Rights for ADHD Child

Hi S.,

I went on the Dept of Public Welfare School Evaluations link:

For more information contact:
Lynda Lupp
Special Education Adviser
Division of Improvement & Technical Assistance
____@____.com
###-###-####

http://www.pde.state.pa.us/pde_internet/site/default.asp?g=0

From what I need they are legally bond to test her. You must request this in writing. Good Luck!

What you are trying to do is get an EDUCATIONAL DIAGNOSIS. Schools can do this but you need to prove to them your child need the extra help. Unfortunatly school can make this ridiculiosly hard.

Is she in special ed? If so contact me privately and I will tell you what to do. If not I would go to a board meeting and tell them what is going on. They should get involved to help you. If that doesn't help talk to the superintendent.

Mom to 3 girls 1 with bipolar disorder and 1 with Autism.

Go up as high as you need to, the school will be furious at you. Trust me, been there and done that. There is a process of what to do you just have to follow steps.

I took the Partner in Policymaking and learned how to effectively advocate for special needs children and adults.

Good luck to you. It isn't a easy process and it may take time but be sure to do it the right way or it will take you more time to get things done.

You need to get in touch with Director of Special Education for your school/district. They can use your child's diagnosis as a basis and do other testing to aid you. Then request an IEP meeting...they HAVE to set one up in a reasonable amount of time. An IEP is an individualized education plan and you, her dad (if he can), the teacher, principal, special needs teacher, school psychologist, school counselor etc all sit down and work out a plan on how to amend the classroom/her schedule to help her obtain an education on par with her peers. Good Luck and email me if you need more info.

my son has dyslexia and he attends catholic school. the only thing that "kind of" works for me was going to the very top of food chain and working your way down. i email the director of NON public schools at the IU if i wanted the psychologist to respond properly and i go to the psychologist when i want the remedial reading teacher to respond - otherwise i could wait weeks depending on my question. When the teachers are the problem i now go to the principal, but at one point i went to the pastor of the church... that sure lit a fire under them :). But alas i say KIND OF because, my son still is not getting the help he needs. he hates to read, and we struggle despite the modification in his work load. I'm looking outside of the school and IU for help now. it's going to be costly but can you really put a price on learning how to read??? I know that adhd is not dyslexia but attention is part a of dyslexia so i can imagine what you deal with. I was just told recently by a friend that online public schools are WAY better with helping you get the services you need for your child and they pay for these service way more readily than a normal public school would. my son would be in an online school in a heartbeat if i could stay home. it's an option you may want to look into, even if you just enrolled her for a year and could find the right services that will teach her to control her adhd and get a grip on it, then you could put her back in to the public school setting if you wanted to. just a suggestion.

good luck in dealing with the lovely educational system!!
~S.
ps, i'm reading "From emotion to advocacy" right now... it's a pretty good step by step what to do. i'm at my wits end and soooo tired of fighting so i don't know how much good it will do me. no one will tell you what to do, it's like a big guessing game :-) so maybe it will help you since you have just begun your fight!!

The school does not evaluate children for ADD/ADHD. If they do, they're in violation because they are not qualified to do so. Children should be diagnosed by a trained psychiatrist or pediatrician and it should take an hour to an hour and a half, minimum, for thorough evaluation. (never done by a regular doc during a 10 minute office visit!) Once you have a diagnosis, you present it to the school in the form of documents, if they feel they need them. For the school to do any formal assistance with your child you must come together and have a meeting about how the teacher/school can help meet your child's needs, depending on the severity. My two older boys have ADHD (22 now) and ADD (14 now). They used medication and sometimes the teacher didn't know the diagnosis unless we thought it necessary down the road. We didn't want the child to be labeled, as some teachers had done in the past. The meds were used to bring them down a notch so they could attempt to function as the other children in class. I'm not exactly sure what you are wanting from the school. If you want the school involved somehow with your child, then you must meet with them to come up with a game plan. If this happens, then you must sign papers stating your agreement and so on. Schools will have paperwork for everything, not only to protect themselves, but to protect the child and the parents. Unless the child has some severe problems, I don't know what the school would be doing for the child. You can just have dialog with the teacher and work together to help keep the child on task and maybe try new things to help the child, like keeping special folders, parents signing homework lists, etc. The principal and such do not have to get involved at all unless the child has special needs. You, the teacher and the doctor on occasion can deal with whatever needs your child has.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat
chat and events within 2 hour radius

Hi S.,

1. Look on the web site: CHADD

this is an organization about Children and Adult with Attenton Deficit Disorders. See what they say.

