I work as a disability advocate in the state of Alabama and have two family members diagnosed with ADHD.  I am interested in hearing from anyone out there who have had children denied Section 504 accommodations for ADHD by their schools.  The American Disability Act Amendments Act which went into effect as of January 1, 2009 should be making it much easier for children to become eligible under Section 504 and receive accommodations.

It sounds like there needs to be a disability advocacy movement in your country.  I encourage you to learn as much as you can about ADHD and then start teaching others about it.  Section 504 is part of our Rehabilitation Act and it ensures the right of all individuals considered to have a disabiity that impacts major life activity can have access to education, work, and other areas in society.  It requires reasonable accommodations be provided to those individuals so they can be competitive with others without disabilities.  The most common examples of accommodations in school for children with ADHD include things like taking tests in a smaller and less distracting setting, allowing additional time for testing, breaking assignments down into smaller segments so the child only has to focus on part of the assignment– finish that part and then move on to the next.

Here is some additional information from an ADHD website:

From:  http://www.help4adhd.org/en/ed…..rights/504

”Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil
rights law designed to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability in
any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.  Section
504 guarantees certain rights to individuals with disabilities, including the
right to full participation and access to a free and appropriate public
education (FAPE) to all children regardless of the nature or severity of
the disability.  Specifically, 34 C.F.R.§104 states:

"No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in
the United States… shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be
excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial
assistance."  

Section 504 requires the provision of appropriate
educational services; services that are designed to meet the individual needs
of qualified students to the same extent that the needs of students without a
disability are met.  Essentially Section 504 was designed to "level
the playing field," to ensure full participation by individuals with
disabilities. 

Who Qualifies?

To qualify under Section 504 a student must:

• Be
  determined to have a physical or mental impairment that substantially
  limits one or more major life activities including learning and
  behavior.
• Have
  a record of having such an impairment OR
• Be
  regarded as having such impairment.

How can Section 504 help my child? 

Section 504 ensures that a qualified child with a disability
has equal access to education.  The child may receive appropriate
accommodations and modifications tailored to the child's individual
needs. 

What is an "appropriate" accommodation under
Section 504?

An appropriate accommodation for a student with a disability
under Section 504 could entail

• education
  in regular classrooms,
• education
  in regular classrooms with supplementary services, modifications and/or
  accommodations,
• special
  education and related services OR
• any
  combination of the above. “

I am sorry that your child was treated in this manner.  My son is also gifted with a high IQ but his ADHD impacted him greatly.  When his teachers began to require that he plan long-term assignments, keep up with homework and sit still in a chair he went from A's to almost failing.