Ways to make a 504 work for you

Disclaimer: I am not a special ed teacher and this is not a perfect blog post. This is a general sharing of ideas that have worked after 30 years in education. I continue to support clients in navigating this system and my goal is to have families and educators truly be a team. 

Working in education for 30 years taught me a lot about the inner workings of the school system. We could spend time complaining about it - or we could figure out how to work together as a team. 

Teachers in secondary education sometimes have 150+ students. Even just learning that many first and last names is daunting to most humans. Individualizing specific education plans for all of those students is impossible. MOST teachers are motivated to support students and want them to learn. MOST are flexible and with communication will work with you. 

When you approach schools, always assume best intent. Create a team. That means not putting them down, rolling eyes, getting angry before we know everything. These are people that show up every day with our kids and shove information into them that a lot of kids resist on a daily basis. Also remember that our kids will always tell us the story that puts themselves in the best light. Always. That's not to say that we should not listen to our kids - we absolutely should - but keep in mind that we are a team working with the educators. United front is the best thing for our kids and in high school especially the kids are part of that front. 

Sometimes kids just need a place to vent frustration. We can listen and reflect with them and brainstorm. If something needs to be addressed - talk to them about the steps to get that done. If the student emails the teacher and then shows you the response - and it isn't a solution that works- ask them to email again setting up a meeting with you on the email. You and your student will go into the meeting. Allow your student to lead the questions and listen to the solutions. Notice that is what we are doing - looking for solutions. We are modeling to our kids how to be frustrated and upset and still be respectful. We are showing them how to work with people and how to compromise and advocate. Those skills are priceless. 

504 plans usually end up with the same types of accomodations:  preferential seating, extended time on test/assignments, teacher notes, alternative test environment, etc. Those are effective for a lot of kids. NOT all kids. If your student could use something different - ask about it. Always keep in mind that it needs to be within reason in the public school system and the schools rules and policies. Some kids need work to be on paper so that they don't get distracted by the computer... Some kids benefit from extra accountability - either by proximity or check-ins...Some need projects/assignment broken into parts with due dates...If there is a loose due date - for some that means "don't do it until they yell at me"... (... so me)

If your student is comfortable with advocating for themselves, that is great. It is good practice for college and life. However, some kids are not ready for that yet. It is not mandatory that they advocate for themselves. They may need support. Always include them on those decisions. You can read more about the Washington State 504 law HERE. 

To be clear - the 504 is a legal document that provides protection. It can also be adjusted or cancelled at any point. You can email the counselor and ask for a meeting to adjust it. If your student is hesitant to talk to the teacher, you can sit with them to draft and send an email explaining the 504 briefly and what would be best as a support.
Postcard Below:
If you and your student create these postcards you can print them out and give them to each teacher at the beginning of the academic part of the year. I would put it with a gift card for attention - it would be a nice $5 gesture at the beginning of the year. 😊
The pictures are below and you can download it HERE.