So far as I can tell, having a 504 plan is something specifically relegated to the world of education. I am working in the world of education, but I don't think it applies to me. Ah... and I'm right because
"504 plans are for K–12 public school students with disabilities. " One of my coworkers has a 504 plan due to her dyslexia and because of that is required (or approved) to administer standardized tests that would require her to read directions word for word. However, I am pretty sure that her 504 plan is a legacy of her time in high school. Probably having that paperwork was an opener to making workplace accommodations. I don't have any such legacy. If I had it might have included something about being forgiven for losing track of time (something that is definitely part and parcel of my disability). Aside from general scattered losing track of assignment deadlines in high school, most large problems that leap to mind were in college. Of course, with the exception of the time I missed orchestra rehearsal and was thrown out of the ensemble, I WAS forgiven. I accidentally missed a guest lecturer in creative writing. My professor added 10 pages to my final project as a way to make up for that. I accidentally missed all my finals my final year in college because I lost track of the days. My professors (who failed to believe I could make up such a stupid lie) allowed me to take the finals rather than ruining my chance to graduate on time. Mostly my "accommodations" involved simply having a very organized friend who didn't track my schedule per se, but I had a similar schedule to hers so I just coordinated my day based on what she had going on. It was like accidentally stumbling upon a covert PCA for myself. Except that it was a close friend. This worked short-term, but having one particular person as an accommodation is never a good plan, especially when they end up transferring to a different school after two years. It was not practical to coordinate schedules between Ohio and Texas. The accommodations that I think would help me in my current job:
Okay the second one is jokey. Just because I can't focus at all (AT ALL) when there is music with words (Or music that I know. Or music that I've played. Or music that I like. Or music that I don't like.), doesn't mean that it's a problem. It just means that while the students are working, I'm distracted by the music. But typically it is during their independent work time and I can just put up with it. When I am working in a room with other teachers who want to listen to music though, I'm kind of an ass about it. Because I would rather be upfront about my need to NOT listen to music than to wait until it drives me completely flipping bonkers and then blow up at them. In my hiring paperwork I disclosed that I am a person with a disability, partly because if I wanted to ask for accommodations it doesn't seem like a scam. Or a con. Or whatever. Last year I verbally told my supervisor that I had issues with anxiety and was hoping to have a scheduled observation instead of surprise. I couched it in part as a first-time-observation-jitters situation, though, rather than a disability issue. Supervisor and boss were both very understanding and said that of course it would be no problem. The only difference between what I did last year and asking for accommodations relating to disability would be mentioning that I was asking for the changes due to a disability. It wouldn't even need to be in writing. I might not even be asked to disclose what the disability is, apparently. I think, since the first round of observations is coming up, that I might talk to my supervisor whether it makes sense to ask for official accommodations and if it needs to be in writing. Why was this not such an issue in my last job? I think for several reasons:
I'm not kidding about that last one. That administrator was later found to be abusive to her employees and politely escorted out of the profession. It wasn't just me. So I think I have a plan. Brief conversation in my pre-conference meeting about disability issues without disclosing a lot of information. Followed by whatever makes sense. Grateful Crap: the Americans with Disabilities Act and its inclusion of mental illness Equatorial Actions: posting sleep thinking about work stuff meds: 20mg lurasidone, 200mg lamotrigine Comments are closed.
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K. BuchananQuaker, teacher, parent, |