House Bill 109

[Tully Mars]

Here is one that really gets my ire up:

HB 109 (http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2006/html/HB/0100-0199/HB0109IN.htm)

"An act to require physicians and psychiatrists who diagnose children with Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to report the total number of those children to the respective school districts where the children attend school; and for related purposes."

As the Father of a child with ADD, this really bothers me. First of all, these care providers have much more important things to do with their time than spend time reporting these numbers for the sole purpose of staying in compliance with some silly state law.

Secondly, while my son does have ADD, it is very well controlled through the use of medication. He is extremely intelligent (He is in the fifth grade and reads at an eleventh grade level) and is absolutely not a discipline problem.

I can assure you that this is one bill that I will be discussing with our local delegation. :mad:

[fuzzis]

I don't understand what the purpose of reporting to school districts would be. I really don't get it. Is it reporting the actual child or just the numbers of children diagnosed?

Very odd.

fuzzis

[Tully Mars]

I could not possibly agree with you more Fuzzis.

As I interpret the bill it only requires reporting the number of children diagnosed. But the reporting requires the care giver to report the number of children from each school district that is diagnosed to that particular district. Imagine the burden that will put on physicians that practice in regional medical centers such as Hattiesburg that may see children from a ten-county (or more) area.

[fuzzis]

Ughhh.

Speaking from an education perspective, it was always nice to know which children had diagnoses...kinda helped to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together...but it wasn't one of those things that I *had* to know. And I wouldn't ever support a bill that was such an invasion of families' privacy.

Since this bill isn't that to begin with...:smt102

The only thing I can think of is funding opportunities, although that doesn't make sense either come to think of it. (I was thinking about IDEA and qualifications for IEPs versus 504 plans)

fuzzis

[Tully Mars]

Ughhh.

Speaking from an education perspective, it was always nice to know which children had diagnoses...kinda helped to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together...but it wasn't one of those things that I *had* to know. And I wouldn't ever support a bill that was such an invasion of families' privacy.

Since this bill isn't that to begin with...:smt102

The only thing I can think of is funding opportunities, although that doesn't make sense either come to think of it. (I was thinking about IDEA and qualifications for IEPs versus 504 plans)

fuzzis

Go figure, I have no idea what the logic behind this could be.