Menu:
The parent is the first person that represents his child and his child's interests. To do that properly, the parent, must know everything there is to be know about his child's condition and about the way it affects him in all environments. If a child is diagnosed with ADHD from early age, is following a medical treatment or a psychological treatment, his parents must reveal those facts to his teachers. By letting the teachers know about the child's situation, a parent can only make things easier for the child because teachers will prepare for a proper treatment on their own in order to help the child fit in the new environment.
Evaluation on children to establish whether they suffer from the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be made both by school psychologist and outside specialists. School, the controlled environment where a child spends a great deal of time doing all sorts of activities, social, interactive, creative, physical and mental, is the best place to discover whether a child shows the symptoms of ADHD or other disabilities, so this evaluation became an obligation for the institution.
The first person to contact in case of suspicion of ADHD condition in a child is the teacher. The teacher will know what is the best way to deal with this matter and will offer the best guidance for requesting the school system for a proper evaluation. A mention is that this request should be written, contain personal data on the child and parents that asks for the evaluation.
Even though in the past, many school systems were avoiding this kind of implication in children evaluation, nowadays, the law imposed obligations on the assessment. If a parent's request for his child's evaluation is repeatedly denied by the school system, he can always turn to local parent groups or Parent Training and Information (PTI) center and Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agency for help. More information on this centers and on the law for this matter will be presented later in the document on the support groups and organizations section
By following the very important rule of being the person who represents your child and your child's interests, you need to provide all the help and assistance he needs to overcome all the problems he finds difficult to deal with such as changing teachers, changing school tasks when a new school year starts, organizing new habits and events in his life, you need to make a reliable assessment on your child's strong and weak points and develop, in collaboration with the school, an individualized education program (IEP).