Hello Jean! Is this the same Jean from the substitute
teachers chatboard by any chance? Any ways, about your
daughter. First, she can and should return to school on-
campus. It is very evident that she is not able to manage
the on-line school and if she has only missed a week, she can
make that up. Second, demand that they finalize the 504
plan. Her medical issues make her eligible for a plan and
she is entitled to it. Third, teenagers and young adults are
always subject to a lot of mood swings and anxiety, but the
reality in life is that they will not get anywhere without an
education, so getting up every day and going to school is not
an option - it is a requirement. If you are not able to
enforce your daughter going to school, find someone who else
who can. If she doesn't want to go to school, then she's 18
and needs to get a job and an apartment of her own. Living
rent-free at home should be tied to her continuing to go to
school. Yup, this sounds tough, but that is what your
daughter needs right now to help her stand up on her feet and
not allow depression and anxiety issues to overwhelm her and
suck her down. Good luck! wasub

On 11/07/09, Jean wrote:
> I'm wondering if you can help me with a question. Last
> spring, my teenage daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy
> (complex partial seizures w/chance of tonic-clonic) and
> missed a lot of days due to epilepsy and migraine
> headaches. Although I've never presented a note about her
> anxiety, she has suffered from anxiety since she was very
> little. My daughter was put "under the umbrella of a 504"
> and we were to finalize the 504 in the fall. This former
> A/B student barely squeaked by in some of her classes.
> During the summer, my daughter did well on her medication -
> no seizures and only a few migraines as the new school year
> approached. Unfortunately, she accidentally took her old
> meds instead of her new meds. By the time we caught it and
> were able to correct it, she had already missed a lot of
> school. She got sinusitis on top of the migraines she got
> from the meds mix-up and that was treated with an
> antibiotic. During this time, the school counselor
> recommended that my daughter switch to taking her two
> classes that she needs to graduate on-line, so we did
> that. We left it that she'd still attend audited and other
> non-consequential classes all day on every other day and
> only 1/4 of a day on alternate days. Unfortunately, she
> didn't make it to those classes and she fell behind in her
> online classes, because she then developed depression and
> slept most of the day.
>
> She hates taking online classes (says she feels lonely and
> there is too much work) and she wants to return to taking
> all of her classes at school. Her new psychologist said
> she will support this if my daughter is sure it is what she
> wants. The problem is that I don't know if we can get it.
> My daughter said the school counselor has told her that she
> has already missed too many days, she is too far behind in
> on-campus credit classes to catch up, and the school
> counselor says that she thinks my daughter shouldn't return
> to campus (for her required classes) at all this year.
>
> If my daughter (who is now 18) wants to switch her online
> required classes back to on-campus, can she do so? Is the
> law that the schools are required to give students an
> education in our favor, or can they say they already *are*
> giving her an education - just online and that they have
> the right to choose how to educate her? The second quarter
> just began a week ago and my daughter thinks she could
> switch back to campus courses for that quarter and then go
> back and make-up the missed online classes from the first
> quarter. Does anyone know how we can help my daughter with
> all of this? We're to meet with the counselor and admin.
> this week and I'm afraid they're going to say they don't
> want her to come back to school at all - and I'm not even
> sure if a phone call from the psychologist will be enough
> to change their minds. I'm afraid denial will plummet my
> daughter further into depression. When I asked about
> finalizing the 504, the counselor told me that it wasn't a
> good time to do so, because she wouldn't have any idea of
> what to ask for.
>
> Do they *have* to let her transfer all of her classes back
> to campus if we say we want that? Nobody knows whether or
> not my daughter will still have problems or not. She has
> managed to get up and go to school only two days this week,
> and she rose at a respectable time again today. She just
> began anti-depressant, anti-anxiety meds., too - and they
> might be helping now. But do we have to show the school
> over a long period of time that my daughter can make it to
> her classes, or not?
> -Jean

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