I am most certainly NOT giving false info. I should know. I am the one who does it for our school system, and we are the 22nd largest school system in the country. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, which means I could open my own practice, and am more than qualified AND legally allowed to make mental health diagnoses. And YES (at least in TN), any child with a diagnosis of ADHD (and needs accommodations--which I previously said)is legally entitled to a 504 plan for accommodations. I already said that is different from IEP. Sorry if you feel it is improper for the school to do this, but our mental health division is a licensed mental health center, and we are one of the models that other large school districts around the country use to plan their programs by. Jeez, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but please don't knock my profession. And by the way, this is National Social Work Month, and this is National School Social Workers Week. Of which I am proud to be one. And furthermore, an IEP has nothing to do with free education. Every child in the country is entitled to a free and appropriate education. IEP is an individualized education plan that entitles the child to extra or special services, when they qualify as having a disability by STATE guidelines. And, by the way, our school psychs do the educational assessments, and our social workers do the mental health assessments (for things like ADHD, ODD, and CD).
I'm not knocking your profession . While you may be able to give a medical diagnosis, your not in private practice. You work for the school and therefore any assessment your doing is for educational purposes and not a medical assessment. Further, you do not hold the same standing as a medical provider working for the parent. You work for the school district and therefore (regardless of whether or not it is true) you are not truly an unbiased provider. Regardless of your qualifications, a medical diagnosis should never come from the school. That is not the schools job.
section 504 of the rehabilitation act is a FEDERAL LAW, which means it is the same in every state. The law is very clear. Your are NEVER entitled to it. You must prove that your disability needs accommodations.
Quite a few years ago, the Federal Department of Education released rules regarding section 504 and for IDEA that clarified that ADHD IS a recognized disability and therefore eligible for both. But again, that is NOT entitled. The law is absolutely clear. Qualified individuals with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations. Having a disability NEVER entitles you to a 504 plan, because a person can have a disability and NOT need accommodations. Further, if the accommodations are NOT reasonable, the school does not have to provide them.
So let me repeat. A diagnosis of ADHD can make a person ELIGIBLE for a 504 plan, but it does not make you ENTITLED to one. A diagnosis of ADHD can make you ELIGIBLE for a 504 plan but it does not mean you will automatically get one.
These are SIGNIFICANT distinctions that many people do not understand and it is very important that people do. I watch too many parents and even professionals state, oh your child has x your entitled to y without explaining what is truly going on. Then the information gets passed on from one parent to another, who know doesn't understand that their child with an adhd diagnosis is not entitled to anything!
The term entitled means qualified by right or law, and neither an IEP or a 504 plan have ANY automatic qualifications. You are never automatically given one simply because you have a diagnosis. You must show more then just a dx.
As for an IEP, this is a creation of the FEDERAL LAW, Individuals with Disabilities education act (IDEA). It is NOT state law and the definitions for IDEA ALL come from federal law. Here is a cite to one part of IDEA 34 CFR 300.322(b)(1) (20 USC is the united states code chapter that IDEA is found in). ALL the definitions for IDEA are from the federal code and apply state wide. The idea that all children are entitled to a free and appropriate education comes DIRECTLY from IDEA. IDEA is the legislation that DEFINES what FAPE is and an IEP is created DIRECTLY to allow a child with a disability to access FAPE. The entire purpose of an IEP is for a child to be able to appropriately access a free and appropriate education. This language is repeatedly stated throughout all of the IDEA legislation.
Now, just to go a bit further, all states MUST comply with federal regulation. They are allowed to legislate MORE protection then what federal law provides, but in special education they rarely do or its very limited. School districts can also provide MOE protection then what the law (either state or federal allows) For example, a central auditory processing disorder is NOT recognized as an eligible disability under either section 504 or IDEA, but in where we live it IS recognized as an eligible condition (in fact our SPED district will even test for it). I have not bothered to check to see if it is in fact our local district making the distinction or if it has actually been added by state law. Another example of what I am trying to explain is that since ADHD is recognized by federal law as being eligible, a school district cannot deny a 504 plan or an IEP to a child
who otherwise qualifies for one because their only diagnosis is ADHD. The bolded section is important, because need must still be shown beyond the actual diagnosis, but the school can't say you only have ADHD and despite need can't have.
Since your in Tennesse they have a unique thing that no other state (that I have been able to drag up through multiple resources) has (though they may have done away with it). By state law, they give IEP's to children in gifted education. This is an example of a state legislating MORE protection then what federal law allows. The combination of how gifted mandates work and actually change the definitions in that state for IDEA is a WHOLE other long discussion which I will happily share with anyone who is interested and actually changes the basis on which they determine a child's eligibility for an IEP.
I know you get truncated and filtered information regarding the laws surrounding what you are doing, but that is a far cry from understanding and being able to work with these laws. I am sure that whatever you have been taught about them they did not go into detail regarding the structure between federal, state, and local law, nor a conflict of law analysis (heck most people in MY profession don't understand this and this is what we do day in and day out).
You are trained to understand the subtleties between marked, moderate, and mild behaviors, your trained to understand when a mood is/isn't congruent. Your not trained to understand what an enormous difference you make when you use the word entitled versus eligible. You are not trained to know how to work with these laws and what all the stuff in between what you have learned means. You summarized very well what makes up an IEP (gives special services to a child) but by what you posted stating that an IEP has
nothing to do with FAPE, shows that you do not understand the law nor what an IEP is designed to do. The IEP is designed by federal law to enable children with disabilities the opportunity to get a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.
Again, I am not trying to put down your profession in any way shape or form. I am simply pointing out that you are giving out information that you gave about being entitled (and later to other parts of the law you stated) are not correct. A parent should NEVER approach a school district thinking their child is entitled to anything because that is one of the fastest ways to windup with your child denied because you haven't planned ahead to provide the proof of need because you had been told by someone that it was automatic (entitled)
