Here's who was involved:
Occupational Therapist from the school district (OT)
The school principal
Bella's classroom teacher
Me
The district nurse (there's ONE nurse for the entire district)
The school psychologist (apparently she's in charge of the 504's for our school)
Physical therapist from the school district (PT)
One of the physical education teacher's from her school (there's two)
Who knew so many people were involved? Not me. That said, it was a productive meeting and all parties were highly valuable for our situation. I'll give you the run down of the roles every one played so that if someone else is ever in our situation, hopefully they can understand it better.
The OT had called me earlier in the week to discuss my concerns. She also had observed Bella in the classroom prior to calling. I didn't know she was observing. Turns out Bella also didn't realize she was observing. She was pretty discrete about the whole thing it sounds like from Bella's standpoint and hers.
The school principal weighed in occasionally about what needed to be actually written in the plan and gave her thoughts on the plan as we went along.
Bella's classroom teacher explained what she had already seen and done as well as her plans for the year. You know those stubborn paper towel holders that need "two hands" to get the towel to come out. She put a stack of paper towels in a drawer below the sink for Bella. I love that she thought of that! She said other kids are welcome to use them too but it's there so she doesn't have to mess with it. What a thoughtful thing! She talked about technology moving forward. She discussed how the kids usually write the math problem that she writes then solve it. For Bella, she's going to photocopy the page (no copy right laws are effected) and then Bella can write the answer. For long writing, they can have her do talk to text... there were tons of plans she had! I was impressed with her forward thinking. Loved it!
The district nurse explained verbiage for the 504 to be effective. She helped to think of when to call me and how to notify me of problems as well.
The school psychologist read the words from the 504 legal page as well as noted our plans. She has to be sure Bella "qualifies"... to me that was a joke but whatever I get it. It's a process that must be followed to a T for it to be effective and be a proper legal document. She also helped keep us on track.
The physical therapist mostly just listened. He'll weigh in more when PE comes into play if we meet challenges. I'm happy he's involved so that he's aware of Bella and the fact that she may have some needs.
The PE teacher discussed the curriculum for the year. She talked about things that she's been thinking about, like hockey, pickle ball, gymnastics. She asked questions about her "sports arm" prosthetic and when and how to use it. I walked her through the process but Bella does most of it on her own. We talked about how once we meet some of those more challenging skills in PE that we as adults will come to a decision on having her utilize her prosthetic. Though I want her to be involved, there are some times adults just have to make the decision to keep her safe, physically, mentally and emotionally. We'll work with her too when it comes to that. Her PE teacher and the physical therapist talked about having her have the option to try some of those skills without her skills, like practicing holding a hockey stick before she's charged to do it in front of her class. I thought that was a great idea.
The meeting stayed on track and lasted 55 minutes. In my opinion, it was very effective. We are currently waiting to see the "finalized" 504 plan. I have no doubts that it will not be a problem.
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