Jack: The teacher denied my child use of a keyboard stating it gave him an advantage. Forced him to hand write an essay in class. What resolution could there possibly be? It has been a month and they want him to rewrite the paper using his accommodations. How is this fair. School ends in 2 weeks.
The way you wrote your question is a little confusing, but if you’re saying that your son has a keyboarding accommodation in his IEP or 504 plan, and the acc. was denied, then you can file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. Send a simply stated complaint ASAP, so as to get in the queue. Then start preparing your documentation (copy of IEP or 504 plan in effect at the time, date(s) of non-compliance, communication log, letters, emails, explanation of how the non-compliance impacted your son), and send it to the investigative team assigned to work on your case. Also outline how you think the problem should be remedied (e.g. in-service training for staff about your son’s specific disabilities). Instructions for filing: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html
Jack: You say the teacher did not allow your child to use a keyboard as an accommodation but “… they want him to rewrite the paper using his accommodations.” I’m confused. Did he write the paper with the keyboarding accommodations or by hand? Or both? If he was able to use a keyboard to re-write the paper, from a legal perspective, the school fixed the problem.
You ask “How is this fair?” You and I have learned that life is often unfair – but we can’t throw up our hands and stop.
Does your child have an IEP or a 504 plan? Does the IEP or 504 Plan specify keyboarding as an accommodation? If the IEP or 504 Plan doesn’t mention keyboarding, you are on thin ice and need to request a meeting to amend the IEP.
I agree with Wrightslaw. It seems the problem was fixed. I found myself, especially as both my kids progressed through the upper grades, having to educate each teacher on the use of assistive technology. I also did NOT rely on a special ed teacher to inform each teacher of my child’s needs. I had to do the work–not fair but it was life in my school district at the time. There was a lot of collaborating and most teachers do not understand AT–especially the newer AT as there is so much technology. If a teacher understands how the AT works and how the LD impacts the child,it may help resolve issues.