Amercians with Disabilities Act and ADHD
Pres. Bush recently signed into law amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act which may affect students with ADD/ADHD. The subtle change in language may mean big changes for students across the country, according to a blog in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The change may mean more students may become eligible for certain accommodations under the act. Previously, if a child’s condition could be “remedied at least in part” through medication, the ADA didn’t apply to them. Consequently, most students who took medication for their ADD/ADHD didn’t qualify for special protection under the law.
This meant that many students who petitioned for excused days from school for extended-time testing for ADHD who formerly were denied may gain such status according to this report. Specifically, the law added the areas of “thinking” and “concentration” to the list of major life activities that may be considered a disabling condition.
The author of the Wall Street Journal article suggests that these changes – however helpful their intent may be – may backfire for those trying to take advantage of them. Sue Shellenbarger, the parent of a special needs child, says that it’s her experience that many schools already “bend over backward” to aid children with problems like ADD/ADHD.
The new legislation may produce friction among critics who “resent the rising cost and resources” that are being directed towards children with special needs. She uses the example that teachers already find it difficult to provide the individual attention required of those students with special-needs diagnoses of one or two children and not neglect the others.
To view the entire blog on The Wall Street Journal Website, visit here.
To read about some of the fundamental changes in the act, click here.
Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.
Best,
Dr. Kenny
p.s. to share with other like minded people on a regular basis, join the ADHD Social Network called: ADHD World.
Technorati Tags: ADA, ADHD, ADD, Americans with Disabilities Act
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Written by Dr. Kenny Handelman - The ADHD Doctor
To find get a FREE special report on ADD/ADHD Medication, visit: Medication Mastery
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October 20th, 2008 at 10:12 am
I think it’s great that ADHD is finally being recognized as a real “diffability.” To label it as a disability is a disservice to people who never had the benefit of special help to get through it “back in the day.” My 32-year-old son must have literally been in a living hell, never having been diagnosed or given any attention other than criticism until he was 25! He made it through college by the skin of his teeth, but life since then has been frustrating to the max for him and us! If only he’d had help sooner!