Help!! Who’s right, Who’s wrong? | ADHD Information

I was thinking exactly what Diane said even before I read her post.

Schools have strict rules that they have to follow.  You can't fight it - just give them what they want.

My school system requires the same paperwork - diagnosis and treatment plans and that was just for a 504.  I know they need more for an IEP. 

Your best bet would be to comply with the school. The doctor may not know the school protocal but th educational system will put you through hoops because their assessment is based on academic needs only. They have to determine whether the disability is impacting on the child's academic performance in a negative way and if so they will recommend the services they feel your child would benefit from. Its the doctors responsibility to give you whatever you need so that you can start the process of moving towards getting your child what he really needs. Its not his call whether its necessary or not. This is what the school wants and some battles arent worth fighting. Focus on whats important and that is trying to get your child the services he needs. As long as you put the request in writing, they have to re open the case. Its the law. Good luck :)In our school it's a budget thing.  The budget for special ed is determined by how many students have a diagnosis and/or need the services and without giving names they must show how the money is used.  Not every school system or state is the same.  If they are trying to do what is right by your child then is it really a problem to give them what they ask for?  There will, or may be, other battles that are more worth fighting.  Also, believe it or not, there are kids out there that are just not disciplined and the parents don't step up.  HOw does your school know who really needs the help and who doesn't unless they know all of the families personaly.  I gave the school the dx on a script pad just like your school asked for and they have been very good to us all along. 

Thanks so much to everyone for your responses, everyone's insight helps.  I pretty much agree with just giving the school what they ask for so that they will help her, but I do have some family members (and her doctor) telling me that I absolutely should not give them a copy of the medical record.  I know that in the end it is my decision and obviously I will do whatever they want if it means they will help her.  I guess my feeling about the medical record is that there are things that occured/were addressed at that visit and are documented in the record that have absolutely no bearing on the school part and to be quite honest some of it is really none of their business.  I am going to give them the scrip pad with the written diagnosis ( I have absolutely no problem with that ) and if they persist in needing the medical record I will give that too, I think I might just line out things that I feel they do not need to know... 

And to answer Wyatt'smom - if they are going to do what is right by my DD I would try to walk on water if that's what they want!!!  This has just been a three year battle with her school and even her teachers are starting to get fed up so I guess I am just on the defensive in regards to all of this, and I know I have to get over that part too and just start to move forward. 

My main question now is - Can they still, even with this diagnosis, say that she doesn't qualify for help?  I am thinking that due to the diagnosis they have to give her help... Is that right??

Oh and yes, the school did do a lot of testing, as did her ped. and ped neurologist....  the school's testing just ended up with a recommendation to see a med. doctor, no OT evals or anything like that were done...

A 3 year battle definatley stinks.  With a dx she now officially has a disabilty.  The ADA makes provisions for that.  Also, I'd do a search for the Department of Educaton in your state and have a clear understanding of your rights before you meet with them.  If the disabilty is affecting her learning they have to provide her with reasonable accomodations.  The problem is you may have to fight for what you think is reasonable and if she is still working at grade level then she might not qualify for special ed.  Tough one.  My son doesn't have an iep becaue he is still passing.   We have a 504 that forces some help.  Good Luck to you I hope it works out and I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't help the school help her. I just meant that they aren't necessarily playing games or trying to be jerks on purpose.  Sometimes they just don't know what they're doing or are so overwhelmed becasue of budget cuts and red tape that they forget that they are there for the kids. Wyatt's Mom - No worries, I know that you didn't mean any harm but what you were saying - everyone here is always so helpful, I will never take offense to anything said as I know that most of you have been through all of this before.  At the time of the testing that the school performed they showed that she was testing at "late 2nd grade level" for most things and she will be going in to fourth grade in the fall... their reason for denying her at that time is because they felt that "something else" was causing the learning issues... So anyways I guess that once the case is re-opened I will have to force myself to go in with a positive attitude and pray they won't say no again.  I will definately be researching the department of education for the laws in California, that is a great idea.  I want to make sure that I know all of our "rights" this time.  Again thanks to all!!!My son was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade. When I asked the school about seeing if he need extra help at school they told me he wasn't far enough behind to warrant extra help. I had just started him on meds so I was willing to wait and see. I hadn't found this board yet so I didn't know the rules that the school has to follow regarding SPED. The meds helped him to catch up by the end of 2nd grade. He was having problems with writing assignments. Didn't copy well from the board, had sloppy handwriting, refused to write in his journal. I thought this was all part of the ADHD. In the middle of 3rd grade he was learning how to write in cursive. His teacher insisted he do his spelling test in cursive. He usually got an 80 - 100 on his test, In cursive he was failing them. I requested a meeting with the principal because the teacher refused to let him print his spelling words.

