During the last few weeks I had the opportunity to present special education law workshops at training conferences for pediatricians in Virginia. In my discussions with doctors who see hundreds of parents and children, I learned how often physicians are asked to support a parent’s request for special education eligibility or services. Problems occur when the doctor writes a letter for the parent’s application and school personnel may correctly tell parents that the medical diagnosis is not enough – the disability must be linked to the child’s current failure to make meaningful educational progress in school. This illustrates a serious gap between the language of medicine and the language of education. Children and parents can get lost in the translation.
More effort should be directed to help doctors learn the language of special education so that their observations and input are seriously considered by school personnel. The different worlds of medicine and education are both focused on helping children. When cross training is offered and becomes a priority, children and parents benefit, and are rescued from the limbo between the teacher and the doctor.
