ADHD overlooked

nobody cares, they crack jokes about it all the time...My teacher has too. recently calling somebody "retarded" has been socially unacceptable, why isn't joking about add/adhd unacceptable? why is it being overlooked? why? It's a chemical imbalance...so why are people laughing and joking about it? Why do people think that if ANYONE had an attention problem it can automatically be fixed with ritalin or adderal or concerta? why is something so serious being taken as a joking matter without second thought? Why do some people consider add/adhd a behavioral problem or think that the parents are to blame because supposedly the child didn't get a good spanking or other discipline? ADD/ADHD is no joking matter and it sickens me to hear my teacher joke about it. Several days in class he's said, "Come on pay attention, time for a ridalin uppage" or "Come on lets be ADD instead of ADHD" on February 12, 2008 at 2:35 here's how it went....girl: they all have ADD really bad today. teacher; speaking of ADD let's have ____ read. I don't know if this girl really does have add or if she just has many blonde moments, but that was completely idiotic for him to say. I'm one of the better students in my grade, and I have ADHD. one day, actually the day he made that last comment I wrote in my packet that we turn in at the end of the chapter "Pretty good for a girl who has ADHD huh?" and on the next page I doodled a light switch that says "ON" and "OFF" and next to it I wrote "NEW, IMPROVED ADHD SWITCH" and under it I wrote "you can't just turn ADHD/ADD on or off" since he checks them hopefully he'll get the message! and if he doesn't, well, there's a reason I keep track of what he says now isn't there? well, it pisses me off, what I do is whenever he does that I get mad I show that in my face and pretend to not pay attention and write down when it happens and what was said, I'm going to make a list of ADD/ADHD facts for an uneducated educator. that's right I can be a total witch! 1) what is ADD/ADHD? ADD-attention deficiet disorder ADHD-attention deficiet hyper activity disorder
2) can any attention problem can be solved with medication? NO!!! for the people without add/adhd that take somebody's add/adhd medications, it's as if they are on crack!
3) what rights do children with add/adhd have? well, there are laws on the side of the child. maybe if the school had known that and if my doctor hadn't been so forgetful, I wouldn't have failed some classes in 7th grade!
4) what laws are there? well, there is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act also known as IDEA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Those two are MADE to make sure students receive the same education and activities as regular students.
5) how do they help? they guarentee a free and appropriate public education (FAPE)
6) what do they say? According to Sue Watson at About.com there are nine key areas to the IDEA act.
What Are IDEA's 9 Basic Steps?

1. The child is identified as potentially requiring special education support. (Teacher notices or parent of pre-schooler identifies the need. The child presents symptoms or behaviors described in one of the 13 qualifying categories. IDEA also has a section 'Child Find'that requires States to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities, aged birth to 21, who will require early intervention or special education services. Parents should get in touch with the State's agency if they feel their child should be screened.

2. The Child is Then Evaluated. The evaluation will include the school team and the parent. IDEA states that t"he evaluation must gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information about the child, including information provided by the parent.

3. After evaluation, the eligibility is determined. Qualified professionals and the parent will determine the eligibility. The eligibility may be turned down if there is not enough data to support the eligibility. There is only a yes/no response to eligibility. If the response is no, the parents will be given information about what they can do, should they disagree with the decision.

4. An Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting is scheduled. The IEP meeting must be scheduled within 30 days of the determination of the eligibility. More about IEPs here.

5. The IEP is Written. This will give you some ideas of what will be contained in the IEP.

6. The Plan is Carried Out - Services Are Provided. In other words, the child is now receiving special education supports to ensure he/she reaches their full academic potential.

7. Ongoing measurement of progress and reporting to parents. It is important to ensure the child is making progress based on the IEP within the timeframes established.

8. The IEP is reviewed. The IEP is a working document, it only makes sense to review it regularly to ensure that the child's educational needs are being met. The IEP school team will meet to determine what changes if any need to be made. Parents will always have a copy of the most recent IEP.

9. Reevaluation. The main reason for the reevaluation is to determine if the child continues to meet the criteria outlined in IDEA in the 13 categories. Is the child still a child with a disability? This process will not occur anymore than once a year but must occur at least every 3 years. Parents and or teachers may request a reevaluation.

To see the IDEA regulations, this link provides the detailed information but takes some time to load.
7) What are the 13 qualifying areas Sue talks about?
a. autism
b. deaf or blindness
c. developmental delays
d. emotional disturbance
e. hearing impairments
f. mental retardation
g. multiple disabilities
h. orthapedic impairments
i. other health impairments
j. specific learning disabilities
k. speech and language impairments
l. traumatic brain injury
m. visual impairments
8) Where does ADD/ADHD fit in under these areas? ADD/ADHD fits under specific learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, and other health impairments
9) What if the student is gifted? a gifted student is viewed as exceptional
10) what does IDEA say specifically? go here http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:h.1350.enr: to read it or a full text here http://www.copaa.org/news/idea04.html
11) when was ADD/ADHD put into IDEA? September 1991
12) what do students qualify for under IDEA? an evaluation, and if determined special education services, it's required that the services meet the students needs, which is determined when making and IEP or an Individualized Education Program, students also receive some or all of the following: appropriate special education and related services, the ability to attend private school at no expense to the family if the students needs are not met through the public schools special program
13) what is section 504? it is a civil rights law that is made to eliminate discrimination based on disability in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. It also guarentees certain rights including FAPE for all children reguardless of how severe the disability is
14) How do you qualify? a student must be determined to have a physical or mental impairment that limits at least one major life activity such as learning and behavior, the student has a record of having the impairment, or is reguarded as having the impairment.
15) How does section 504 help? it makes sure the child has equal access to an education. and will make changes to help the child.
16) how does a student get covered under 504?
step 1. give the school a WRITTEN request for an evaluation to determine if the disability is having a major impact on the child's learning conditions
step 2. get a copy of the school's district policies and procedures on section 504
17) does a child with ADD/ADHD choose to be bad? NO!!! a child with ADD/ADHD cannot control their behavior and doesn't even realize that they arent paying attention or disobeying
18) is a person with ADD/ADHD dumb? NO!!! ADD/ADHD has NOTHING to do with intelligence!!!
19) are people using ADD/ADHD as an excuse? NO!! ADD/ADHD is a DISABILITY!!! the person affected cannot control it!
20) can I catch ADD/ADHD? NO!!! ADD/ADHD does have causes, but it isn't contagious!
signed
katie