You do not HAVE to, but the school should be aware.

The critical issue that I would watch is, "She is pulling grades now, but does she have the study habits and study skills necessary for the NEXT level?"

I was undiagnosed (& therefore, no 504) with little problems in High School, but it caught up with me in college. I blogged about my experience if you are interested.

http://askdreric-schoolpsychologist.blogspot.com/

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Strange as it sounds, a good school counselor might be a good person to consult ... I can imagine that you might not want to discuss this with a school official for fear that simply discussing the issue will place you on a certain track.

But I don't think that's true ... I think a school counselor or an administrator in the school system can actually give good insight on whether there is any advantage to getting the 504 for your daughter. Also, if you like one of her teachers, ask them about this. They'll have some insight.

Phillyman

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My son did exceptionally well with academics throughout his Elementary years. When I approached his teacher and principal about getting assistance, they actually discouraged it. He was doing well enough on his meds alone that the few disruptions/problems, didn't warrant having an IEP. He is getting ready to start middle school this year and I've already contacted his counselor and am waiting to hear back from her. We will cross the path of IEP if it's required. I feel as though this year will be the real test.

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I have ADHD and I'm in high school in an excellent magnet program. I have never had a plan like that. I would, however, suggest you let the teacher(s) know. NOT so they will go easy on her and let her use it as a crutch, but instead so they can keep an eye on her and make sure she is paying enough attention and so they can let you know what's going on

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My son is almost 9 and has been battling adhd. He was put on meds mid way through K he has been getting A/B honor roll since then. Every year we have discussed his challenges at school and some areas where he could use assistance. I am totally kicking myself for not getting him the IEP or 504 when the problems first started. We have for the past year been having problems getting him one now that he is older. They have been great about making a few accomodations for him but it hasn't been enought. When i went in this year to see about getting his iep now that i had a professional doctor evaluation they just said they would pass it on but he was testing out too high in his classes to get assistance. After all that we have decided to home school him for his 3rd grade year. There is no way with some of his learning challenges that come along with adhd that he would be able to handle all the writing that is required of him. I am looking forward to this challenge in hopes of working on some of the maturity levels and timing issues that are common in kids with adhd. Even if you don't really need the extra help with your child because they are doing great in school i would recommend that you still get it incase you run into the challenges that im facing as they get older in school. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

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I have been trying to get a 504 for my son for 2 yrs now with no success and his grades are not as good as hers. As for you question I wonder how old she is. If she hasn't started junior high yet, then I would be looking at her maturity and ability to organize. My son is immature for his age and has zero organizational skills. I have been dreading junior high since 5th grade. I feel that all children whether ADHD or not become aliens when they reach junior high age. They don't act like normal people because of all the hormones and changes that take place at that age. Kids with no ADHD tendancies suddenly can't remember when they have practice or if they have homework. Now add ADHD into the mix and without assistance it could be a disaster scholastically and emotionally. If your daughter already has a 504 in place then you have already made your case that accomodations are necessary and it is just a matter of getting them in place and the transition can smoother. Now if your daughter is immature, as my son is, I expect that he won't experience some of these "issues" until perhaps 9th grade. If she doesn't have a 504, but the school and teacher(s) have agreed to assist with certain areas this is good, but unenforceable. It only works as long as everyone is willing to do it. There are no consquenses if they don't. Also, what if she has a teacher who doesn't think it is necessary or there is a change in administration and they don't hold the teacher accountable. There is nothing you can do. I don't know about your area, but our high school is in a different district than the grade school & junior high. If he has a 504 in place it will follow him to the new district and hopefully there won't be any problems. But if there isn't one in place there is no guarantee that the school in the new district will make the same kind of accomodations without one. I hope this helps. :)

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a 504 PLAN IS FOR STUDENT WHO MAY BE BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST DUE TO AN EXISTING DISABILITY. yOUR DAUGHTER QUALIFIES FOR SERVICES UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATIOIN ACT. This is a federal law! 34CFR 300.8 "Other Health Impairment(OHI)nmeans having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to encoirnmental stumuli" Yes get her assessed! Your school is additionally required to assess any all areas where the nature of a suspeted disabilty occurs. For more info see:

