504 Accommodations

After Connor’s Tourette Syndrome Diagnosis  and through most of the rest of elementary school we were blessed by teachers and students that accepted Connor’s diagnosis of TS. I sure don’t want to say that everyone put it aside and treated him as if he didn’t have TS. I simply wanted to say that almost everyone was respectful and understanding. Even most of the children simply adapted to this. This is a credit to these children and I also think a natural byproduct of children & schools being more accommodating over the years to all kinds of conditions that many students (and teachers) face and are present in the schools.

Because of this inherent ~accommodation~ Connor experienced, we never had the need to file a formal “Section 504 Eligibility and Accommodation Plan”. If you are unfamiliar with “504” rights and terminology then check out this Parent’s Guide to Section 504 in Public Schools for more information. Unfortunately, Connor’s tics started getting more intense & frequent during 5th grade. That coupled with our concerns around moving to middle school where he would be transitioning to a new class every period drove us to asking his elementary school teachers and administrators for their recommendations regarding the 504 process.

These professions suggested we pursue this process and late in Connor’s 5th grade year we worked with the school and our neurologist to identify our first 504 for Connor. It was a good start and had some basic TS-oriented accommodations such as “designated safe place to go in order to release tics” and “allowed to leave the room for drink, etc. when student feels overwhelmed, anxious or in need of movement”.

Having this ~official~ paperwork already created helped us as we reached out to his new 6th grade teachers. Several of his teachers were incredibly understanding and supportive, but we always had a couple that I believe thought Connor was just “acting out”. I still don’t get this mindset, but it does exist. I guess they don’t remember how hard middle school was and how unlikely any kid would do anything to stick out of the crowd.

Our real concern was around testing (and other “quiet”) times where we knew that Connor’s tics might be distracting to others. Somehow, we got through 6th grade with a simple “separate location for testing if needed” callout. Things went so well with testing throughout the year that at our annual 504 review meeting during the last week of school, we let the school administrator talk us into an even less binding “small group testing for standardized testing” rewording. How would we know that the very next day one of his teachers (who we believe was hitting a tipping point dealing with Connor’s TS) decided to place him in the hall for his final exam.

It took days to unwind Connor from this experience that gave the impression to the other kids that he did something wrong. He also felt like the teacher was mad at him. We decided that we’d need to enhance this testing accommodation once school started.

We did our typical email spread to his new 7th grade teachers with some upfront info on Connor & TS as well as sent them a copy of his 504. We were blown away when Connor was repetitively told to stop making noises by one of his new teachers during the first week of school during a pretest. It took us another few days to get Connor to calm down and fully explain this situation to us. Fortunately, we all agreed that the teacher was not trying to be mean and did not fully understand the situation.

What this did make crystal clear to me is that the 504 process is incredibly important and the legally-binding wording agreed upon is critical to help make sure student & teachers have a clear understanding of what is expected from each other. Fortunately, after a number of iterations we were able to update Connor’s ~testing~ accommodations to read as follows.

• For standardized testing, Connor will be tested in an individual setting.
• For classroom assessments/quiet individual work, an “individual testing location” will be agreed upon by each teacher, the parents, and Connor, close enough in proximity so the teacher and Connor have easy access to each other. Although it is not required for Connor to be testing in this environment exclusively, either the teach or Connor can decide when it is necessary.
• Connor and the teachers will agree upon a subtle signal either can use to indicate that he needs to move to the designated location.

After reviewing these with each of his teachers and settling on an appropriate place (if needed) for testing (i.e. NOT the hall) as well as the “subtle” indication signal, we believe we are going to have a smoother year of school.  Again, these 504 accommodations are not just good for the students. They give clear guidance to teachers who are dealing with a number of children each day; some of which also have other 504 accommodations to comply with.  I thank all of Connor’s teachers, and the administrators, for working with us to identify an appropriate plan for him.

For anyone else needing an accommodation plan, please learn from my mistakes.  Take this stuff very seriously and constantly put yourself in your child’s and his/her teacher’s shoes.  Do your best, but realize that these plans can be revisited at anytime so be diligent in continued evaluation of the effectiveness and/or consequences of the accommodations that are agreed to.  If they don’t work anymore -- change ‘em!

This presentation gives some solid TS information, but also addresses some of the various “accommodation plans” and additional perspectives on how your child’s TS might best be addressed in these legal documents.