{"id":17763,"date":"2016-10-03T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T13:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=17763"},"modified":"2019-10-28T11:14:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T15:14:22","slug":"doe-releases-guidance-on-civil-rights-of-students-with-adhd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/doe-releases-guidance-on-civil-rights-of-students-with-adhd\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. DOE Releases Guidance On Civil Rights of Students with ADHD"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"U.S.%20DOE%20Releases%20Guidance%20On%20Civil%20Rights%20of%20Students%20with%20ADHD\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p><strong>Students with ADHD and Section 504: A Resource Guide<\/strong>\u00a0 &#8211; (07\/26\/16) U.S. Department of Education\u2019s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issues <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201607-504-adhd.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Guidance clarifying the obligation of schools<\/span><\/span><\/a> to provide FAPE for students with attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201607-504-adhd.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201607-504-adhd.pdf<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23422\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/boy.stressed.redhead.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"536\" height=\"357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/boy.stressed.redhead.jpg 849w, https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/boy.stressed.redhead-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/boy.stressed.redhead-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Over the last five years, OCR has received more than 16,000 complaints that allege discrimination on the basis of disability in elementary and secondary education programs, and more than 10 percent involve allegations of discrimination against students with ADHD. The most common complaint concerns academic and behavioral difficulties students with ADHD experience at school when they are not timely and properly evaluated for a disability, or when they do not receive necessary special education or related aids and services.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This guidance provides a broad overview of Section 504 and school districts\u2019 obligations to provide educational services to students with disabilities, including students with ADHD.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The guidance:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Explains that schools must evaluate a student when a student needs or is believed to need special education or related services.<\/li>\n<li>Discusses the obligation to provide services based on students\u2019 specific needs and not based on generalizations about disabilities, or ADHD, in particular. For example, the guidance makes clear that schools must not rely on the generalization that students who perform well academically cannot also be substantially limited in major life activities, such as reading, learning, writing and thinking; and that such a student can, in fact, be a person with a disability.<\/li>\n<li>Clarifies that students who experience behavioral challenges, or present as unfocused or distractible, could have ADHD and may need an evaluation to determine their educational needs.<\/li>\n<li>Reminds schools that they must provide parents and guardians with due process and allow them to appeal decisions regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of students with disabilities, including students with ADHD.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Know Your Rights<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition to the guidance, the Department also released a <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/docs\/dcl-know-rights-201607-504.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Know Your Rights Document<\/span><\/span> <\/a>that provides a brief overview of schools\u2019 obligations to students with ADHD.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/docs\/dcl-know-rights-201607-504.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/docs\/dcl-know-rights-201607-504.pdf<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The mission of OCR is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights. Among the federal civil rights laws OCR is responsible for enforcing are Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Act of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n<p><strong> More Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/is-adhd-a-learning-disability-ive-been-told-no-its-not\/\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Is ADHD a Learning Disorder? I&#8217;ve Been Told &#8211; No, It&#8217;s Not!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wrightslaw&#8217;s page on <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/add.index.htm\">Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD\/ADHD)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/aboutocr.html\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Learn about OCR<\/span><\/span><\/a> and the anti-discrimination laws that it enforces.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/504faq.html\">Protecting Students With Disabilities<\/a><\/span> &#8211; Frequently Asked Questions About Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students with ADHD and Section 504: A Resource Guide\u00a0 &#8211; (07\/26\/16) U.S. Department of Education\u2019s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issues Guidance clarifying the obligation of schools to provide FAPE <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/doe-releases-guidance-on-civil-rights-of-students-with-adhd\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1377,1363,9],"tags":[1312,238,1307,1423,1422],"class_list":["post-17763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-add-adhd","category-discrimination-section-504-adaa","category-section-504","tag-ada","tag-add","tag-adhd","tag-civil-rights","tag-ocr-guidance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17763"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25249,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17763\/revisions\/25249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}