Just connecting these 2 threads as they are related.

2013 Food Allergy Bloggers Conference - School Video

I agree with Gina even if I have arrived at the same opinion differently.

The IEP process is not necessarily a good match for a physical disability that does not affect learning. Although it shares administrative law process it functions quite differently. The IDEA allows the school to diagnose the student educationally independent of medical diagnosis. 504 does not involve any diagnostics by the school, at least not officially. 504 protections exist independently of special education diagnostics and placement under the IDEA, and are regulated by enforcement separate from the IDEA.

Should a student's civil rights under ADA/504 be violated it is not an IEP violation and OSERS or the state will not be the correct entity to report the violation, however it muddies the waters for OCR if you have an IEP based complaint. You may be rerouted to exhaust processes under the IDEA unless you are EXTREMELY adept at teasing out the issues in writing and have an airtight complaint laser-focused on access as as result of discrimination. The IDEA will involve placement and individualized education needs, 504 prohibits the discrimination by removing barriers to the general education non-disabled peers receive.

An IEP is not like better, stronger 504 for anaphylaxis. A student whose learning is affected for related or unrelated conditions would most likely be better served with an IEP and 504 although any student with an IEP is automatically 504 protected. The IEP process very much including the necessary related diagnostics is not for the faint of heart, and the school will have more input on qualifiers because they will be performing the diagnostics. I personally would not put my child through educational diagnostics for the IEP process for food allergies only unless I believed firmly or had a separate medical diagnosis for a condition that affected learning.

There will be the occasional anecdotal assertion that IEP isn't all that bad and works great for food allergies. That's not what the regulations and law would necessarily , moreso when you examine it with complaint process. For those that believe an IEP is Fort Knox strong you have not been in the disabled community long enough to converse with parents, seasoned advocates and special education attorneys in the trenches whose children or clients span a wide variety of special needs. A common concern shared amongst many is the consistent erosion of protections under Part B despite that it is a funded mandate. One need only look at the OIG reports on budget violations for Part B to see those numbers are going down with no one to bring it back in line.

Disputes or responses to this post please provide primary authority or at least refer to it explicitly for framework. I would suggest to anyone considering IEP eligibility strictly for food allergies with or without possible associated affected learning educate themselves with depth and accuracy on how the IDEA Part B and Section 504 function administratively including violations and dispute resolution.

With regard to KWFA, despite their disclosures that they are not giving out legal (or medical) advice there comes a tipping point where despite the disclosure the actual content and statements are perhaps starting to move into the unauthorized practice of law.

What I would suggest is looking less at the food allergy specific organizations for information on special education and education civil rights and more towards the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, the same organization that partnered with FARE to file the amicus brief on behalf of the appellants in T.F. v. Fox Chapel. COPAA is more direct access working in a group of special education advocate, attorneys (many names that have appeared here in "Schools") and veteran parents of the system.

Sidenote: Laurel Francoeur is, in my opinion, one of the best if not the best attorney with regard to 504 for food anaphylaxis. It is my opinion that any reprinting of her statements that sound erroneous is likely a clerical mistake on the part of person paraphrasing her.

I heard it in there.  I think it was one of the questions she was asked and she said that, yes, a school could refuse this.

I agree that if the teacher brings up a treat box that the teacher probably has things in mind or last minute things in mind.  I used to want full inclusion a lot more and it used to bother *me* when DS wasn't included (didn't bother DS.  I was the one who got upset!)  But since I can't be there at those events anymore and the school has messed up enough times and I have seen other parents xcontam foods and bring things that were not on the list including things with outright peanuts in them and since I have read about horrible tragedies and near tragedies from situations where they were doing inclusion I'm not so psyched about it anymore personally.  In theory, yes.  In reality, safety first and I don't trust a situation where I'm not there.

DS is getting older and if he can be in situations like that and have his own food and not care it is a life skill.  Not that I think he needs *more* practice at that particular life skill.  He has it down pretty well by now.  We do have several times a year when good friends make events that truly are inclusive for DS and it is so heart warming.  Last year one of his after school events went above and beyond a bunch of times and it was so nice.   

And even before our district went food free bdays there were some parents who sent non-food items because of DS and one did Philly Swirl.     There are very nice people.  Occasionally DS's teachers have let me provide all the food for a party.  Not many times in his school career so far but a few and it was very nice.

I don't remember her saying that the school could refuse to evaluate for the 504.  It is my understanding that they do have to evaluate if you make the request, but I haven't researched it.  Never had that problem before so there was no need for me to research it.  Most resources I have read (Wrightslaw and a local SpEd writer) say the school has to evaluate if requested. 

I think each school and/or district might have a different procedure for how to request the 504.  In our district, each Principal is the 504 coordinator for the school, so yes the requests go to the Principal.  But there is also a district wide 504 coordinator so any problems would get elevated there first in our case.  But there are probably some districts that only have a district coordinator and not one in each school. 

Re safe treat box -- I agree that I don't want my kid eating anything that another parent provides.  But I do like her sentiment that if a teacher brings up providing a safe treat box at the first meeting, that is a red flag that the teacher is planning to exclude the child on a pretty regular basis. 

She says that schools can refuse to evaluate kids for 504.  I don't think that is true, is it?  If you put your request in writing aren't they required to evaluate the child?

One more thing,  she said to request 504s to the principal.  This isn't actually true.  504 requests should go to the district 504 coordinator, not the principal.  I'm surprised she didn't say that! 

But still, overall, a very good podcast.

It is an excellent webinar, Bunny.  Very thorough. 

