My son’s public school refuses to have him tested for a learning disability inspite of the fact that he failed several subjects last year in the 9th grade. I am aware of the IDEA law and how to insist that my son is tested. However my ex husband,refuses to allow our son’s testing. He insists that there is nothing “wrong” with him although our son displays all the classic signs of ADD. I am taking my ex to court to ask the court to mandate that our son is tested. Is there any information that might be helpful to me before I go to court? Are there any particularly renowned articles that talk about the reluctance of public schools to test for LD’s? If the court understood that the public school regularly stalls parents who want their children tested they may be more sympathetic to my son’s plight. At the moment the school’s reluctance to test our son simply adds fuel to my ex husband’s claims that our son “isn’t trying” to succeed.
Any thoughts or suggestions on this conundrum would be deeply appreciated. (Before this Friday 8/27 which is the date of my court hearing!!)
Thank you all so much.
Testing
If you want your son tested for ADHD, you would need to go to a Neuropsychologist, who would test for ADHD and other Learning Disabilities. A Pediatrician and/or Neurologist can also diagnose ADHD, but I feel a Neuropsychologist will do a more thorough job of testing and also be able to see if there is something else going on. But for prescribing medication for ADD you would need a Pediatrician or Neurologist.
The school can only test for Learning Disabilities.
Re: School won't test and ex refuses to allow
If you haven’t made your request to the school in writing, do so. The school is not legally bound to respond to a verbal request, but must by law respond to a written request. If you make a request in writing, they must respond in writing. If they respond by turning you down, you can then challenge their denial.
Check out some of the articles on the IEP process under the “LD in Depth” banner at the top of this page.
I could be mistaken, but I don’t think your ex-husband has to agree with your request. Even if he does have to agree, you’d be better off going to court with a written refusal from the school that states they need his agreement before they can test. Otherwise you may be fighting the wrong legal battle (and should be fighting the school instead).
ADD and ADHD are medical diagnoses. A school cannot provide a medical diagnosis. The most a school can do is provide educational testing. When you make a written request to the school for testing, you need to word the request correctly. If you ask for ADD testing they can turn you down, since they are not medical doctors. The IEP articles should give you some guidance on how to write your request — e.g., the boy is clearly performing significantly below his intellectual capability. This indicates a need for educational testing, which the school can provide.
Also, in case you are unaware, the symptoms of ADD can be produced by other undiagnosed medical problems such as developmental vision delay (see http://www.childrensvision.com ) or auditory processing disorder (see http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/ ). Testing done by the school may reveal some problem areas, but will still probably not tell you *why* your son has these problems.
Nancy
What is your objective?
Just a thought: instead of focusing on getting a test or diagnosis, how about focusing on what EXACTLY you think he needs to succeed. A diagnosis is just a word, and diagnosis in the area of educational or psychological problems is, to put it quite politely, just a bit subjective. I would focus on what the desired result is, and see if you and the ex and your son can agree on what would make his school life better. Then maybe all three of you can advocate together for needed changes. It is not a requirement that a child have an LD or ADHD diagnosis for them to get special attention from the school. If you are all working together on a plan, the school may very well go along with your suggestions. This may or may not include testing, but the first goal is to get the three of you on the same page. Maybe hiring a mediator will help. But even if you force the testing through the court process, the ex will undermine your efforts. I know this may be a lot harder than it sounds on paper, but I really don’t see a power struggle benefitting anyone, least of all your son. Maybe you have tried this, I don’t know, but I would try to focus on getting agreement on the desired outcome rather than the testing process.
Good luck!
–- Steve
Re: What is your objective?
Get the diagnosis, your child won’t get a proper education, including the accomodations he needs, with out it. Pretending its not real never helped a child. Ignoring it will be detrimental to his education.
For what it is worth, schools do not test for ADHD. It is considered a medical not educational condition. You can see a medical professional about the ADHD. The most the schools will do is have teachers fill out forms indicating the extent to which they observe certain behaviors.
Schools do test for LD. You need to request testing in writing.
Beth