Reply to Is it required to disclose medication usage to public school?

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Reply to "Is it required to disclose medication usage to public school?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A parent can get this feedback without telling the school that the child is taking medication.

In fact, it would be better for the teachers NOT to know that a child's dose has been changed or dropped or added.   Telling a teacher something has been changed may influence his or her perception that behavior has changed!

I am a private tutor and tutor children with ADHD.   I do not ask parents to tell me if their children are medicated for this condition.  However, after every session I let the parents know whether the child was able to focus and to what degree.  I have no idea what may be impacting a child's lack of attention at a certain session -- could be the child was up till 2 am the night before, or the child ate something he is having a reaction to, or got an exceptional amount of sleep and exercise, or had a change in medication dosage.  Whatever the reason - not my concern, but definitely I can provide feedback every day!

If teachers are willing to provide feedback every day on a child's ability to maintain attention and self control (and many do, through the use of a green-yellow-red system or other device) then they should just do so -- they don't need to know whether a child is on medication and actually shouldn't be told as it might influence their opinion of the child's behavior.[/quote]

There’s so much more to feedback than just knowing what color the child was on that day.  When a teacher knows medication is being used, they know why the information is being requested and why it’s in everyone’s best interest that they provide good observations.  Whether a child uses medication or not, you always run the risk of the teacher (and parent) being influenced by that.  However, I believe the teachers have just as much interest as the parents do in finding the right medication, the therapeutic dose and when it should be taken. If finding the correct ADHD medication were as easy as most others – where there were standard measures indicating a therapeutic dose – then I would agree that disclosing that information isn’t necessary.  But that’s not the case.  Finding the right ADHD medication, the right dosage and the right time to take it is a trial and error experience.  Even after you get it right, you will still have to tweak it as the child’s metabolism changes.  You can try and do this without telling the teacher but you’re going to get better information if they know.

And, so what if it’s noted in the IEP that the child is taking medication?  It’s not as if your insurance company doesn’t already know it and that’s far more permanent than a school record.  With medical records going electronic, soon any medical professional seeing your child will have that information at their fingertips.  A lot of people already know your kid is taking medication.

I know I’m not going to change anyone’s mind and that’s okay.  I’m just glad that our school team perceives me as open and communicative.  They really make a difference in my kids’ life and while I often hate the process, the people are amazing and under-recognized. 
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