AAP for dummies
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Anonymous
Over half the kids in our AAP got in the backdoor. Not sure why you are trying to keep this a secret. |
Anonymous
So what AAP was created to allow UMC children to segregate. |
Anonymous
In theory that's true but it's typically easier said than done. More often than not you will have a long uphill battle to get them to do anything. |
Anonymous
B/c backdoor doesn’t mean what you think it does and there’s no widespread conspiracy to purchase diagnoses. You’re unhinged and obsessively committed to this fantasy. |
Anonymous
Exactly, and 2E is another way to get more of them in. |
Anonymous
There is no AAP program in FCPS where over half of the kids got in through appeals. Not that many rejected kids appeal. Not many of those are admitted on appeals. Most of the kids who are admitted on appeals are the ones who already had a strong profile with high test scores and a high GBRS, such that the appeals process is simply correcting an error in the original selection process. Nobody is "buying a diagnosis" and then getting through the appeals panel with that purchased diagnosis. |
Anonymous
No. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-the-report-of-gifted-educations-death-is-greatly-exaggerated/2023/02 |
Anonymous
Agreed but the idea that the only people being diagnosed with LDs or ADHD or the like are Rich White people is wrong. And the idea that simply going to a Psychiatrist/Psychologist/Pediatrician for a diagnosis that will get a kid into AAP as 2E is wrong. Pediatricians do not automatically give out ADHD diagnoses. Psychologists/Psychiatrists complete testing and use teacher data to determine if there are learning issues. There are not automatic diagnoses. It is true that people with more money are more able to be able to afford private testing to identify a problem but that does not automatically translate to an IEP at a school or admission into AAP. Essentially, there is no easy backdoor. |
Anonymous
Race and insurance status are among the best predictors of whether or not a child has an ADHD diagnosis |
Anonymous
X1000000000. |
Anonymous
That is because people with higher levels of education and people with more money have a better understanding of learning issues, ADHD, and mental health issues and more access to resources. They have the money to seek treatment instead of dealing with government bureaucracy. There are programs provided by Fairfax County to get toddlers and preschool age kids tested and evaluated if parents are noticing delays. Schools are set up to do the same thing. It is a harder path but it is available. You have to know about it and be willing to use it, which ties back to education levels or Pediatricians that notice problems and refer parents. I would bet that there are statistics that show that higher income families are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues or illnesses like cancer. That is a function of how our public health system works or doesn't work. It doesn't mean that the kids being diagnosed with LDs or ADHD or mental health issues don't have those issues, just that the public health system and education system in the US favors those with money. This is not exactly earth shattering news. That doesn't mean that those diagnosed are trying to trick their way into AAP or into special treatment. In a perfect world, the system would allow for people to receive mental health, physical health, and educational help that meets their needs regardless of their income but we don't live in a Utopia. |
Anonymous
I get it. People with resources can buy their way into an elite program. |
Anonymous
A recent NYT article claimed that there are 3X more behavioral diagnosis in upper middle class areas than a decade ago. |
Anonymous
You're right, but the fact that a diagnosis has to be sought and often paid for is another reason that 2E favors those with means. A FARMs kid will have to display severe enough symptoms for a teacher to notice and make a referral and get an in school diagnosis. It's actually more likely to be treated as a behavioral issue. Meanwhile a UMC kid who says their boarded in class all the time or can't focus gets taken into a peds and then a specialist |
Anonymous
The system isn't equitable or fair. Got it. Should the kid whose parents have the money in order to have a child tested and potentially diagnosed not be diagnosed because the system sucks for people without money? This is a public health/mental health discussion and not an AAP discussion. As for the AAP argument that some folks are fixated on. It is more likely then not that 2E kid who is from a higher SES family is not taking the space of a FARMs kid because they are not likely to be at the same school or even in the same pyramid. And the number of kids who are accepted on appeal is small, even when the family has high WiSC scores or a 2E diagnosis. |