www.help4specialeducation.com[ or contact me at nb4success@charter.net

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I hope eabeam puts his 2 cents worth in on this one. Yes, a student with AD/HD MAY qualify for and IEP under "Other Health Impaired" if the "limited vitality and alertness" is shown to have a very detrimental effect in school. Who decides if it does? Usually, the student support team (consisting of teachers, hopefully a school psychologist (but they can be your best friend or your worst enemy-nothing personal to those of you out there that are), one or more special educators, at least one of whom is responsible for "inclusion" (keeping kids with IEP's in the REGULAR CLASSROOM or even the GIFTED CLASSROOM if that's what's right for that kid, unless they really need to be in a special ed class) and of course THE PARENT. HOW does this team decide what level of intervention (if any) the student needs? Documentation. Evaluation. Assessments, Grades, test scores (including standardized tests and IQ tests if they have been done or are requested) and any other data relevant to the student's performance, even the student's participation in things like extracurricular activities. The best thing you can do is keep good documentation, then your prepared if things go wrong. Trust me, you won't have to "guess" if things go wrong, you will know. If things don't go wrong, well, you've got a great record of your kid's ability. Never know when and how that can come in handy. The point is, asking for services because they may be needed later isn't something the school is likely to take very well, and it isn't all that likely to be effective (teachers will see she doesn't need those services and resent it). The best thing to do is keep documenting. Meet, discuss, and ask questions. Document all that's said and done during that time. THEN when things go wrong (if they actually do) bring back that documentation and start asking what the school is going to do to address this? Make sure your documentation shows what YOU have done to support your daughter (evaluations, doctors you've taken her to, your at-home homework routine, etc.) what your daughter has done to do her part (getting good grades, not getting in trouble, using checklists or whatever she does to try to stay organized, etc.) and then your in the perfect position to look to the school and say "What are YOU doing to help?" (if/when they are giving you grief, or problems crop up that they want to ignore-which can especially be the case with a smart, well-behaved girl). Document, even if NOTHING is going wrong. If your daughter's getting good grades, I would look for her test scores too, maybe she's more suited for gifted or accelerated classes. Documentation can come in handy for that, too. The point is, the school does NOTHING based on just a diagnosis, it's all based on need, and the decision as to what the student's needs really are, is based on what's documented. Oh, and 504's are used all the time for AD/HD. If it affects a "major life function" (learning is a major life function-you'll see it in the paperwork if you look it up) and the 504 is put in place to "prevent discrimination" because of this "disability that affects learning" (situational/environmental disability). So the 504 can request things like sitting up front in classroom if focus is a problem, getting extra time on tests if the student is getting a lower test score because of working slowly (but inteligence tests show the student is absolutely capable of getting a good score) things like that. IEP's include all the accommodations of a 504, but also add goals (for the school to teach your kid, they get in trouble for not meeting them, not your kid) and any special services, like remedial classes, speech or occupational therapy (for excessively bad handwriting), etc. All these things are there to level the playing field. Not to be used to get your kid a better education than other students, but to make sure every kid has the SAME amount of opportunity, regardless of "disability" and is getting a meaningful education, a "free and appropriate education", despite his/her issues. At least, ideally, this is what all these things are supposed to be for. If a kids's doing great (or even doing okay) there really isn't anything to ask for.

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The key issue is how education is impacted, not whether or not you have a diagnosis. A kid can be 100% schizophrenic and hear voices everyday, but if meds and therapy allow the student to function at school and community the student Does Not Qualify.

My most visited and controversial blog is entitled "ADHD - Medical Diagnosis or can school staff diagnose or challenge a diagnosis?"

I quote some pretty circular logic provided by the Department of Education documents in the past. http://askdreric-schoolpsychologist.blogspot.com/2010/03/adhd-medical-diagnosis-or-can-school.html

With that said, the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights updated their 504 FAQ's page. I highly recommend that you take the time to check it out because...

1 - It is one of the more read-friendly explanations that I have found. 2 - It is directly from the Office of Civil Rights! Ultimately, their opinion is the law of the land unless the Supreme Court says otherwise. http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html

I believe the FAQs in the 20's and low-30's are the most relevant to your post.

In short, they say: 1 - Diagnosis alone is not enough. That fact needs to be considered, but... 2 - Districts must make a team decision (including parent) using multiples sources of evidence and establish impact. 3 - There is no one test or magic-bullet that decides. 4 - Although they should be rooted in the same clinical and researched criteria, medical diagnosis and educational designation are not allowed to used interchangeably.

When I did this research, I was trying to see if OCR ALLOWED schools to not have to automatically accept a diagnosis (We have some serious Dr. Buy-a-diagnosis here in L.A.).

What I found is that schools are BANNED from automatically accepting a medical diagnosis at face-value.

If anyone disagrees, please read the two links before responding. I am taking this directly from the Department of Education and Office of Civil Rights.

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You've got a great point there. Diagnosis's alone mean pretty much nothing. I think the problem parents such as myself run into (and what cause the greatest frustration) is when we KNOW how the issues revealed by a diagnosis are really affecting our kids at school, but nobody else seems to see it. If it's not affecting the kid, or the school's seeing how it does, and already doing their part to level the playing field, all this other stuff, 504's IEP's, doesn't even come into play. It's not an issue then. It's when things go wrong, and the parent turns to the school for help, but hit a brick wall instead that all of this gets to be a big issue. That's where documentation means everything. It's showing how the diagnosis is really affecting your kid's education that counts. The problem is, schools are a whole lot better at documenting things than most parents are. They also throw a lot of education jargon in there, although I know it's unavoidable. As parents, we have to learn the vocabulary, understand the evaluations, play "detective" when there's a problem and get to the real cause, then come back with real information about why this is relevant, why we are bringing up some diagnosis at all, when some teacher is just complaining that our kid "won't" pay attention to them when they are talking, and "won't" do their homework! Just going in there and saying "I read you have to do this for my kid, its a federal law!"--worst mistake you can make! That's the fastest way to alienate the people you are asking for help. Parents doing that is WHY it's so hard to get help when it's really needed--they always think parents are just trying to get something for their kid that they don't really need, and because it's sometimes the truth, it makes it harder to get support when it's really needed.

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