With Section 504 – there are a few “grey” areas that occur when your child has a low profile disability such as ADHD, Low Vision, Diabetes, Comprehension/LD issues. These types of issues are not visually seen and at times a teacher (without proper education and training) might not understand what is needed from an accommodation standpoint to help your child. Often schools will request that you as a parent allow the teacher time to bond with your child who is mainstreamed in a normal classroom.
As a parent, the first thing that comes to mind is no – why should I have my child suffer because the teacher simply won’t follow the 504, won’t slow down or simply makes comments to your child that are indeed hurtful. Be very careful about making the assumption that the teacher does not want to help – many times it is simply a matter of coaching the teacher a bit and you should be fine.
If additional services are needed in the classroom – you need to understand the difference between aid and aide. For IEP students, the school can have the ability to get an aide (person) in the classroom, for Section 504 students – the schoool can have the ability to get assitive aids (items/accommodations that help the child) in the classroom. There is a difference and you need to understand that.
Here’s a few places you can research Section 504 and FAPE:
Also the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) should be able to guide you as a parent as to what is allowed in situations where the teacher cannot meet the needs of your Section 504 special needs child.