I think the part about inclusion and not having allergens at school parties is great but I wonder how that can be enforced, especially with other parents being permitted to attend parties.  There is room for error there and I don't think she goes into enough detail on how this can happen, especially if the parent of the FA child can't be there at the party and other parents will be.  I have seen parents show up with foods that were not approved, parents sent out allergens and then without washing hands, touch allergen-free foods.  I have had teachers give my child foods with his allergens in them (luckily he didn't eat them before checking with me.)  It isn't so simple to just say, "no allergens allowed at parties."  I would rather assume allergens would be there and plan for how to keep my child safe than have him have a reaction because details were not planned well enough or some other parent sent in something that wasn't on the list or xcontamed safe food. 

When I could be there at all parties it could have worked a lot more easily.

By the way, I love Gina talking about the bell curve of how well the recommended accommodations will work and how some will require even more.   

Hi Bunny,

Thanks for the FARE link.  I'm going to listen to it later.  I love Gina's stuff.  She is so good and she seems to speak in a voice that non-FA people can actually hear and take in.  I had good luck getting a past teacher DS had to change her way of thinking by showing her one of Gina's articles. 

I want to hear what she says about treat boxes.  I used to be more on board with wanting common treats for the whole class if there were going to be food treats but after some fatalities that happened in the past few years I have felt I just want DS eating what I send and I really don't trust any situation where I can't be there and other parents are involved in distributing food.  In that situation I want DS to have his own treat and it will come out of his backpack or stash in his locker.  MOre likely at his age he will just go without and not care and if he wants something extra at home he knows he can have it.  But when he was younger especially if I could not be there I would not trust others to be able to serve food at a party and make sure it was allergen-free.  There were mess ups that I prevented by being there.  I think DS was fed food and almost fed food I didn't approve at least 4 times while in school so far and had I not been there it could have been a big problem.  And there were xcontam situations I prevented and stopped that happened as well that would have been very serious.  Inclusion is great but safety is way more important to me.  I guess I just don't trust others so much  after what I have seen.  I would go for food free any day. Thankfully our district is almost totally food free for celebrations.  Last year there was one food event and the other FA parent and I got them t change it and make much of it not centered on food, which was great. 

Add me to the list of fans-- both of Gina, and also of you, Bunny!   

I think that FAS has quietly, but surely, changed how a lot of people in the FA community "see" equality and social justice.

Aw, thanks.  That's really nice.  I haven't been around much for the past few years because I have had other issues taking priority over food allergy concerns.  But I come to lurk once in a while. 

I just watched the webinar with Gina Clowes yesterday and thought it was really, really good.  (The only quibble I had with her was her thought that an IEP isn't quite as good as a 504 plan for food allergies.  But that can be forgiven because of all the other really great things she had to say about protecting kids' rights to be safe AND included at school.)  In any case, many of her points were ones that I first heard here, so I thought I should post a link to her webinar for anyone here who hadn't seen it. 

Bunny I've missed you!

See the recent FARE webinar about going to school with food allergies:

http://www.foodallergy.org/tools-and-resources/webinars

I think Gina Clowes did an excellent job of explaining why a 504 plan is needed and how to get one.  She also did a great job of talking about why it is not a good idea to provide a "safe treat box" and other inclusion issues. 

I recommend you write your feedback to Lynda.  I think she will listen. 

The Webinar Q&A is over . . . there is not yet a link to read the entire thing.

Please, if someone gets link, please post it.

I really want to read this . . . we all should.

Cross-posting my post from the Parents dot com article thread, since there weren't any replies anyway:

Quote from: ajasfolks2 on August 14, 2014, 10:44:37 AM
http://www.parents.com/health/allergies/food/news-on-food-allergies/

I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, as this article has some pretty decent info and advice.

HOWEVER, I was very aggravated with this section:

Quote

NEW RULE: Stand up for your child's rights at school. Once there's a diagnosis, the doc should write an emergency-care plan: instructions on how to avoid allergens and how to handle a reaction. Give a copy to the school nurse with the epinephrine, says Mitchell. "The nurse will be your point person for organizing a meeting that includes you, your child's teachers, and the head of the cafeteria to go over what precautions are already taken, such as cleaning cafeteria surfaces, and what additional measures are needed to protect your own child." (No school nurse? Start with your principal.) If the school's response falls short in any way, Mitchell recommends asking for another meeting to request a 504 evaluation. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that no child with a disability be prevented from participating fully at school (public or private). A 504 Plan can document more detailed expectations for the school, often including procedures for handling food in the classroom, not just the cafeteria.

Ital & bold mine for emphasis.

Again, only go for the 504 if/when things don't go right?

Let's just revisit that old "NOT HAVING A 504 DOES A DISSERVICE for EVERYONE" discussion
and the fact that the child has rights that even the parent may not violate.

TYVM.

Two things as to 504 and KWFA's soft-pedal wording which is, at minimum, MISinformation:

#1, the Parents' Magazine recent issue:

Parents dot Com article


#2, the (email -- haven't checked their website yet) wording of announcement as to their Webinar today
"Do You Have Questions About Section 504 Plans?"

QuoteKFA understands that the legal issues surrounding Section 504 Plans for schools can be complex. For help navigating this complexity, join us for a free Q&A meeting with attorney Laurel Francoeur.

A 504 Plan is a contract between a school and a student. It is important to have a 504 Plan if you have concerns about effective food allergy management in school.

To be fair in #2 -- I would doubt Ms. Francoeur had a hand in the actual wording of this announcement.  Likely written by someone else at KWFA . . .


REALITY:
Seriously, the LTFA child has a RIGHT to 504 . . . it's not just something you seek when "things don't go right" or just "if you have concerns."

This goes beyond our (FAS') assertions all along (10+ years!!) that it does a disservice to ALL when the child does not have 504.

It goes to the heart of the matter and the child's legal right to FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) with safety and inclusion in the LRE (Least Restrictive Environment).