Should The Type Of Label A Child Receives Dictate Services

Parents of students who are struggling in school often wonder whether or non labeling their child with an identified diagnosis or learning disability is helpful or harmful, particularly within the context of school. Exploring the pathways toward diagnosis, and the potential benefits and results is an important footstep in grasping the larger motion picture.

It is the opinion of this writer that "labeling" a student is actually a smashing gift. Taken at the extreme, as depicted by the cartoon above, the student in the wheelchair is both right and self-aware. Sometime before this cartoon was drawn we tin imagine that the fictitious educatee was immobile. Rather than ignore his immobility or berate him for his disability to ambulate, we can presume that a parent and specialized professionals took the fourth dimension to diagnose his challenge, place a potential solution, and provide a wheelchair so that the child could access the world effectually him.

Was he "labeled?" Yes.
Is that bad? No.

And not only is "labeling" non a bad thing, just an appropriate diagnosis tin can result in solutions - solutions which a cocky-confident and self-enlightened young man is able to extend to the others around him, and so a critical takeaway is that the "characterization" is not the problem, but rather it provides a clear route map to viable solutions.

If a teen is struggling in school, then taking the time to empathise why tin be a bang-up gift. Unearthing that dyslexia is impeding reading development tin be a huge relief to a pupil who secretly worries she may be "dumb." Finding out about an auditory processing difficulty can help shift a family unit from beingness frustrated with a son "who never listens" to understanding that a written task list tin can help get the trash out on a Tuesday dark and, concurrently, provide constructive, supportive, "better" family communication. Diagnosis is labeling - yes - but it is likewise a process that moves everyone toward solution, and that is a gift.

There are three major pieces of legislation that dictate supports and services for students with learning disabilities in the U.s. - IDEA, 504 Plans, and ADA:

Idea (Individuals with Disabilities Education Deed - 2004)

The purpose of Idea is to ensure that any children with disabilities have access to a gratis appropriate public educational activity that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and contained living. This umbrella legislation covers everyone, from nascency to age 21.

IDEA is often used to embrace specific learning disabilities, which are considered permanent in nature. This list includes things like:

1. Specific learning disability (SLD)
• Dyslexia
• Dysgraphia
• Dyscalculia
• Auditory processing disorder
• Nonverbal learning disability
2. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
3. Other Health Impairment
• ADHD
• Epilepsy
• Diabetes
4. Emotional Disturbances, similar, only not express to:
• Anxiety
• Low
• Bipolar Disorder
5. Voice communication or language impairment
• stuttering
• dumb articulation
• language or phonation impairment
6. Visual impairment, including blindness
7. Deafness
8. Hearing damage
9. Deaf-blindness
10. Orthopedic damage
11. Intellectual Disability
12. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
13. Multiple or Co-Occurring Disabilities

Students who autumn into the above categories are eligible for specialized services through their dwelling house school commune. Testing and evaluations are often a part of the process, and the result is an IEP - Individualized Education Program - which dictates how services will exist administered. It is incumbent on the schoolhouse district to provide an IEP when testing indicates a need, and also, it is incumbent on the school district to provide for and run into the specific elements contained within the IEP.

If the school cannot meet the needs of a student, equally dictated by the IEP (either by proof or by admission), and then it is incumbent on the district to fund boosted services in an environs - even an out-of-district residential placement - which can meet the needs of the student, as identified under the IEP.*

Section 504 (of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973)

Section 504 provides protections for students with any type of disability, and states that "no otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United states of america… shall, solely past reason of her or his inability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to bigotry nether any program or activeness receiving Federal financial assistance…."

504 Plans frequently come together much quicker than an IEP, and can even be a placeholder, a precursor, to an IEP.

A 504 Plan may also cover "less-severe" issues than an IEP, also as temporary issues. For case, a diagnosis of ADHD is often all that is required to secure a 504 Program - which tin result in classroom accommodations like extra fourth dimension on tests or a tranquillity testing infinite - only for ADHD to qualify for an IEP, which carries more than weight, more than rigorous testing is often required.

Likewise, a pupil with brusk-term medical issues may also authorize for a 504 Plan. For example, if a student is going to have surgery that requires 45 days of bedrest, they may be eligible for a 504 Programme which pays for a teacher to provide didactic learning, in the home until the student is ready to return to school.

The 504 Plan tin can exist a short-term gear up or a long-term solution, but rarely does a 504 Program deport enough weight to result in districts paying for out-of-district placements or major interventions.

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990)

Non specifically targeted at education, ADA covers a wide range of disabilities across all domains of life. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits bigotry against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and individual places that are open to the general public.

Students "graduate" out of both the Idea/IEP umbrella and the 504 Plan umbrella when they leave high school (or age 21, if that comes first). It is ADA which dictates colleges and universities provide services to support students with disabilities - covering the entire range of those services, from elevators and wheelchair ramps all the style to extended fourth dimension on exams and admission to professor's lecture notes.

Nigh the Writer

Jake Weld, M. Ed. holds a masters degree in education and has served as the Executive Director of a therapeutic boarding schoolhouse, the Assistant Headmaster of a specialized LD boarding school, and equally the Bookish and Program Director of diverse schools and programs. He is currently the Director of Admissions and Concern Development for Mansfield Hall, a specialized college support program in Burlington, VT, Madison, WI, and Eugene, OR. Jake is a frequent contributor to this weblog.

*Please Note: Many of the advertising treatment programs listed on AllKindsofTherapy work with district-funded placements for pre-teens & teens under a student's IEP, as is dictated by IDEA - but none of that happens without first beingness identified and "labeled," and many of the Experts listed can help families navigate this unabridged process.

Source: https://www.allkindsoftherapy.com/blog/learning-disabilities-is-it-harmful-to-label-my-teen

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