On 11/07/09, Jean wrote:
> Thanks! Yes, wasub, I'm Jean from the sub board. We were near the
> end of last year when my daughter passed out at her desk and was
> subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy (quickly followed by migraine
> headaches). Last year's teachers, admin., and staff were so
> helpful that it was enough for my daughter to be under only "the
> umbrella of a 504." My husband and I were told that we'd solidify
> the 504 this year. She wasn't given an IEP, because she wasn't
> failing all of her classes.
>
> My daughter missed most of the whole first quarter of classes this
> fall. At first it was from the medicine mix-up. Because of that,
> the migraines hit full-force again (several a day). Then we
> discovered that - at the same time - she had sinusitis. Going back
> on her regular meds. for the epilepsy and migraines and taking the
> antibiotic for the sinusitis seem to have rid her (for the time
> being) of seizures and migraines. The med she is on may not
> completely alleviate her migraines, but it's known to be 50-75%
> effective. The med seems to be completely controlling her seizures
> at this point - to the point that she has been given permission to
> start driving again now. The problem is that depression followed
> on the heels of the meds. mix-up and the sinusitis. Because she
> was missing so much school again, the school counselor recommended
> that my daughter switch her two required (to graduate) classes to
> online and come to school only for her audited electives and office
> assistant work. The depression, though, seems to be partly due to
> the greater difficulty of the online work and my daughter's desire
> to take all of her classes on campus. There is still, of course,
> the genetic predisposition to mental illness in the family, but now
> she has just started taking meds and is in therapy.
>
> When my daughter began falling so far behind in her online classes,
> I asked the school counselor if maybe we should solidify the 504.
> She said she didn't think it'd be a good idea because she wouldn't
> know what concessions to request. Can we ask for the school
> attendance record to be thrown out? Can I now get an IEP for her
> since she has fallen so far behind in her classes? This past
> quarter, she got two F's in her online courses. Since we waited so
> long to cancel the third course (that she required for an advanced
> degree), she got an F in that, too (or an I, can't recall which).
>
> We have a meeting with the school counselor and admin. this coming
> week and my daughter's therapists said we should invite the on-
> campus teachers to join the meeting. Should we? Should we make
> sure that someone from special ed. is at the meeting to act as our
> advocate? I'm afraid they'll tell my daughter to not come back to
> campus at all, and I know that she'll feel dashed if they do that.
> She wants to go back to campus, so I'm hoping that - even though
> she hasn't had many days that she has made it there because of the
> health problems and then the depression - they'll let her try it
> again.
> -Jean

Jean,

Given your daughter's medical conditions and the status of her mental
illness she should qualify for an IEP. I think that since she used to
be a very good student and is now having such a hard time with her
grades should be an indicator to them how much her health status is
effecting her. While she clearly has a rough road ahead of her to
catch up and graduate, she shouldn't give up on her education and
neither should you.
When you go to the meeting make sure that you ask for exactly what you
want, bring any important/relevant medical information with you, and
be prepared to discuss how you and your daughter plan to get back into
school and caught up on her classes (summer school, an extra semester,
tutoring,etc). You and your daughter need to come up with a plan that
will work for her (and you), while taking her medical needs into
consideration. I am sure that she feels overwhelmed and often feels
very fatigued due to her depression and possibly some of her seizure
medication. She may need to be exempt from certain attendance policies
or have a modified class schedule until she gets into a school routine
again.
If the school is not cooperative, you should seek out an advocate from
an outside agency that knows the special education laws and can assist
you in getting the help you need.

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