My Child has ADD; do they qualify for Special Education?

Without wanting to come across circumspect, the best answer to this question is MAYBE.  There are certainly cases where students are serviced under Special Education who are not learning disabled or meet the criteria for having an emotional handicap. In fact, in my years of teaching, I have always had at least one, often more, students whose only "issue" is that they have ADD.

So how does a parent get to the point where their child gets the additional servcies that come with an IEP? Its not a short process, I want you to know that going into it.

And why does it often take so long for a student with ADD to be indentified as needing an IEP? I hope to address that point as well in this post.

Remember, the whole goal of education is to provide a FREE AND APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION to all students. Along with that, the federal guidelines established under 2004's IDEA show a push toward maintaining a "Least Restrictive Environment" for all students.  This regulation is in direct contrast to the way things were handled fifty years ago when students who didn't fit the typical picture would be sent off to either a special school or an institution.  Times have changed dramatically since then and I would like to think we have learned a thing or two along the way.

With that in mind, when a student exhibits behavior in the classroom, say, "typical ADD behavior", many things need to happen, in sequence, before a student is identified as needing special education. General classroom interventions are the first place to begin.  I will have a seperate post on things that have been proven to work with students who are easily distracted. When those classroom interventions show they are not successful, the next step in the process is NOT an IEP.  Since ADD is a medical concern, the logical next step is for the child to be serviced and proctected under what is called a 504-plan.  Just like an IEP, a 504 is a federally recognized, legally binding contract between the parent and the school, and it should lay out reasonable accommodations that your child is entitled to in order to help him or her be successful.

An IEP is advised for students with ADD only when other resources have proven to be 'not enough' to help the student.  Some parents do want to jump straight into an IEP once the diagnosis of ADD is handed down by a doctor (and remember, schools cannot diagnose. This is not to say that teachers are incapable of noticing the behaviors associated with a student with ADD, but since ADD is often treated with medication, it is only diagnosed by a doctor). I would caution them to do this for the following reason. 

The nature of an IEP basically states that for whatever reason, that child is "disabled". While that may be true, and again, in my years' of teaching, I have met students who were truly disabled by their condition, remember, no one wants to call a child disabled when he or she is not.. it feels wrong to educators, to parents and especially to the children affected.

So, the long and short of the question is this - can a child with ADD qualify for and receive Special Education servcies? Yes.  However, as a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that your child is successful in the LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT POSSIBLE before placing him or her in Special Education.

Educationally yours,

SpEd Guru

Least Restrictive Environment

Many times, educators throw around not only acronyms, but whole word phrases such as this one above, without going into much detail as to what it means.

In accordance with IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2006, it is the goal to provide support to students with disabilities in an environment that takes them away from their peers as little as possible

There is an entire spectrum of "environments" from the very least restrictive to the most restrictive. Generally speaking, a student with a disability who is in the regular education setting for 100% of his or her day, without the support of additional professionals, would be considered in the very least restrictive environment. Adding the support of a paraprofessional would be the next step down, followed by the addition of a special education teacher and so forth. A full list of environments can be found at the end of this article.

Again, the goal of Special Education is to help a student remediate the skills he or she may be lacking, but to do so in a way that will not negatively impact that child, either socially or academically.  Looking at Least Restrictive Environment and ensuring this very fine balancing act is in place is paramount to both working within the confines of the law, as well as working in the best interest of the child.

Environments, from least to most restrictive, in the eyes of the law..

1. general education classroom setting with no supports
2. general education with in-class resources (push in services with either a paraprofessional or special education teacher)
3. resource specialist program (pull out services - this is your typical LRC pull out class)
4. special day class - may be a self-contained program within your school or district
5. non-public school
6. day treatment center
7. residential treatment center
8. home hospital

Educationally Yours,
The SpEd Guru

Making sense of acronyms

Do the acronyms used in Education drive you a little batty? Confusing as they are, teachers and administrators use these acronyms as easily as they breathe, often giving out the air that everyone knows exactly what they mean.

Here is a list of the most commonly used acronyms in Special Education, and their definitions.

• SPED - Special Education
• Reg.Ed or Gen Ed - refers to the General education setting.
• IEP - Individualized Education Plan
• SLD - Specific Learning Disability
• SLI - Speech/Language Imapairment
• A - refers to the Autistic Spectrum and its disorders
• OHI - Other Health Impairment
• ED - Emotional Disability
• OT - Occupational Therapy (often refers to fine-motor function)
• PT - Physical Therapy (often refers to gross-motor function)
• PLEP or PLAAFP- refers to a students Present Level of Educational Performance or Present Level of Academic Achievement  and Functionial Performance.  In other words, how is the student doing RIGHT NOW in school.
• WISC/WIAT/WJIII  - these are terms used to describe some of the most commonly used psycho-educational tests.

Your own state, district and school may have their own short-cut language too.  Never feel afraid to ask what those acronyms mean!! You have a right to know!!

Educationally yours,
The SpEd Guru