Federal law requires that children
with ADHD be provided a free and appropriate public education. As
it has only recently been clarified that these children are eligible
for special educational services and given the lack of understanding
in some quarters regarding ADHD, many children with ADHD may not be
receiving required educational services.
- Both Public Law 94-142, Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act or IDEA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973 require that school systems make a "free and appropriate
public education" available to eligible and qualified children
with disabilities. Special education and related services must
be made available to any child with a qualifying disability when
the disability impairs the child's educational performance.
- On September 16, 1991, the U.S. Department of Education issued
a Policy Clarification Memorandum expressly recognizing children
with ADHD as eligible for special education and related services
under Part B of the IDEA and Section 504. The Department concluded
that children who present only with ADHD are eligible for services
under Part B of the IDEA as they fall within the law's "Other
Health Impaired" category.
- The Department's action responded to the fact that many children
with ADHD were not receiving a free and appropriate public education,
while many others appeared to be receiving assistance unrelated
to their specific ADHD needs.
- Part B of the IDEA not only requires that public schools provide
a free education to children with disabilities, the law also sets
parameters for determining an appropriate education. Such education
must include special education and related services specifically
designed to meet each child's unique needs through an individualized
education plan (IEP). The IEP must reflect the nature and severity
of each disability present and specify aids and services to be
provided to meet the child's unique needs created by each disability.
Part B further requires public schools to meet a disabled child's
needs to the maximum extent appropriate in a regular classroom
with non-disabled peers. If this is not possible, the schools
must consider a range of options including but not limited to
a mix of regular and special education classroom services; full-time
special education classes in a regular public school; a private
school; and home instruction.
- Part B of the IDEA requires public schools to identify and
promptly evaluate, using a multidisciplinary team, children having
or suspected of having a disability to determine the child's need
for special education and related services at no charge to parents.
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination
against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities in federally
assisted programs and activities solely on the basis of their
disabilities. All public schools that receive federal funds must
comply with Section 504 by addressing the needs of children with
disabilities as adequately as the needs of non-disabled children.
Section 504 sets similar parameters to Part B of the IDEA for
determining an appropriate education.
- Section 504 protections extend further than the IDEA because
504 does not consider a need for special education as an eligibility
requirement, as is the case under Part B of the IDEA. Rather,
Section 504 applies to any person who has a "physical or
mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity."
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990,
provides another legal means of requiring all educational institutions,
other than those operated by religious organizations, to meet
the needs of children with ADHD. Title II of the Act, applicable
to all public schools, prohibits the denial of educational services,
programs or activities to all students with disabilities and the
discrimination against all such students once enrolled. Title
III of the Act applies these same requirements to non- sectarian
private schools.
- In considering the ADA's applicability to children with ADHD
in public schools, it is quite likely that courts will look to
the U.S. Department of Education's policy guidance on Part B of
the IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as they relate
to ADHD.
For more information on IEPs and your child's legal rights, click
here. |
|
|
