Jane Jarrow

I think you have approached this in just the right way, Brad. Medication doesn't work for a lot of students, and others choose not to take it for a host of reasons. Even those who do take medication do so to help them manage their attention problems -- it doesn't cure the problem. The bigger issue, though, is that nothing is Section 504 or the ADA gives us the right (or the obligation!) to engage in rehabilitation. It is not up to us to tell the student how he/she should be managing the disability. Our responsibility is only to respond… >>>

I love your enthusiasm, Ruth, and I agree with your assessment -- we should never judge what someone will or won't be able to do in the future based on what we know (or THINK we know) of their limitations. A number of years ago, one of the Disney "Teachers of the Year" was a blind gentleman who was an outstanding track coach at the high school level! I have a friend who gives a presentation called, "Of blind mechanics and hemophiliac industrial arts teachers I have known..." He says, in truth, he has only known one of each, but… >>>

Certainly, you don't want to under-react to the evidence before you that something is not right -- that a student is in distress, or even that a student may pose a threat to self or others. But ESPECIALLY in the kind of small, one-on-one situations you describe, Nicole, the reason that the disability community has so carefully guarded confidentiality of disability-related information becomes clear. All that is asked is that you be sure you are responding to the behavior, and not to the label. If the behavior is questionable or unacceptable from any student, the same is true for a… >>>