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New guidance on the civil rights of ADHD students

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ensures protection of ADHD students under law. However, its special Section 504 often varies among school administrators.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has has issued a guidance clarifying the rights of ADHD students in light of nationwide allegations that schools were not providing ADHD students the services they need to be successful.

"Over the last five years, OCR has received...

1. Girls don't get ADHD. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that in many states, boys are diagnosed twice as often as boys. Girls often do not 'act out' or rebel as much as boys, so the squeaky wheel, i.e. boys, often get the diagnosis. ADHD does affect girls likely as much as boys.

2. Getting good grades means I don't have ADHD. Many ADHD students are bright and make good grades. However, other areas of their lives are affected including social skills, organization, and finishing...

New research can help this volatile mix

A new study by Dr. William Pelham, a leader in ADHD research, and his team, sheds significant light on homework skills, parenting, and medication. The researchers compared homework-focused behavioral parent training against medication.

The study found that ADHD children who did homework under the guidance of trained parents improved 10% to 13% in homework completion and about 8% improved in homework accuracy. That's equivalent to the parent treatment...

You love your bright, creative, energetic, caring child. And yes, he also happens to have ADHD which often comes with these fantastic characteristics. However, there is the other side of ADHD. The side that results in constant calls from the school, doctors appointments, arguments, tears, and nights with endless amounts of homework. This is often the source of many challenges and frustrations. You can sometimes feel simply overwhelmed and exhausted. When these feelings occur, it is important...