{"id":386,"date":"2015-05-18T10:57:16","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T14:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=386"},"modified":"2015-05-29T12:26:59","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T16:26:59","slug":"sleep-disorders-truancy-and-student-needs-a-complicated-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/sleep-disorders-truancy-and-student-needs-a-complicated-mix\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep Disorders, Truancy and Student Needs: A Complicated Mix"},"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=\"Sleep%20Disorders%2C%20Truancy%20and%20Student%20Needs%3A%20A%20Complicated%20Mix\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 1px solid black; margin: 5px; float: right;\" title=\"student sleeping\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/nltr\/img\/sleeping.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"126\" \/>I have a student with a sleep disorder and emotional issues.<\/p>\n<p>How do the compulsory attendance laws and a student with special education needs intertwine?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Good question. All states have compulsory attendance laws. I am not aware of exceptions for children with disabilities, but suggest you contact your <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yellowpagesforkids.com\/help\/seas.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">State Department of Education <\/span><\/a> to find out if your state has exceptions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are the sleep issues a recent problem?<\/li>\n<li>What do the parents say?<\/li>\n<li>Is the child&#8217;s doctor aware of the frequent\u00a0 absences and the impact they are having on his education? <!--more--><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In some cases, the child&#8217;s doctor may ask that the child receive special treatment for a specific period of time &#8211; for example, when the doctor is trying different medications and the child&#8217;s sleep is disrupted.<\/p>\n<p>In other cases, schools let these kids slide which does not\u00a0 help. <strong>Kids with emotional and behavioral problems are at very high risk for dropping out. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If a child doesn&#8217;t attend school regularly, he cannot learn what he needs to know to handle life after school.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The fact that the child is often absent triggers responsibilities for the IEP team.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The IEP team is required to review and revise an IEP &#8220;to address any lack of expected progress&#8221; and &#8220;other matters.&#8221; A child with a sleep disorder who often misses school is probably not making expected progress, so it&#8217;s time to revisit the IEP.<\/li>\n<li>The IEP team is also required to consider providing related services for &#8220;a child whose behavior impedes the child&#8217;s learning &#8230; positive behavioral interventions and supports, and other strategies to address that behavior.&#8221; Clearly, this child&#8217;s behavior is impeding his learning. The IEP team needs to meet to devise new interventions, supports and strategies to address the behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the child is not attending school because of depression and other emotional issues, the IEP team needs to meet and decide how to modify or revise the IEP.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The team needs to be creative and involve the child&#8217;s doctor and therapist, parent(s), and the child, if possible.<\/strong> The child may need related services including counseling or other assistance.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Normal Adolescent Sleep Patterns<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As a group, adolescents are notoriously difficult to awaken in the mornings. In most cases, this is not due to laziness or depression, but is simply part of normal human development. During adolescence, circadian clocks are geared to late night behavior. Boys tend to grow out of this around age 20, and girls a year earlier.<\/p>\n<p>For these reasons, experts in neurology\u00a0 and chronobiology make a good case for opening high schools later and experimenting with timing of the curriculum and exams. This could lead to a better match between the requirements of the educational system and the capabilities of students. (For more about biological clocks and sleep rhythms, read <a href=\"http:\/\/judson.blogs.nytimes.com\/2009\/04\/21\/guest-column-larks-owls-and-hummingbirds\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Larks, Owls and Hummingbirds<\/span><\/a> by Leon Kreitzman, co-author of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Rhythms-Life-Biological-Clocks-Control\/dp\/0300105746\/ref=nosim\/thespecialedadvo\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><em>Rhythms of Life<\/em><\/span><\/a> with Russell Foster, a neuroscientist at Oxford.)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>American Academy of Pediatrics Recommendations<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Studies show that adolescents who don\u2019t get enough sleep often suffer physical and mental health problems, an increased risk of automobile accidents and a <em>decline in academic performance<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aap.org\/en-us\/about-the-aap\/aap-press-room\/pages\/Let-Them-Sleep-AAP-Recommends-Delaying-Start-Times-of-Middle-and-High-Schools-to-Combat-Teen-Sleep-Deprivation.aspx\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">new policy statement published in 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends<\/span><\/a> middle and high schools delay the start of class to 8:30 a.m. or later. Doing so will align school schedules to the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents, whose sleep-wake cycles begin to shift up to two hours later at the start of puberty.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Compulsory Attendance Laws and Truancy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If the school labels the child as truant under compulsory attendance laws, problems caused by developmental or emotional issues turn into legal problems. If the child is judged &#8220;truant,&#8221; it is unlikely that anything positive will happen, and more likely that the child will drop out of school.<\/p>\n<p>The question about whether to use compulsory attendance laws also depends on how the juvenile justice system in your area views kids with emotional and behavior problems. Some juvenile judges are staunch advocates for children and want to help. Others blame the kid for emotional problems &#8212; not helpful.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for caring about the kids!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have a student with a sleep disorder and emotional issues. How do the compulsory attendance laws and a student with special education needs intertwine? Good question. All states have <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/sleep-disorders-truancy-and-student-needs-a-complicated-mix\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[55,1370,1363,1365],"tags":[53,343,1299,344,118,121],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accommodations-modifications","category-discipline-behavior","category-discrimination-section-504-adaa","category-medical-health-care","tag-accommodations","tag-compulsory-attendance-laws","tag-ieps","tag-sleep-disorders","tag-truancy","tag-unique-needs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386","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=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12780,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions\/12780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}