(See our checklist of academic records that every parent should keep!) 3. TIP: Bring copies of your child’s report cards, standardized test results, and medical records, as well as a log of your communications with the school and other professionals to the meeting. Following the assessment, you will discuss the results with the evaluation team and together you will decide whether your child needs special-education services to address how ADHD impacts her ability to learn. Team members will review your child’s academic records, conduct a behavioral assessment, and observe her in the classroom. As part of the process, they’ll want to meet with you to learn more about how your child functions in school. Meet With the Evaluation TeamĪ school-sponsored evaluation is conducted by a multidisciplinary team - including special-education teachers, the school psychologist, and other professionals. TIP: Send your letter by certified mail or hand-deliver it and keep a dated proof of receipt for your records. (In some circumstances, the school may have to pay for the outside assessment.) Should the school decline your request, or if you’re dissatisfied with the evaluation’s findings, arrange for a private ADHD evaluation. (It’s often a waste of time to send the letter to the child’s teachers, guidance counselor, or principal.) Write a letter requesting an evaluation to see if your child with ADHD might benefit from academic accommodations.Īddress it to the chairperson of the Committee on Special Education Services - aka the Director of Special Education Services. Follow these eight steps to take the hassle out of requesting and establishing an IEP or 504 Plan for ADHD. If her difficulty with homework is disrupting her life, that is also a factor in determining whether her disability is substantially limiting major life activities.The process of securing academic accommodations for your child with attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD) can be confusing - and intimidating. You should also carefully document all the ways that her disability is affecting her, including those you describe in your question, as homework is also a school-related activity. In other words, the decision about whether she has a disability must be based on how she would perform without these measures, rather than with the extra support. Under recent amendments to the ADA, the institution is not permitted to deny eligibility based on the person’s performance if their performance is dependent on the provision or use of mitigating measures, such as some of the accommodations you described. In addition, it appears that both you and the school are providing her with various formal or informal accommodations. While learning is the most obvious school related life function, working, thinking, and concentrating are also specifically identified as life functions under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504.Īs a result, your child should be assessed based on how her ADHD is impacting her functioning at school in a variety of ways, including but not limited to grades. First, it is inappropriate for a school to use passing grades as the primary or sole measure of whether a student’s disability is substantially limiting life functions at school. Your question concerns whether your child with ADHD should remain eligible for a Section 504 plan.
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