Anxiety/Depression, Hospitalization and failing

<p>My 14 y.o. Sophomore DD with a 4.0 GPA after her freshman year went into a severe depression this past summer. She has had anxiety since elementary school but it has always been well managed with medication and cognitive behavioral therapy. When school began in August, her anxiety and depression became overwhelming and she was hospitalized for a month, after only being back in school 2 weeks. Now with only 2 weeks left in the quarter, she is back at school, faced with the insurmountable task of making up work in 3 academic classes (block schedule). The school is telling me if she doesn't make-up the work, she will fail. One teacher has said she can take a No Mark for the quarter; Alg2 teacher has said she can make-up 1/2 the homework and if she passes the current Unit's test, she will waive the first two unit tests. Her Honor's Biology teacher is not being cooperative about make-up work e.g not allowing her to make-up labs, not providing her with the notes from class, and not compacting any work. She has told my daughter that even if she makes up all the work, she will not get credit for the class because of the missed labs. Guidance counselor says Incomplete is not an option unless you are out at the end of the quarter. Help!! Has anyone experienced this? Advice? Suggestions? We are in CA. </p>

<p>Huh. This is wild. On Monday, deliver a written and signed letter calling for an evaluation for disabilities and an IMMEDIATE 504 Plan. Contact NAMI immediately for advice and support. If need be, have her psychiatrist take her out of school before the end of the quarter. I have no idea if any of this would help in your school and district (public? private?). Hire an educational consultant specializing in teens with mood disorders immediately. I just don’t see this ending well, given your experience with this school so far. </p>

<p>Resources:
<a href=“http://www.wrightslaw.com/”>http://www.wrightslaw.com/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.copaa.org/”>http://www.copaa.org/&lt;/a&gt; > <a href=“Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.”>Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.;
Your California Federally funded Center/s for Parents of Students with Disabilities (might have a CA-specific name):
<a href=“Find Your Parent Center | Center for Parent Information and Resources”>http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>How has this school addressed the missing schoolwork situation with kids who’ve been in serious accidents or had cancer treatment during a quarter? Did those students’ get the same story? </p>

<p>I’m fairly certain that it is illegal for teachers to refuse to give students the opportunity to make up work if they have been sick enough to be hospitalized. If they don’t respond to the request for an evaluation/504, talk to a lawyer ASAP</p>

<p>Thank you for your replies. She had a complete evaluation in the spring and did not qualify for services. Her overall cognition and achievement were in the superior range. The only clinically significant scores were in the areas of Processing Speed; Depression/Anxiety and Somatization. At the time of the evaluation, there was no impact on academics. Due to her anxiety and slow processing speed, she does have a 504 plan that allows for extended time on tests, and assignments as needed.
The public school has been excellent about following through on her anxiety treatment plan, which has been instrumental in helping her adjust to being back at school. I just don’t think they are being fair about her make-up work. I’m not sure how they handle when other students miss school due to illness. </p>

<p>I think dyiu13 has some resources that look like they could be helpful. If you call some attorneys who specialize in these cases, they will probably be able to tell you over the phone whether or not there is a potential case/legal remedy without any fees. You do not even have to let the school know you are pursuing this option, but you could probably consult with some attorneys for little or no cost just to see if you might have a case. I hope you do. It is sad that people have so little compassion. I hope she feels better. If you do have a case, I would think a smart administrator at the public school would intervene with the teacher if it would head off a lawsuit. </p>

<p>FAPE covers social and emotional education experience, not just academic, so I call BS on the school. This claim of theirs is so common for kids smart kids with mood disorders who earn high grades. But ask yourself: Did the child’s disorder interfere with her access to FAPE (education)? Damn right it did. So the school violated IDEA already when it denied accommodation for hospitalization and other treatment needs. </p>

<p>And, as a feminist, I HATE to say it, but it’s STUNNING how a school and district respond and start to work appropriately with SWDs once a male lawyer in a nice suit shows up with the family.</p>

<p>Of course, it’s a goal to keep things non-adversarial, but you do what’s needed to " help" the school people do the right thing. My DD benefited from 1) state provided free mediation with the school and district, 2) our consulting prominate sped attorneys with experience advocating for kids with mood disorders (though we did not have to hire them), and 3) close work with an educational consultant with similar experience. But, we were dealing with a particularly stupid school system. </p>

<p>I’m not sure if this will help, but I’ve had experience with situations in which work doesn’t get made up on time, depression, hospitalizations, etc. Feel free to PM me, I hope all gets resolved soon.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice everyone. After talking to the school, we’ve decided she will take NM-no mark for her classes this quarter. The next quarter will be a fresh start. </p>

<p>That sounds like a good outcome, @Redslp</p>

<p>I have two sons with mental illness. The main lesson I’ve learned (it took awhile) is that the boys’ health is of paramount concern. School (HS and college) is secondary. As one of my friends told me, “You want to keep the ball in play.” Kind of blunt, but very true! So we took all pressure off our kids. My 19-year-old is taking an extended gap period and attending a Christian program in Florida. He is doing well, but I don’t know what he will do long-term. My 22-year-old is taking two classes each semester at our local university as an applied math major. He does great until he gets stressed, which tends to happen each semester! He sounds like your daughter - very bright but has a slow processing speed. The university has been wonderful with accommodating him. He had to withdraw from school in April one year - they refunded us ALL of his tuition! They said he can withdraw up to three times. He has 10 years to complete his bachelor’s degree (I think it will take him 5 1/2 years).</p>

<p>@Redslp please ask for the results (test scores, not just interpretation) of the extensive testing, and take them with you if you do choose to engage a consultant or advocate. “In the Superior Range” is not very precise or helpful to the student, and subscore-full score separations of 1-1/2 SD are significant. The tests are usually designed to have a scaled score mean of 100 and standard deviation (SD) of 15, and follow a normal (Bell Curve) distribution. Say your DD tests at 116-120 in verbal processing speed and 134-138 in full-scale Verbal. Bright kid, in the superior range, but perhaps incredibly internally frustrated with this >21 point (1-1/2 SD) spread from 116 to 138. This is a high, non-typical spread that can all be smoothed over by saying “in the superior range.”</p>

<p>Often these things do not self-resolve and require intervention and supports. I would start now on digging into this further and following any and all discharge recommendations from the inpatient stay to help in resolution. I know it is tempting to take a breath and wait and see, but you may be better served to see this as a marathon and start to put the infrastructure in place.</p>

<p>Self-care. Be wary of burnout.</p>

<p>@MaineLonghorn thank you for your post. It is great to see a redemptive path!</p>

<p>@ItsJustSchool, thanks! The hard part about mental illness is that a kid is going along a path quite happily and successfully, then WHAM!!! Out of the blue, he gets nailed. But it’s hard for the parents to accept the severity of the illness, so we keep pushing him along the path, when we should just be holding him tight and loving him. We had to let go of lots of expectations for our older son, who was an Eagle Scout, outstanding distance runner, and scholar in high school. We thought he would become a doctor or biomedical engineer. Now we’re not sure if he will be able to hold a job. BUT he is stable and relatively happy, and that’s what counts!</p>

<p>I’m curious what does your anxiety treatment plan specify? We are in a similar situation, and although our school district has been pretty understanding regarding make-up work, I don’t think any of us are doing a good job of lowering anxiety while in class, especially during tests. </p>