MCPS Discriminating Against Children with ADHD
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Anonymous
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I am so frustrated with MCPS right now. I am on the verge of filing both a Due Process Complaint and an OCR Complaint because they continue to systemically discriminate against my child with ADHD. To protect my child, I have paid large sums of money for private evaluations, medical treatment, and private services over the years.
Most recently, despite a medical diagnosis of ADHD and previous private evaluations, the school psychologist said my child no longer met the DSM 5 criteria for ADHD. I took the MCPS data, along with meeting notes and prior reports to a private Ph.D. psychologist who confirmed the school psychologist did not properly follow the DSM 5 criteria, and yes my child does have ADHD. All on my dime. But yes, the school still wants to take away his accommodations and not provide any services to address his needs. Are there other parents out there in a similar boat? Today, I came across this July 2016 OCR Dear Colleague Letter that highlights many of the pitfalls of how school systems like MCPS discriminate against children with ADHD. Over the past 5 years, 1 out of 9 complaints the OCR receives is for children with ADHD. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201607-504-adhd.pdf Letter and handbook highlights for public school systems: 1) Child Find - Identifying ADHD 2) Both 504 and IDEA includes the right for a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). If a child with ADHD needs specialized instruction to address needs (ie. teach organization skills or self advocacy skills) then specialized instruction should be provided. A 504 Plan can include services provided under IDEA. 3) Mitigating measures (ie. medication, extra tutoring, or extra effort by child) is not a basis for exclusion. 4) Scope of 504 is much wider than IDEA. Exclusion of IDEA does not mean a child does not qualify for a 504 Plan. 5) Clinical diagnosis of ADHD creates a presumption of eligibility. 6) High academic performance does not exclude eligibility. 7) Inattentive kids should not be ignored 8) Response to Interventions (RTI) should not delay identification |
Anonymous
| What is the school doing to take away his services? Can you ask for an IEP meeting? |
Anonymous
| 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? |
Anonymous
Most recently, all of his current teachers checked off that my child does not have attentional problems on the teacher reports. However, they put comments that my child's socializing/talking to others is problematic, he makes careless errors, he forgets homework assignments, etc. These are all symptoms of inattention. By saying he no longer has ADHD (like there is some miraculous cure to a disorder) and that the teachers check the magic boxes of no attentional issues, MCPS made a cursory decision that my child does not have a disability and therefore does not qualify for an IEP or 504 even though they had data to the contrary. |
Anonymous
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. |
Anonymous
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MCPS failed my child on almost everything highlighted in the OCR letter -
1) Child Find - Identifying ADHD: I had to pay for a private evaluation to identify ADHD in 2 of my children. 2) Both 504 and IDEA includes the right for a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). If a child with ADHD needs specialized instruction to address needs (ie. teach organization skills or self advocacy skills) then specialized instruction should be provided. A 504 Plan can include services provided under IDEA. The school team has always told us an IEP is needed for services and that my child did not qualify for an IEP. 3) Mitigating measures (ie. medication, extra tutoring, or extra effort by child) is not a basis for exclusion. My child takes medication, has extra tutoring, and spends double the amount of time on homework as an average child in his grade. That is what it takes for him to be passing. The school just looks at passing grades and does not consider what he is going through to survive school. 4) Scope of 504 is much wider than IDEA. Exclusion of IDEA does not mean a child does not qualify for a 504 Plan. We were told at an MCPS IEP meeting that my child would not qualify for a 504 because it was a more difficult standard than an IEP. This was from the school psychologist. 5) Clinical diagnosis of ADHD creates a presumption of eligibility. My child was denied an IEP and 504 because of a lack of disability even after we provided the school a medical note diagnosing him with ADHD. 6) High academic performance does not exclude eligibility. My child was denied an IEP and 504 because of passing grades and above level work in some classes. 7) Inattentive kids should not be ignored My child is not disruptive. However, he self reports he thinks about other things 50% of the time in class. He daydreams or is distracted by another student or noise. The impact is that he misses a lot during the classroom instruction and has to work hard outside of class to fill in the missing gaps. 8) Response to Interventions (RTI) should not delay identification. This was a classic stall tactic by my child's elementary school and middle school. Even after I requested and IEP evaluation in writing, the school refused to do so until RTI data could be collected. They said that was the process in MCPS. YEARS went by and the school failed to collect the data they promised to collect. |
Anonymous
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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. |
Anonymous
Posted too soon. Schools cannot ignore a formal evaluation by a private psychologist. The tests they do in school in no way compare to the battery the private psychs can do. |
Anonymous
| What happens to people in our school is that schools don't argue about the existence of ADHD but say there is no educational impact and thus no need for any accommodations. |
Anonymous
| Call your special Ed cluster supervisor. |
Anonymous
She attended our child's IEP meeting. The Central Office knows this stuff is happening in MCPS and helps to facilitate the discrimination. |
Anonymous
How recent was your private evaluation/report? |
Anonymous
Again, know the difference between the IDEA and Section 504. The IDEA requires that the student has an educational impact that necessitates special education services. However, educational impact is more than just passing grades so you should have the school clarify what criteria they are measuring if educational impact exists or does not exists. Your child may still qualify for accommodations to equalize the playing field under Section 504. Section 504 is for equal access to any class (even above grade level classes) that are offered to children who do not have disabilities. |
Anonymous
Both the cursory MCPS evaluation and the private review is less than a year old. |
Anonymous
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. |