ADD Student rights to a Public School Education

[angel321]

My son was dignosed with ADD through testing requested by our public school in Dec 2003. The testing took 3 months to schedule once it was requested and scheduled by the school. The evaluation stated that he qualified for a 504 plan although no formal 504 plan has ever been written. They promised him an extra set a books the following year which never was supplied. Over the course of the next year my son was constantly being set to the dean for his inability to stay focused and "behave" in class. He was attacked in gym class and fought back and was labeled a "bad boy" and the school said that he would be expelled or shipped to a last resort school. My son is not a "bad boy" and this school was not helping his behavior with ADD. The alternative school requested that I have him in counseling which we did, and even required him to be on medication or face expulsion which we did (even though we didn't approve). Now because we made waves the school has referred my son back to his home school, and is now up for the original expulsion and a hearing in a few days. I feel that my son has been unjustly treated by the school district since the original report to them that he had a disability to learn with the ADD diagnosis. There was never an IEP evaluation, basically the school district did nothing but allow him to turn assignments in late & have more time on tests. To me this wasn't helping him, this was only an avenue to allow his problem to get worse. Is there anything that I can do legally to force the school district to stop with the expulsion and give my son that help he has needed since December 2003 when the Neruological Consultation was 1st requested and paid for by the school district? Can the school district go forward with the hearing if I request an IEP evaluation, or will they have to post phone it based on the results?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

My son was dignosed with ADD through testing requested by our public school in Dec 2003. The testing took 3 months to schedule once it was requested and scheduled by the school. The evaluation stated that he qualified for a 504 plan although no formal 504 plan has ever been written. They promised him an extra set a books the following year which never was supplied. Over the course of the next year my son was constantly being set to the dean for his inability to stay focused and "behave" in class. He was attacked in gym class and fought back and was labeled a "bad boy" and the school said that he would be expelled or shipped to a last resort school. My son is not a "bad boy" and this school was not helping his behavior with ADD. The alternative school requested that I have him in counseling which we did, and even required him to be on medication or face expulsion which we did (even though we didn't approve). Now because we made waves the school has referred my son back to his home school, and is now up for the original expulsion and a hearing in a few days. I feel that my son has been unjustly treated by the school district since the original report to them that he had a disability to learn with the ADD diagnosis. There was never an IEP evaluation, basically the school district did nothing but allow him to turn assignments in late & have more time on tests. To me this wasn't helping him, this was only an avenue to allow his problem to get worse. Is there anything that I can do legally to force the school district to stop with the expulsion and give my son that help he has needed since December 2003 when the Neruological Consultation was 1st requested and paid for by the school district? Can the school district go forward with the hearing if I request an IEP evaluation, or will they have to post phone it based on the results?

I'm very sorry to hear about the issues you are facing with your son. This is a very difficult situation and I don't specialize in this area of law, only having experience with a friend who has 2 ADD children. I'm unaware what the number of the procedure you are talking about is so I can't help you there unless you can provide more information.

Let me ask you this -- is the school propertly equipped to deal with ADD children? In the little that I know about my friend's situation, part of the problem was that they were fighting an uphill battle and ended up with better results sending their son elsewhere. What else can you tell us about the school or the dynamics? I'm assuming there are other parents with ADD children?

 

[calalily]

Section 504 and Special Education Laws

I am a certified Special Education teacher and former Section 504 coordinator. Section 504 is a federal law to protect the disbaled from discrimination. For children who are disabled to qualify, it must affect a major life activity and learning is one of the catagories. Type in Section 504 into your search engine for the laws. Special Education laws are under IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Type in IDEA 2004 for the laws. Your child's school is required to have a Section 504 committee of which you shold have been a part. You should have been given a copy of ALL the paperwork. For a child with discipline problems a Manifest Determination meeting should have been held to determine if the behavior was related to his disability and a behavior intervention plan should have been done. If you requested Special education testing, (Full Individualzed Evaluation, (FIE)), then it should have occured within a reasonable amount of time after Section 504 was tried and did not help. It is my understanding that it is illegal for the school to require a child to be put on medication. Your state may have an advacacy group that has lawyers who will take your case. Type in ADD or ADHD advocacy group and find one in your state. The lawyers for the group usually take the cases on a contingency bais. File complaints with your superindentent of your school district and include the Special Education department. Also file a complant with your state's education agency. Type in your state's name followed by the words Education Agency into the search engine. Get copies of all paperwork done on your son at the schools first and research the laws at the above places I mentioned. Good luck.