504 Update

Yesterday, MacTroll and I met with X-man's "team" at Carrie Busey. The team is made up of various teachers and administrators who have various specialities and can do observations of children to see if they need any special interventions/accommodations.

When we last met, we talked about X-man's emotional issues. He gets stressed out very easily and could only have successful academic interactions with one other student in his class. He had difficulties making his letters. He had spatial awareness challenges sitting in a space on the carpet or standing in line going to specials (music, art, etc.). He was fidgeting and constantly pulling at his socks or putting things in his mouth.

So we put our heads together and came up with some things to try. His teachers followed them and then reported back on his growth.

The awesome news was that most of the feedback were celebrations. He's not chewing on as many things (although he still has no fingernails). His OT is helping his handwriting and he's making giant improvements. He has an emotional thermometer where he records how he's feeling throughout the day that has made a giant difference in letting him know when he's getting aggravated and needing some chill out time. He also meets with a social thinking group that utilizes the Zones of Regulation to help children become more aware of their emotions and to regulate them before they get to a breaking point.

His one challenge remains special awareness. He walks either at the front or the back of the line to be the most successful, but he seems to have trouble sitting up during carpet time. He has a special stool to sit in, so he can swivel around and keep moving without the danger of leaning back and tipping his chair.

What this means is that since we've seen improvements because of the accommodations, he has a 504 plan. If he hadn't been improving, we would have to take another six weeks to do a full case study and work toward an Individual Education Plan (IEP).

He takes his 504 with him to California when we move. And we'll have to sit down with the new principal and talk to them about how they operate and where they think the best place will be for X-man.

The administration and teachers at Carrie Busey have been extraordinary. They even told us to feel free to have his new school call if they want any additional information on the plan or on X-man in the school.