It’s August and summer is over. School days are back. Recently, I was remembering back to when Tyler first started elementary school and the stress of working out accommodations. I knew I needed to decide whether I wanted to pursue a 504 plan or an IEP. I decided on the IEP. The reason I did the IEP was because it included all a 504 plan does plus allows for “specialized instruction”. They had me at “special”.
I decided the more services, the better. I was able to get paperwork from our HTC that supported Tyler’s diagnosis so we could qualify under federal guidelines for an IEP. What are these guidelines? I do not know. However, I do know that my child with hemophilia qualified.
For my initial meeting with the school, I brought my HTC social worker, nurse coordinator, and an IEP specialist. The school didn’t know what hit them. I was ready to rumble! Well, turns out, I was the only one. The school administrator and faculty did all the talking. My “team” did not have to suggest any additional provisions. Everything on my list, and more, was offered. I quickly realized, there are a lot of services out there that schools are willing to provide.
With an IEP, the specialized instruction comes in the way of tutoring. For every day Tyler was out of school, he received one hour of tutoring. We were fortunate because the district allowed this to be at home. During his bleeding episodes, a tutor brought homework to our house and worked with him. I know this is not the norm, but shouldn’t it be? With our IEP, Tyler was able to have extra days out of school, extended periods to do make up work, extra time in between classes to get to his next class, a pass to the elevator (even when not using crutches or a wheelchair), and a set of books at home so he didn’t have to lug those heavy books around school every day. By the time Tyler graduated from high school in 2018, our district was providing tutoring at home all summer long. And when he was hospitalized, our tutors would come to the hospital and work with him, paid for by the district.
I know so many parents struggle with their districts. I have been fortunate in my experiences. Not to mention, we had two AMAZING caseworkers working for us that were like Tyler’s other mothers. But I wanted to convey this thought, you don’t need a team of people with you to get what your child needs. If you go into the meeting prepared with a list of accommodations that you believe are vital to your child’s success, you are ready. Do not be afraid to ask for things. We constantly revised Tyler’s IEP as we saw fit. Schools want our children to succeed. At the end of every school year, I wrote a thank you email to the district superintendent expressing my gratitude for all the services and accommodations we received. And every year, I was offered even more provisions. Be strong and follow my motto, “it never hurts to ask”!
Blogging about Bleeding Disorders 