New to ADHD - does MCPS screen?

[Anonymous]

Does MCPS screen kids for ADHD? Not sure where to start. Do we get a diagnosis from an outside psychologist first? Any guidance would be so helpful. Thank you. At a loss on what to do.

[Anonymous]

No, MCPS does not screen kids for ADHD. I think the first step would be your pediatrician. They will be able to help you figure out how to proceed. They might suggest a psychologist but they might not. There is a screening form that teachers can fill out which describes what they see your child do in the classroom, a kind of rating scale on typical ADHD behaviors, but it is not diagnostic. Once you have a diagnosis in place you can request a meeting with the school to develop a 504 plan for any accommodations your child might need.

[Anonymous]

You should post this on the special needs forum.

[Anonymous]

I'll preface this by saying that others on this board (and partic on special needs board) will give you better advice than me. But I will share a small experience.

In 7th grade, I had concerns about my kid-- not ADHD per se, but various issues. I reached out to the school counselor to ask if he could give me some insight on how the kid was behaving at school.

A couple of weeks later, the counselor sent a very detailed email. He had visited the dc's class and sat in the back and observed. The email (which clearly read like a document that he put into the file for future reference) was detailed and put the kid's behavior into perspective of other kids in the class. (Things like, 'one student made a joke. The full class was then off task for approximately 3 minutes, with DC settling back at about the same pace as the class in general.")

I mention this because to my untrained ear, most of the observations seemed to offer an assessment of DC's behavior against a set of behaviors I would associate with ADHD. Conclusion was that my kid was average.

This was never offered as a formal assessment, but I found it valuable to know DC's behavior in school. And I assume that if DC hadn't seemed 'typical' I would then follow up with a medical professional. Since my kid seemed average, I did not.

It's unclear from your message how far along you are on this road. But I mention this to say that if you reach out to the school counselor, they are likely to provide you with some information. (But not a diagnosis.)

[Anonymous]

Here is what you do.
1. You send a letter to the school asking for a 504 evaluation (see https://chadd.org/for-parents/requesting-an-evaluation-in-public-schools/)

2. School is legally required to start an evaluation and this will include a checklist process to your son's teachers and one to pediatrician

3. You can use these forms for a diagnosis at a pediatrician or other medical professional.

My kid had clear ADHD so we never sought any expensive screenings and he is on medication issues by pediatrician. He was treated briefly by a child psychologist who agreed with ADHD diagnosis. The psychologist was helpful because his self-esteem was completely wrecked by his kindergarten teacher. I regret not starting medication earlier.

Good luck and post any more questions here. Happy to help.

[Anonymous]

Also forgot to mention that it is my impression that MCPS teachers are never allowed to suggest a diagnosis. I am grateful to my son's first grade teacher who suggested we ask for an evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, MCPS does not screen kids for ADHD. I think the first step would be your pediatrician. They will be able to help you figure out how to proceed. They might suggest a psychologist but they might not. There is a screening form that teachers can fill out which describes what they see your child do in the classroom, a kind of rating scale on typical ADHD behaviors, but it is not diagnostic. Once you have a diagnosis in place you can request a meeting with the school to develop a 504 plan for any accommodations your child might need.

This. Mine was initially flagged by an NIH study, but I had requested school testing previously, and all they did was meet with me and say kid met benchmarks and didn't qualify. Pediatrician referred us to Children's neuropdych consult, and wait took a year, but we were able to get some accommodations in the meantime between NIH and Pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

You have to request. I teach kindergarten and the parent of an obviously impacted kid asked me about because she was getting the runaround from her pediatrician. She requested a meeting (in writing) saying she wanted an evaluation. I sent that on to our special educator, who put a meeting in the calendar. In the time before the meeting, the special Ed teacher observed and I completed a teacher report. At the meeting, the school psychologist agreed with an evaluation and I filled out a rating scale, so did the parents, and the psych did an extended observation in which alllll the behaviors were on display. Based on those findings, the team decided at the next meeting that the student met the eligibility requirements for a 504 plan.

