School and Pedi IBD
Did you know that there
are ways to make your school day less stressful? Because you
spend a big part of your day at school, it can help to know
what kinds of changes can be made that can make it easier to
deal with your Pedi IBD.
 You and your parents or guardian may consider whether or not
requesting accommodations for health related issues at school
is right for your family. Knowing what laws are in place to
protect and help students with special health needs, such as
Pedi IBD, can help you to make this decision.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section
504 says that no child can be denied access to education because
of a physical disability at any institution that gets money
from the federal government.
This Act gives parents and children with Pedi IBD the legal
right to set up a 504 Plan with your school to accommodate
any special physical or health related needs you may have.
This means that you cannot be left out of any school activity
including
- classes, field trips, school sponsored clubs and athletics
because you have Pedi IBD.
A 504 Plan helps to make sure that you can join in all of
these activities without having to worry about your Pedi IBD
as much.
A 504 Plan is a legal agreement between parents/child and
school personnel that lists any changes to your school’s rules
that you believe will help to make your life at school with
Pedi IBD as easy to manage as possible.
A 504 Plan lists all changes that have to do with your special
health needs, in this case having Pedi IBD.
Individuals With Disabilities Act or IDEA (enacted
1975)
IDEA is an Act that also makes sure that all children
have the same access to public education whether or not they
have special health needs.
The Americans With Disabilities Act
or ADA (enacted 1990)
The ADA lists most of the same regulations
as in Section 504 and IDEA and once again makes sure children
with special health needs, like Pedi IBD, get the same education
as everyone else.
Changes to make your school day better
For children
with Pedi IBD, changes can be things like
- being allowed to use the bathroom in an emergency or an
any time bathroom pass
- being allowed to use a private bathroom if the school has
one
- storing emergency items in nurse or other staff office
- eating small snacks/ drinks throughout the day
- being late or absent from school because of a doctor’s
appointment or being sick without penalty
- rescheduling project/exam deadlines
- help making up for missed classroom time/assignments
- home-tutoring if you are out of school for a long time
Taking Medications at School
Do you have medications that you need to take during the day
while at school? For you to be allowed to do this, your parents
have to let the school know ahead of time. Your school will
then let you and your parents know what information they need
to allow you to take your medications in school.
Your parents can ask that the school keep a list of
- every time you take a medication/ what medication is
- every time you miss a dose of medication / reason why
For questions about anything to do with school and Pedi IBD,
contact the United States Department of Education directly
at
- US Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
Tel: 800.421.3481
Email: OCR@ed.gov
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