2. Every city has a Department of Education or School Board.

Look in the Blue Pages or whatever color they are under government.

Call to talk to someone under Special Education or make an appointment to talk to someone in person.

The school is controlled by the School Board.

Hope this helps. Good luck. D.

Dear S.,

I have a daughter (age 9) that was was diagnosed with ADHD 2 years ago. Is your daughter currently on any medication for her ADHD?

you can call your IU for your school district which actually are the ones who evaluate kids. The school districts are grouped together so as to cut down on costs.

You do have to sign papers in order to get an evaluation done and also to meet with them, can't just be over the phone. I have IEP's for last 4 years and always need to sign something first though now usually the day we meet.

S., I totally understand how frustrating it can be trying to get help for your child, and it seems like the world is against you. I find myself crying every time I make a phone call reaching out for help and I hit another wall. Most of them just don't take our insurance, and we have Blue Cross Blue Shield which is pretty popular. What's weird is that a third party provides and takes care of all of our mental health benefits. I've been saying lately that there really needs to be some type of online network just for parents to find help for their children (psychology, psychiatry, counseling). The most helpful resource for me has been mothers I know who have been through similar things with their children. They refer me to good doctors and give me advice. Thank God for them! My son recently got diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD after seeing a neurologist. I was told by a therapist to get my son a diagnosis from the neurologist, then my insurance would cover the right kind of therapy he needs. Thankfully, I also have a close friend who teaches special ed in a school system (not ours). She knows all the right avenues to go through and tells me what legally they have to do. I don't know how different it is in PA. I'm in New Jersey, and our school system has a Child Study Team (with psychiatrists, etc.) that does evaluations and such. My son does not have any academic problems, but still needs help within the school because of social and behavioral problems. When I met with the principal last school year, he suggested we might put together a 504 Plan for my son. Then, when we went to the neurologist, he also recommended a 504 plan (and he put it on the form he wrote up with the diagnosis and suggestions). I don't know if 504 plans are just in NJ or not, but you should definitely look into it. Because we already have the diagnosis, my son does not need to be evaluated by the Child Study Team, which will move things along more quickly. I tried calling the principal over the summer, after seeing the neurologist. I left him a message asking for the phone number to the child study team. When he didn't get back to me, I went online and got the number, address, and email myself. I e-mailed the director of the CST (I CC'd the principal so he would know what was happening too). Without any details, I explained that we saw a neurologist privately and got a diagnosis, that the principal and neuro. had suggested a 504 plan, and that we would need to have it in place before the start of the new school year to help my son. If he hadn't gotten right back to me, I would have wrote a more detailed letter and sent it certified mail (then, they can't say they didn't receive it). He told me to contact the principal and he would set up the meeting for the 504 plan. Thankfully, the principal got right back to me too, and things are on their way (hopefully)! Legally, once you request something, they have a certain amount of time to do something about it. Make a friend in the PA school system! A 504 plan is something that was originally designed to help people who have special needs get jobs, but it is now being used in the schools to help accommodate the physical, mental, or academic needs of students to assure better success in their education. An IEP may be similar and more detailed, but either way, you definitely have legal rights. Be firm (yet nice, of course) when demanding the help that your son needs. Unfortunately, the school systems are probably overwhelmed with all the things they need to do, so if you are not very assertive (yet nice), it may be easier for them to busy themselves with all the other stuff they are required to do. Please, message me if you have any questions or just need to talk about it. Let me know how everything goes. I hope you get everything worked out before the school year starts. God bless you and your family!