I'm still not 100% sure if the school can actually diagnose, or can just say that the student meets the requirements to receive a 504, with the actual diagnosis being irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also forgot to mention that it is my impression that MCPS teachers are never allowed to suggest a diagnosis. I am grateful to my son's first grade teacher who suggested we ask for an evaluation.

That is correct, as a teacher I have been expressly forbidden from suggesting to a parent that their child be tested for special needs. I teach ESOL students and their parents are less likely to have the social capital to know how to work the system to better get their children's needs addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also forgot to mention that it is my impression that MCPS teachers are never allowed to suggest a diagnosis. I am grateful to my son's first grade teacher who suggested we ask for an evaluation.

Correct, but the good ones know how to send secret signals - coded language about immaturity, focus issues, disorganized, fidgety, etc. It is SO dumb that we are supposed to recognize teachers as experts in, for example, second grade kids yet Central won’t let them answer a question like “is he within normal expectations for a second grade boy?”

MCPS will screen if it’s clear that the kid can’t access the curriculum. If the kid is on grade level, they won’t test - no matter how much stress the kid is under and causing others like teachers, classmates, parents, and no matter if it’s clear that he should be doing better than simply meeting standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also forgot to mention that it is my impression that MCPS teachers are never allowed to suggest a diagnosis. I am grateful to my son's first grade teacher who suggested we ask for an evaluation.

Correct, but the good ones know how to send secret signals - coded language about immaturity, focus issues, disorganized, fidgety, etc. It is SO dumb that we are supposed to recognize teachers as experts in, for example, second grade kids yet Central won’t let them answer a question like “is he within normal expectations for a second grade boy?”

MCPS will screen if it’s clear that the kid can’t access the curriculum. If the kid is on grade level, they won’t test - no matter how much stress the kid is under and causing others like teachers, classmates, parents, and no matter if it’s clear that he should be doing better than simply meeting standards.

Yea, thats why I mentioned it because as a parent I found this odd as well. My son's entire K year was him being in trouble. Luckily his first grade teacher simply suggested we could ask for an evaluation (never mentioned ADHD). We were able to get him a 504 with breaks, seating accommodations, etc. Huge improvement but like I said I wish we just started medication then. Thanks to all the great teachers out there like this lady!

[Anonymous]

MCPS does not screen all students. They might pay for evaluations if a student is disruptive or has other challenges. However, resources are limited. It was suggested to us to pay for an evaluation as DC would access services more quickly.

[Anonymous]

There are many more cases at the wealthy school where I teach than at the title 1 school I used to be at. I think it's because more affluent families can afford to get a private diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

No - no medical association would recommend universal screening for ADHD because it would result in every kid screening positive. They barely even recommended universal screening for autism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll preface this by saying that others on this board (and partic on special needs board) will give you better advice than me. But I will share a small experience.

In 7th grade, I had concerns about my kid-- not ADHD per se, but various issues. I reached out to the school counselor to ask if he could give me some insight on how the kid was behaving at school.

A couple of weeks later, the counselor sent a very detailed email. He had visited the dc's class and sat in the back and observed. The email (which clearly read like a document that he put into the file for future reference) was detailed and put the kid's behavior into perspective of other kids in the class. (Things like, 'one student made a joke. The full class was then off task for approximately 3 minutes, with DC settling back at about the same pace as the class in general.")

I mention this because to my untrained ear, most of the observations seemed to offer an assessment of DC's behavior against a set of behaviors I would associate with ADHD. Conclusion was that my kid was average.

This was never offered as a formal assessment, but I found it valuable to know DC's behavior in school. And I assume that if DC hadn't seemed 'typical' I would then follow up with a medical professional. Since my kid seemed average, I did not.

It's unclear from your message how far along you are on this road. But I mention this to say that if you reach out to the school counselor, they are likely to provide you with some information. (But not a diagnosis.)

That counselor did a good job, but unfortunately not all will do that. You can hire someone to do an in-class observation, which is actually a pretty good first step if you don’t know what’s going on.

But I would need to know more about OP’s concern. Generally you don’t have to “screen” for ADHD to trigger further investigation. You should already be seeing clear challenges at home & school - like frequent calls home, academic struggles, etc.