Pamela: I have proof my daughter has ADD/ADHD and her teacher told me since I don’t have her on medication she doesn’t have it. What can I do? I am requesting an IEP meeting on her.
Medication: DOES IEP FOR ADD/ADHD REQUIRE MEDICATION FOR A CHILD?
Special Education Law and Advocacy
Hi! I recently went to my daughter’s IEP meeting where they disqualified her from receiving services for her ADHD/ASD (she is high functioning). They stated that the assessments/evaluations, and observations show that she does not need one. However, she currently is on Concerta XR and it helps tremendously during the days she is able to take it. There are times when the prescription runs out and it takes a while for it to be refilled. They basically said that they can tell when this occurs and they are able to work with her on those days (But please don’t take her off the medication). This really upsets me!!! She still perseverates on things at school and it gushes out on me when she gets home. The medication only helps her to keep it together, not necessarily understanding the skills necessary to organize, understand social/emotional cues, etc. Are they really allowed to deny her an IEP because she is on medication?
Tina, To be eligible for special education services, a student must have a disability, and need specially designed instruction. It sounds like they are not saying that she does not have ADHD, but she does not need special education services. They can do this, but you can challenge this decision. She can still take her medication if she is not served by special ed. But she still would qualify for accommodations under the Section 504 law. Your state parent training and information project can assist you in considering your options. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center/
Tina, in my opinion, most kids with ADD/ADHD need specially designed instruction to manage the symptoms of ADHD. Your daughter needs someone to teach her specific skills that will enable her to learn:
* how to get organized – how to organize your stuff, your workspace, and your time (making lists helps)
* how to get started – getting started is extremely hard for many people – kids who have ADD/ADHD and kids who don’t. Teach her how to break big (overwhelming) jobs down into small tasks, and how to keep going (especially when the subject is not interesting)
* how to focus and deal with distractions – kids need to be taught strategies to use when they get distracted (let’s face it – school can be incredibly boring for long chunks of time) – how to recognize, identify and remove distractions (phones are a huge problem that adults struggle to manage).
Students need to be taught these skills when they are in school. Sadly, many schools don’t recognize and respond to this need.
A diagnosis of ADHD does not guarantee an IEP. The law only requires that a school district consider an outside diagnosis. The symptom associated with a child’s ADHD must adversely affect their educational performance to the degree that special education services are required.
As far as medication goes, I believe the most school personnel could say is “other parents with similar concerns have shared them with their pediatrician.”
Yes get an IEP meeting and bring your proof of the ADHD. You can request an OHI (other health impaired) IEP with the evidence you have and they can still put the necessary goals on that IEP. YOu need to request the document that your physician needs to fill out for the school in order for them to provide this type of IEP.
Agree with Amy.
When the federal special education law was reauthorized in 2004, a section was added that forbids “mandatory medication.”
School personnel can share their observations about your child’s academic and functional performance and her behavior in school and they can suggest that she may need an evaluation for special ed or related services. But school personnel may not claim that a child needs to take medication as a condition of receiving a special ed evaluation and/or special ed services. (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(25); see page 84, Wrightslaw: Special Education Law)
If you suspect that your daughter’s ADHD symptoms in school rise to a level that could be considered disabling and in need of special ed, then you as a parent have the right to request an IEP team evaluation. Schools cannot “force” parents to medicate their children, and nothing in the special ed law says that kids who are not medicated cannot be considered for an IEP. Whether or not a student with ADHD takes medication is not part of the criteria for qualifying for special ed, although members of the school’s team may ask you about any medication history for your daughter as they gather info for a comprehensive evaluation.
My son has ADHD. I was told since he has good grades he doesn’t need an IEP.
Jana–Students qualify for an IEP when they meet eligibility criteria for a specific impairment. In my experience as a school psychologist, the majority of students with ADHD who have IEPs qualified for special education because they met criteria for an Other Health Impairment (OHI). There is nothing in the OHI criteria that states a student must be failing or underperforming academically in order to meet the criteria. However, an IEP team DOES need to investigate whether the student’s ADHD symptoms impact them in other ways and then decide whether the criteria has been met. You will want to review the OHI criteria for your state for more specific information about what an IEP team would need to investigate as part of an evaluation.