Advocacy Essentials: Understanding & Navigating IEPs, 504 Plans, and Everyday Support for Neurodiverse Students
By: Samira Meena - Featured Tutor
Does your child need additional reminders and time to complete tasks at home or school? Perhaps they thrive in a quieter environment and feel overstimulated in a classroom? As a former public school teacher, I have had the luxury of learning about the in’s and out’s of accommodations and every day support for students. Oftentimes parents are not well-informed about their rights and the FREE services public schools offer to assist their child. As a parent, it is your job to advocate for your child and to get the services they need in order to be successful, but when schools don’t advertise these services how do you go about helping your child succeed? Let’s start by defining some important terms to help you better navigate the road to supporting your child.
Accommodations: Tools and procedures given to students with disabilities to allow equal access to instruction and assessment.
Evaluation: The process of collecting information about a student to improve their educational program. This information is collected through assessments, observations, and interviews.
General Education: Instruction students receive in their homeroom classroom with their peers. Including the body of knowledge and range of skills that all students are expected to master.
IEP: Individualized Education Program or Plan developed to ensure a child who has a disability identified under the law receives specialized instruction and related services.
Section 504: A federal law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination.
Team Members: The group of members who share information and work together to determine what services are appropriate. Team members may include, but are not limited to: a general education teacher, a special education teacher, school psychologist, social worker, district representative, and the parents/guardians.
IEPs vs. 504s
If you believe your child would benefit from additional support in the general education setting then you’ll need to be familiar with the differences between IEPs and 504s.
IEPs
IEPs are Individualized Education Programs that provide special education services and are unique to each child. A child is eligible for an IEP if they have one or more disabilities listed in The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) law. These disabilities include:
Autism
Physical impairments like deaf or blindness
Speech or language impairment
Other health impairments (including ADHD)
Specific learning disability
Emotional disturbance
Hearing impairment
Intellectual disability
Multiple disabilities
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment
If your child receives an IEP, they will be part of the school’s special education program. Depending on your child’s needs, they can be “pulled out” into a smaller/quieter classroom environment for completing their assignments. Your child will still have access to their general education classroom but may be provided with support staff such as a paraprofessional to assist them in reaching their goals throughout the school day. This paraprofessional can act as one-on-one support for your child or may be assigned to multiple children in the classroom and may work with small groups of students at a time. IEPs can provide other FREE services through the school such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.
504s
504 plans have a more broad definition of a disability. Unlike the IDEA law mentioned above, the Section 504 law does not specify a list of impairments that may qualify a student for a 504. Students who are eligible for a 504 plan usually have a physical or mental impairment including having learning or attention needs which can affect their ability to learn in a general education setting. These disabilities include, but are not limited to:
ADHD
Anxiety
Asthma
Diabetes
Dyslexia
Visual impairments
Other disorders of major body functions
When a child receives a 504 plan, they generally remain in the general education setting with their peers. 504 plans give changes to the learning setting to meet the needs of each child. Some common accommodations featured in a 504 plan include:
Preferred seating in a classroom (near the board, near the teacher, etc.)
Additional time to complete tasks (including classroom assignments, tests, and projects)
Adapting assignments (i.e. providing a checklist, answering less questions, completing the assignment in portions/chunks, etc.)
Receiving a written outline of notes rather than note-taking
Using a computer for written assignments
Option to take an oral test or use of a scribe when test taking
Next Steps
If you think your child could qualify for an IEP or a 504 plan you should schedule a conference with your child’s teacher. The sooner you acknowledge your child would benefit from additional support, the sooner your child will receive the support they need and you will see firsthand how their education experience can be transformed to meet their needs. As a parent, you have the right to ask the school to support your concerns and start testing your child for eligibility. Remember, the testing schools do are completely FREE and once you raise your concerns the school MUST evaluate your child. My recommendation is to schedule a conference with your child’s homeroom teacher and then follow up asking for testing/evaluations in an email so the school has your request in writing and it can easily be forwarded to the proper coordinators and team members.
Navigating advocacy and education can be an extremely daunting task, but ultimately educators and schools want to see your child succeed and have a positive experience attending school. At the end of the day, the most important thing is making sure your child is receiving the education and the opportunities they deserve, and by advocating for your child at a young age you’re teaching them how to advocate for themselves.
About The Author
Samira Meena is a former public school teacher specializing in elementary education and is ESOL and gifted certified. In 2022, she achieved recognition in excellence winning Teacher of the Year in Atlanta,GA. With a background in television and film production, Samira is passionate about creating engaging and worthwhile learning experiences. Samira’s favorite part about teaching is connecting with students and helping them develop a growth mindset with confidence in their ability to succeed.