One of the most frequent topics that I discuss with parents is to clarify the difference between a medical diagnosis and an educational eligibility under IDEA.
The distinction can be quite small; however, that does not mean it may not be relevant!
Educational Eligibility for special education is based on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Let’s try to break this down
What is a Medical Diagnosis?
A medical diagnosis is, in fact, only given by a medical professional. This can be a pediatrician, or a child psychologist; however, it could also be a neuropsychologist. It could also be a developmental pediatrician or others.
When they make a medical diagnosis concerning developmental issues like Autism, the professionals turn to the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-V). You can also find a few places on the internet with the full DSM-V definition available.
These are also great resources. In addition, Parents should be aware of the diagnostic criteria that are used to make the medical determination of autism or any other condition.
The medical diagnosis is therefore comprised of three main criteria.
What is Educational Eligibility?
Educational eligibility is quite different. This is related to IDEA. IDEA lists 13 eligibility categories for special education. These categories are:
Each of these conditions comes with a unique educational definition and many have a medical diagnosis too. This is likely part of the issue with the confusion between medial and education eligibility.
Then to further confuse things, some states have further refined the definition of educational eligibility.
The educational eligibility of Autism under IDEA is as follows:
(i)Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.
(ii) Autism does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in paragraph (c)(4) of this section.
(iii) A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section are satisfied.
Medical v. Educational Therapy
Another difference commonly misunderstood is that between medical and educational therapy.
Medical therapy looks to make a child “whole” across all areas of life while Educational therapy looks to have a child be “functional” within the educational setting.
These two outcomes are QUITE different.
These two outcomes are QUITE different because one wants your child to be like other kids in the world, and the other only cares if your child is doing well in class.
The threshold to qualify for therapy is also very different! Often the school has a higher threshold to qualify for educational therapy meaning the child has to have MORE impairment than they would often need to qualify for medical therapy.
In Addition…
With medical therapy, talk to your child’s pediatrician. And ask for a referral for an evaluation. While in educational therapy, you have to ask the IEP team and convene a meeting. Plus, you have to get the team (at least 6 other people) to agree your child needs therapy in the educational setting.
Often medical therapy will involve your child working one-to-one with the therapist while educational therapy can sometimes be given in a group setting, be delivered by a therapy assistant, and/or given via teletherapy.
Each form of therapy, therefore, has various uses. I often advise parents to get as much therapy services from the school as possible. This is especially true when the child is at the elementary school level. Elementary school is when therapy seems to be most effective. And then the child get medical therapy too, if possible.
Finally, Here is the FREE resource I promised you. This list has every state’s educational eligibility.
WRAP-UP
In conclusion, I hope you found this post helpful in explaining why there is a difference between medical and educational diagnoses along with medical and educational therapy.
Please take the time to click on the links in the post because they have the reference material used to write this post.
Finally, you are welcome to join us for more discussion on visual impairments in the educational setting at our FB group, IEP/504 Assistance for parents of public school students from all over the United States.
PASEN also runs a special needs homeschool group, Homeschooling Special (Needs) Kids.
In addition, we also have a group for all parents and caregivers of special needs children called Special Needs Parenting Advice and Support. In this group, we discuss ALL things related to special needs in addition to care. I hope to see you there!
We also have a Parent Advocacy Training Program available at a discount for a limited time. If you also want to be the most effective advocate you can for your child, we can help.
NOW AVAILABLE!!
This comprehensive training is for parents who are stuck in the IEP process. The information you learn in this course will help you effectively advocate for your child, and give you a leg up in the IEP meeting.
First, you will learn basic research. Then you will be taught special education jargon. Finally, you’ll important information about general topics concerning IEPs and Special Education law
Parent Alliance for Students with Exceptional Students (PASEN) is meant purely for educational or medical discussion. It contains information about legal or medical matters; however, it is not professional legal or medical advice and should not be treated as such.
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This I still pretty confusing. The Neuropsych said “your child’s case is a complex one…do you want his identification to be SLD or ADHD”. ADHD is not even one of the 13. I think it is a subset under one of the 13. Plus, I only count 12 listed IDEiA identification Catagories as listed in this article. I wonder what is the 13th? My son’s disabilty that we knew at the time was VI. Visually Impaired which isn’t listed here. Later we found it was OHI as determined by blood tests. So he is OHI/ VI. The Neuropsych said they don’t test for VI but when that was a suspected disability they should have referred him out for testing if they couldn’t do it before even attempting to Identify him. Students can have multiple but he never was SLD nor ADHD. My son could have been medicated with ADHD meds needlessly had iistened to that Neuropsych
ADHD falls under the educational eligibility category of Other Health Impairments (OHI). Visual Impairment is another eligibility category. In the article, there are 13 categories listed. One for each of the eligibility categories available under IDEA. If you child has a medical diagnosis of ADHD one of the common co-occurring conditions with ADHD are specific learning disabilities. The most common is dysgraphia followed by dyscalculia and then dyslexia. So maybe that is why the Neuropsych mentioned SLD?
How do I find out if his dyslexia; caused by convergence is a medical disability? My son receives ESA money for ADHD, but since then he has been diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia. The ESA people said that if I reapply I may lose the original funds ??? I can’t get anyone to tell me if these new diagnoses would warrant me applying for again. His teacher and tutor said he needs more assistance.
ESA is a school choice program that is unique to the state of Arizona. Not everyone would know that. 🙂 If your child has convergence insufficiency I would have the doctor who made the diagnosis write a letter explaining the condition and how it impacts your child in school and their learning such as making reading and writing very difficult. Then I would head back to you local school and ask the school to complete the Child Find process (this covers children from birth to age 21). They will screen your child and I would give them the letter and any other information you have (work sample and etc) to show how your child’s visual issues are impacting their education. Hopefully, the school will move on to the MET process where they evaluate your child. If they find your child to have a visual impairment they can list that as the primary eligibility on their MET. With that, you can submit a new MET to the ESA programs and they would adjust your funding accordingly and you should not lose any funds. You may want to read my other two blog posts. My blog post on Visual Impairment also discusses guidance from the OSERS that clarifies that ANY visual impairment that impacts a child’s learning can qualify a child for the educational eligibility for Visual Impairment. If you have any other questions please join our IEP/504 Assistance group on Facebook for more assistance [https://www.facebook.com/groups/iep504assistance]
Why Good Visual Processing (all 8 kinds) Is Important!
http://pasen.org/why-good-visual-processing-all-8-kinds-is-important-2/
Visual Impairment Covers Convergence Insufficiency Too!
http://pasen.org/visual-impairment-covers-convergence-insufficiency-too/