MCPS Discriminating Against Children with ADHD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Please share the school, OP. This is such gross mismanagement on their part that they deserve to be outed.

I have have spent years and know lots of people at Bethesda elementary and North Bethesda middle - none of them have questioned diagnoses, in our case and others students' whose families I've talked to. They have always done their utmost to accommodate kids with ADHD - of course, their utmost is sometimes not enough, but at least they're not obstructionist.

You should contact the principal to complain about this psychologist, who is being very unprofessional.

The principal was at the IEP meeting. They all know the school psychologist was BS but they met before we came into the room and were all on the same page.

THen it sounds like OCR is the place to go. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

So the private psychologist says he has ADHD and the school psychologist said he doesn't. The problem seems to be that there is no blood test for this kind of thing, just lists of symptoms. Can you get a second opinion to break the tie here?

[Anonymous]

What teacher reports? Were they rating scales like the Conners or Vanderbilt? Or just informal teacher reports? Is your child medicated for ADHD and that is why the teachers aren't reporting symptoms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the private psychologist says he has ADHD and the school psychologist said he doesn't. The problem seems to be that there is no blood test for this kind of thing, just lists of symptoms. Can you get a second opinion to break the tie here?

She shouldn't have to pay for a second opinion. The school should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the private psychologist says he has ADHD and the school psychologist said he doesn't. The problem seems to be that there is no blood test for this kind of thing, just lists of symptoms. Can you get a second opinion to break the tie here?

I had the MCPS data reviewed by a second private psychologist, a psychiatrist, and my child's pediatrician. They all concur with the diagnosis of ADHD.

[Anonymous]

I've had problems with both school psychologist and cluster supervisor. Some are better than others. File complaint and hire a lawyer. I know someone who had to hire a lawyer to get the school to agree their was a medical issue, even though principal, school psychologist and cluster supervisor would not accept the diagnosis from Georgetown Hospital.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had problems with both school psychologist and cluster supervisor. Some are better than others. File complaint and hire a lawyer. I know someone who had to hire a lawyer to get the school to agree their was a medical issue, even though principal, school psychologist and cluster supervisor would not accept the diagnosis from Georgetown Hospital.

The school psychologist and cluster supervisor would be indicative that discriminatory tactics in MCPS are supported by the staff at the Central Office. These people are in positions that they should know better and do better.

[Anonymous]

Per the US Department of Education July 2016 Students with ADHD and Section 504: A Resource Guide page 10 - https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201607-504-adhd.pdf

"Every type of ADHD affects the functioning of the parts of the brain related to thinking, concentrating, and planning. A determination that a student has any type of ADHD, therefore, is a determination that a student has an impairment for purposes of meeting one of the prongs of Section 504's definition of disability."

"OCR [Office of Civil Rights] will presume, unless there is evidence to the contrary, that a student with a diagnosis of ADHD is substantially limited in one or more major life activities."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had problems with both school psychologist and cluster supervisor. Some are better than others. File complaint and hire a lawyer. I know someone who had to hire a lawyer to get the school to agree their was a medical issue, even though principal, school psychologist and cluster supervisor would not accept the diagnosis from Georgetown Hospital.

This is exactly what happened to us minus the cluster supervisor. When she got involved she helped us out but it took us almost a year and hiring an attorney to figure out she existed and could help with crazy school staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the private psychologist says he has ADHD and the school psychologist said he doesn't. The problem seems to be that there is no blood test for this kind of thing, just lists of symptoms. Can you get a second opinion to break the tie here?

It's not about tie breaking--it's about MCPS not wanting to provide services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when you sent the documentation from the private psychologist to the school stating the school psychologist didn't follow DSM, what did they say? I would think they would re-test, no?

You cannot retest within the same year. It would invalidate the second test. Besides, the private psychologist used the MCPS data. The MCPS psychologist did not have the qualifications (no Ph.D. or medical degree) to make the statement she made and she applied the DSM 5 incorrectly. That's what the private psychologist highlighted in his report.

This can't be correct b/c you can't be a psychologist without one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when you sent the documentation from the private psychologist to the school stating the school psychologist didn't follow DSM, what did they say? I would think they would re-test, no?

You cannot retest within the same year. It would invalidate the second test. Besides, the private psychologist used the MCPS data. The MCPS psychologist did not have the qualifications (no Ph.D. or medical degree) to make the statement she made and she applied the DSM 5 incorrectly. That's what the private psychologist highlighted in his report.

This can't be correct b/c you can't be a psychologist without one.

MCPS hires mostly school psychologists who only need a master's degree. They are not clinical psychologists which is a shame.

[Anonymous]

Per BOE policy, MCPS School Psychologists DO NOT have to have a Ph.D. and most do not.

[Anonymous]

The State of Maryland BOE and MCPS BOE should change the requirements of who can be a school psychologists to a Ph.D. but that means more money to attract school psychologists to the positions.

[Anonymous]

They can't take away accommodations or change the iep if you disagree. They would have to take this to a due process hearing to drop the iep, wouldn't they?\

Good luck op.