with the DYS registration process by completing forms providing further information to DITD, about the qualified child.

Meanwhile, the forums contain many posts answering specific IEP/504 questions with guidance. Helpful resources include:
- the website Wrightslaw
- the book From Emotions to Advocacy
- Understood.org
- ADDitude online magazine

If you completed it in September, then I would expect you will hear the last day of October, or perhaps early the following week. Don't worry if it isn't until late that day.

My DD8 in a nutshell: qualifying scores for DYS. She is in a contained gifted 4th grade class (skipped 2nd grade + single subject acceleration for math) with 5th grade math instruction. After school she is enrolled in Art of Problem Solving's Algebra course.
The concern is her frustration with writing - she is the slowest writer in her class which is very frustrating for her. I suspect her brain is working fast and her hands cannot adequately keep up processing it into logical writing. Teachers do not seem worried (but have a class of 31 kids). Homework is frustrating when it includes writing - sometimes takes an hour to produce 3 sentences. She can type well and does much better typing than writing. I would like to explore getting her accommodations in class to lessen the frustration.
She is very motivated - I caught her practicing writing late at night in her bedroom. She said she had been writing for an hour every evening so she could get better. She copies math problems from an old workbook and experiments with different ways to write cursive...
I expressed concern to her teachers and an initial IEP/ 504 meeting was scheduled to see if anything would be done to start the process. The meeting was cancelled and no new date has been set yet.
I don't want to get my hopes up for accommodations but would like to get through the process well prepared to maximize our chances. She was tested in Kindergarten for a requested grade skip - discrepancy of 60 points between reading fluency (166) and writing fluency (106). No further testing was recommended by the psychologist (done at school).
I would love to hear ideas on how to advocate. As of yesterday she had a "work lunch" and "work snack" at school trying to catch up on writing for projects she was behind on. This morning we homeschooled (on fun algebra to get her happy).

thanks Indigo.
I was not familiar with ADDitude but have looked at and purchased the others previously. Good information.

Here are a few resources from which you may be able to glean ideas for meeting your child's needs:
- Davidson Database - Interventions for Dysgraphia
- LD online - Dysgraphia Accommodations & Modifications
- Wrightslaw - Understanding Dysgraphia
- Wrightslaw - writing

For advocacy approaches in general, there are several posts including resources which may be of interest.

THanks for all the feedback. I will be doing some reading. Does anybody have specifics to share on what reasonable accommodations I can request for the school to consider? What testing has the school done for your child concerning slow writing? I am hoping for more keyboard use and less writing, as well as some extra time for tests. She is generally well-rounded AG.

I just received a note from school that a meeting is scheduled for later this week to "help determine if accommodations are necessary, and to develop a plan if needed"
Would it be wise to postpone the meeting until I might have some help from DYS, or do you think it would be best to get the process started? I am worried of missing opportunities by doing this the wrong way..

I'm out of the country so DYS isn't an option but I will say that this has been a long road for us and a matter of building things up slowly. Our first IEP wasn't perfect but it was an improvement over what we had and we slowly improved it over the years. Our system sends them home 4 times a year and there are lots of opportunities to request changes. I also have found that even if the IEP is perfect it still comes down to the teacher that is implementing it. Some years the IEP isn't really needed because the teacher is going way above and beyond. Other years, we need every word so that we can try to hold the teacher accountable (assuming they are actually capable).

It took me awhile to realize that I was in for a marathon not a sprint and that I needed to pace myself properly. Of course YYMV.

ETA - went back and reread a few posts (sorry for rushing and not reading more the first time). In my experience with my 2e DS that also has writing issues the schools/teachers were fantastic at allowing and recommending accommodations. Most elementary teachers are extremely empathetic and concerned when kids are obviously struggling. Most of our fun has been on the gifted side.

If you end up with a 504 plan or IEP, you are always able to call another meeting to modify the plan, at any time. I'm not sure how soon you can request that they look again after they've found that nothing is necessary, though. I would go ahead and go to the meeting, but absolutely don't agree to "no accommodations" at the meeting. If only one of you goes, tell them you need to discuss it with your spouse before you can agree to that, or if it's both of you, discuss it with your DS's pediatrician or something. You may find that the meeting is mostly about figuring out which tests they will administer to him, rather than to actually develop a 504 plan.

If you disagree with the eligibility determination (e.g., they find him not to have an eligible disability, and/or not to have educational impacts from it), you may reject the finding, and then either request an independent evaluation, sometimes at district cost, or on a sliding scale (depends on the state), or you may appeal up the state DOE chain. (You may request one independent eval for each time the school district evaluates your child.) Your state may or may not have deadlines for when such an appeal or request must be made. That information should be in the parents' rights/due process brochure which they were mandated to give you at the beginning of this process.

I apologize for not remembering the details of your situation...but unless you have other reasons to believe the school is unduly antagonistic, the language of the meeting invite you received does not suggest one way or the other how the meeting will proceed. It's actually pretty standard language for a 504 eligibility meeting. Actually, they are not supposed to give you an indication one way or the other of the proposed outcomes, since that is, after all the topic for discussion at the meeting.

Just remember that you do not have to agree or disagree with anything right away.

Meeting done and referral for evaluation was denied since the classroom teachers are not seeing this writing issue and she certainly is not performing below grade level expectations. No IEP, no 504. They recommended working on her perfectionism - apparently her frustration about writing is just in her head and not truly visible at school. Frustrations with writing for homework were apparently caused by her being tired after the school day (according to school). NOthing can be done as far as IEP/ 504 unless she works below grade level - and she would have to work below 3rd grade level instead of 4th since 3rd is where she would belong age-wise...
Luckily school is implementing more computer work anyway and this week she was able to complete homework online and submit straight to the teacher online.

Ugh, I'm sorry. Are you going to request an independent evaluation?

no, it's useless.
She would only qualify for IEP/ 504 if classroom work is 1-2 grade levels below 3rd grade level (since her age would have put her in 3rd grade) or so they say. She is doing too well in 4th grade apparently. Still a frustrated, sad girl but doing well as far as her teachers can see.

Read about Lillie-Felton before you decide that it's useless - and don't rely on an adversary to teach you the correct law. They may be more experienced, but it's also in their interest for you to think the law is what they say it is.