When they saw that he had a diagnosis of ADHD they requested a letter from the doctor verifying this. I just gave them a copy of the letter the dev pediatrician had sent to me when he diagnosed him. They immediately said he qualified for a 504 under other Health impairment. The 504 allowed him special accomodations such as, extended time to take test, being allowed to print, etc.  At the time of the meeting my pediatrician had referred me to the dev pediatrician and an OT for further evaulation because he was having such difficulty with writing. The school agreed to follow up again once I had the evals in the fall. It took several months to get the appointments. The OT diagnosed my son with SPD (Sensory Processing DIsorder), the dev ped agreed with the ADHD, SPD  and added Developmental Coordination Disorder. In Decemeber the dev ped also told me to insist that the school test him.

When I met with the school and requested in writing that they test him they agrred to do it. Even though by law thay have to test him because I requested, they made it sound like they were doing it because of the diagnosis from the dev ped and that the doctor had requested.

The school finally gave me the results in May and the school psych says that he has a LD in written expression. Next year when school starts he will go to the resource room for 1 hour each day for reading and writing.

The resource teacher was surprised that they were doing this because he is on grade level for reading and his other grades are okay. He had a D in writing and a C in reading. On the standardized state test he gets Advanced in Math. He usually gets proficient in reading. In June I got this years results. He had Advanced in Math and below basic in reading. He can read. He just doesn't like to. He told me he never reads the passages he just answers the questions.

Sorry for the long post. The point I'm trying to make is that you can definately get accomadations with the ADHD diagnosis. They seem to respond better if you have letters from doctors backing you up.

I am also wondering if the school actually did any testing on your child or just did what my school originally did and looked at the academic records and said your child isn't far enough behind her peers to warrant extra services. Make sure they did the actual testing. My son was seen and tested by the school's OT, Psychologist and Dev Ped.
 

Good Luck

they are just playing games. Let me give you some advice, just play the game. Get the letter as they request and in writing re-open the case, request new evals, do it all in wiritng with a smile on your face. Document every shred of conversation and dont let them slack for even one minute. You don't "need" the the diagnosis form the docotr, but who cares you've got , don;t get into a power struggle over that.............. it's not worth it.

Hello, I have posted here in the past but since my last post we have been to see a pediatric neurologist and my DD (age 9) has been diagnosed with ADHD.  She has been started on Vyvanse which so far has been working well for her.  The question that I have is regarding the school issues now. 

My daughter has had potential Special Ed. meetings in both first and third grade (the current grade) and was denied for any services from the school at both meetings.  During the last meeting they focused on nothing but her impulsiveness and hyperactivity saying that these are the things that were causing her problems so that I needed to seek medical attention and they were not offering her services.  They told me that once I had a medical diagnosis we could "re-open" the case. 

My DD is in year round school so about 1 1/2 weeks after she began medication I informed her teacher of the diagnosis, told her we were treating it with medication and asked if she had noted improvement at school.  She told me that absolutely things at school were looking up!!!  Great!!  I explained to her that I wanted to get an IEP in place ASAP, especially before 4th grade begins in the fall.  She told me that they would need the diagnosis in writing from the physician and then we could re-visit things.  I called her ped. neur. right away asking for this info. and he called me at home yesterday telling me that he is more than willing to send me a copy of his report but that the school does NOT need this to evaluate her.  I explained to him that they already had evaluated her and that they were asking for this to "re-open" the case and determine her needs.  He again told me that he was more than willing to send me the report but he wanted to make sure that I understood the school did not need this to move forward and the fact that they do not have it should not halt any meetings from occuring.  I thanked him for calling me at home on a Sunday (he is a great doctor, we got VERY lucky) and told him I would tell the school what he said.  Then I get to work today and I have this email.....

If you would like to re-open the Special Education Case, we will need to complete another Assessment Plan. We would need the following information:
1. A letter from you stating you wish to reopen the Special Case for Katelyn based on new medical information.
2. A copy of the medical record stating the diagnosis & the diagnosis on a prescription pad.

We would then complete a new Assessment Plan and hold another meeting to determine if the medical condition is adversley impacting her educational performance. Let me know one way or another about the Sp Ed eval.

Now they even want it written on a prescription pad!!  And I just know that the doctor is going to tell me they don't need that.  lol   I just wonder who is right?  Do they have the right to request it and need it or don't they?  Is it possible that the doctor is not understanding the stage that we are at in the process and that's why he thinks they don't need it?  Do they have the legal right to ask for her medical record of a visit?  Also the little part about determining if this is affecting her educational performance leads me to think they may just say no again!!  Can they do that??  I thought now that we had this diagnosis they had to help her regardless of what "they" thought..... If anyone has any info. that can help me I would be thrilled!!!!

Hello- Oho the joys of education and our special needs children! One suggestion would be to give a COPY of the school notice to your daughter's doctor and then he will need to tell you he will/will not abide by the school system. I think once he has a copy of the request to put in the records you will find you have no problem with him writing the dx on a prescription pad.

Let us know what happens.

Randy

My school required a diagnosis as well.  They need it to cover your child under "Other Health Impairments" because what must have happened is that her testing all came back in the "Normal" range and she doesn't qualify under the other learning disability categories.

They told me they can't diagnose ADHD since they are not medical doctors.