Can anyone help me? I want to learn and then write up a 504 Plan for this sweetie 7 year old I got recently. He has a HIGH amount of ACEs and I am worried for his future. Anyone out there done this before?
Thank you,
Karen Laberge
School Teacher
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Good morning Karen
What is the student's official medical diagnosis? ie PTSD, anxiety, depression, ODD. Usually schools will require a medical condition to make physical accommodation to student's classroom environment. A teacher can many some low level interventions without an official 504 plan. Extend time on test, more breaks from the classroom, Check in Check out program to give some extra support to build rapport and attachment. I have attached a link to Intervention Central a website which help teachers organize types of low level classroom interventions.
Good luck
Mike O'Connell
Karen,
As stated above, you should start with a medical or psychiatric diagnosis. This will help you with the rationale for why the child needs modifications outside of what is typically afforded children in a general education classroom. It helps to use evidence and research based techniques that support children with significant exposure to adverse childhood experiences. The modifications should be based on his unique needs and provide services that are outside of what a good teacher would provide any student in his/her classroom. Let me know if you have any questions.
Melissa Sadin
Director Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools The Attachment & Trauma Network
Good morning Karen,
Let me preface my comment by saying that I am not a licensed therapist or educator.
I am however an RN with 25 years experience working with the emotional fallout of women/children.
More important than any of the aboved, I lived the life of this 7 yr old without intervention.
What would have helped me live a more emotionally free life was feeling seen, heard, valued, safe, secure and loved. From that foundation, learning tools to help me quiet my mind and develop a sense of self would have surely been beneficial.
Learning all this in your early 50's as I have is not recommended.
I have a program I will be proposing to my city's Director of Education. I would be happy to speak with you.
I can be reached at 6105068298 ir info@lesliepetersrn.com
With gratitude, Leslie
Leslie Peters RN
Hi everyone,
You could ask this question on the Conscious Discipline Facebook page and get lots of "real world/classroom" interventions. Visit consciousdiscipline.com to find out more about this wonderful evidenced based program and see how it is helping both teachers, children, and parents transform the culture of their schools and homes.
Check out Eric Rossen and Rubert Hull's book entitled; Supporting and Educating Traumatized Students: A Guide for School-Based Professionals.
Great tool for educators.
Because it gets back to what is actually the barrier to education, I would never attempt to write a 504 on ACEs if a psych-ed hasn't been conducted first. I think it would be a dangerous direction for the community to take if we presume ACEs without ensuring that some other condition isn't at play. ADHD, anxiety disorder, learning disorder, etc needs to be identified first. Or demonstrated that they do not contribute to what is going on, also of assistance. Especially in girls, where diagnosing requires more expertise because things like ADHD are often mistakenly undiagnosed. It probably will also provide further evidence for the barrier to education, which can help fuel your need to write the 504, or maybe even evidence the need for an IEP. Good luck.
If ACEs are part of the child's history, I would try to refer to any diagnosis (if he has one) as being related to ACEs: "ADHD is X times more prevalent in children with more than 5 ACEs." I'd work ACE language into the document, because the 504 plan will travel with the child and it will alert his future teachers to the ACE history and hopefully inspire a more compassionate assessment of the child and his behaviors. If there are recommendations that address ACEs, include them. For example, principles of trauma-informed classrooms can be used to help this child to get centered, calm down, or receive help if he needs it. If things "work" with him, make sure they become part of his plan.
The best approach is a school wide social and emotional development skills program. This approach is best suited for all students, regardless of diagnosis. If individual student needs additional interventions and supports are needed then respond on a case by case bases. Each student responds to toxic stress in different ways, agression, withdrawal, definace. Responding to each student needs on a case by case bases is the main goal in helping schools developing a 504 plan. The shouldn't be cookie cutter interventions.
Yes, this is an approach that has been around for a few decades actually. The late 80s was the first student assistance program that provided support for children living with parental alcoholism, and has grown over the years to be applicable to addiction as a whole. It easily could shift to respond to all ACEs, since addiction tends to cluster with multiple ACEs. I have also heard that some schools are offering an afterschool yoga program, that incorporates breathing techniques, with student conversations on select topics that provide the peer-to-peer support needed to promote healing.
Help for Billy by Heather Forbes is an excellent narrative of classroom teachers dealing with traumatized children with practical supports and interventions. Everything from homework to IEPs and 504 plan suggestions.
Hi Karen,
What a great Ask the Community! I preface my direct answer with a note that it is for informational purposes only. I hope it helps.
As an occupational therapist here are things I would like to see in a 504 or IEP for a student known to have HIGH ACEs and (I presume) social, emotional, behavioral concerns:
* Clearly spelled out sensory triggers/fears/obsessions, intolerances, and strategies to avoid or loop out of them. Such as how to gain attention, how best to redirect, deescalate, opportunities for breaks (when, where, what tools).
* Clearly spelled out interests and preferences that may be leveraged for incentive programs (being trauma-sensitive in the token economy), if applicable.
* A commitment that teachers and ed support for the student will be trained in general TIC principles and specifically in-serviced about the needs of the student (as above)....face to face in addition to receiving the document.
Also, I think it is critical that TIC-informed practitioners help classroom staff and caregivers make the connections between what we know about a student and TIC practices that really enable the critical role of a caring, responsive, and informed adult(s). For me this means the dialogue and writing about the student takes a trauma informed lens to change how the student is seen by underscoring that/which developmental concerns may relate to trauma and by also clarifying the specific ways staff need to respond to the student based on our knowledge that ACEs are an explanatory and contributing factor.
I found myself thinking about this some more this morning. I'm not quite sure if there is a way to reference this in the 504, or just helpful ancillary information. I've worked in the special needs community for quiet some time, as well as helped numerous parents with IEP & 504 support. When I worked on a project with the CDC having conversations with specialists in states about earlier identification of autism, one of the three key resources identified through the project that guaranteed the best outcomes was the existence of a parent advocate. I think applying that to this area, and recognizing that many of these parents are also suffering from the inter-generational trauma that is being passed on and affecting the child of concern has a two-fold impact: 1)the challenge is more complex without a parent who can advocate regularly for the 504 (unfortunately this is the reality for most at some point throughout their academic career) and further means that any support for other diagnoses may be disadvantaged without regular support at school/home and of need for true healing and resiliency, and 2)without the existence of a parent without ACEs, the child will be living with two parents also suffering to some capacity and in need of services themselves. This reality must be taken into account when thinking of what services are the most helpful.
I would really love to see a sample 504 that speaks to ACEs, with or without any other diagnosis, if any are getting written. Am intrigued.
I agree with the above statement. Not until their is an official diagnosis for Development Trauma Disorder (DTD) in addressing multi or chronic trauma in children lives we be able to help students overcome their learning difficulties. Until then we can continue to use best practice of providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students.
