Health Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Help Teachers Help Children, Says Coalition for Children's Health

5/8/2003

From: Audrey Spolarich, 301-592-8707, for The Coalition for Children's Health

WASHINGTON, May 8 -- Children's health advocates and researchers are calling on lawmakers to ensure that teachers, parents and doctors can communicate freely to help students who have disabilities, mental disorders and other health problems.

The Coalition for Children's Health is concerned that a provision sponsored by Rep. Max Burns (R-Ga.), which is being considered by the House Education and Workforce Committee, would interfere with or obstruct discussion between school staff, healthcare professionals and parents about a child's health.

The bill (H.R. 1170) aims to prevent schools from requiring medication as a condition of attending class. But the Coalition believes that enforcement provisions might dissuade teachers from alerting a parent that a child may need a medical evaluation.

"Teachers and school officials play a vital role in the complicated process of developing the best possible, least restrictive, educational plan for children with disabilities," Coalition Chair Audrey Spolarich said. "When that disability is a mental disorder such as attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or another neurological disorder such as Tourette syndrome, honest, open and frequent communication between parent and teacher is the surest path to a child's educational success."

The Coalition for Children's Health is focused on gaining full funding and implementation of the Children's Health Act of 2000. The Act is the most comprehensive piece of legislation targeted solely at improving research, prevention, education, treatment and control of congenital and acquired disabilities and conditions in children, including arthritis, autism, fragile X, juvenile diabetes, down's syndrome, mental illness and disorders, asthma, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, hepatitis C, traumatic brain injury, Tourette syndrome and early hearing loss.

The Coalition for Children's Health, along with the March of Dimes, American Academy of Pediatrics, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs will hold a Congressional briefing from 2-4 p.m., May 12, in room 121 of the Cannon House Office Building. Topics include the latest in ADHD developments. For more information about the briefing, call Ann Cody at 202-312-7400.