"The question that Congress must ask is why have so many states had to introduce resolutions or pass legislation to curb schools labeling and drugging children? Unfortunately, the answer is that until IDEA is reformed, and Congress provides a physically based scientific definition of 'disability,' the diagnosing of children with subjective disorders will continue to be a national problem."

Mrs. Patricia Johnson
Member, Colorado State Board of Education
In 1999, in the wake of the Columbine school massacre, and
under the direction of Mrs. Johnson, the Board passed the
precedent setting Resolution that called for academic rather than drug
solutions for behavioral and learning problems in the classroom.

When Congress originally passed IDEA, covering Special Education, its primary purpose was to provide a Free and Appropriate Education for children with hearing, sight, speech and other physical handicaps.

Over the ensuing 27 years, the funding has been largely funneled, instead, to children with "learning disorders," a term so subjective that children who fidget, butt into line or interrupt their teachers are so labeled. In most cases they are subsequently prescribed cocaine-like, mind-altering drugs. Many of these children simply have never been taught to read. Clearly, there is a critical need to provide an objective, scientifically based definition of "learning disability," and this must be the central point of reforming IDEA.

• The President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education found that 40 percent of children have been targeted as having "learning disorders" simply because they have not been taught to read. This finding leaves no doubt that the subjectivity of the term "learning disorder" must be the cornerstone of Special Education reform, as well as the basis for any increased funding demands.

• Today more then 3.2 million children have been placed in Special Education due to subjective and unscientific categories, such as "Specific Learning Disability." State and federal governments are wasting $28 billion per year, when clearly these children simply need standard academics.

• The definition of "learning disabled" is so ambiguous that researchers at the University of Michigan found that 85 percent of students they tested—who had previously been identified as normal—would have been classified as learning disabled. The result of this one flawed aspect of the law—the subjectivity of who is classed as "disabled"—has resulted in more than 60 percent of Special Ed funding being channeled away from the children who really need it—the physically and intellectually handicapped.

• U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has stated, "Our system fails to teach many children fundamental skills like reading and then inappropriately identifies some of them as having disabilities. Not only does this hurt those children who are misidentified, it also reduces the resources available to serve children with disabilities. If we provide all children with scientifically-based reading instruction delivered by well-trained teachers, many will never need special education."

• Labeling a child with these "disorders" have led to school personnel threatening parents to place their child on a psychiatric drug as a requisite to remaining in class, or face the child being dismissed from school.

• Nationwide, reports of parents being threatened with medical neglect or child expulsion have prompted four states [Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota and Virginia] to enact laws and 15 more to introduce bills prohibiting school personnel from recommending children be put on psychiatric drugs. The other 15 states are: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.

• Drugs are often a first choice for a child displaying "learning" and "behavioral" problems. Yet these could be caused by diet (A New York study that changed the diets of over a million juveniles caused a 40% decrease in "learning disabilities"); high mercury levels, exposure to pesticides and other toxins, and iron deficiency can place children at risk of both school failure and delinquent behavior. Creative, intelligent children also often have trouble concentrating in school. Thousands of children put on psychiatric drugs are simply smart. The behaviors associated with giftedness closely mirror those associated with ADHD.

• "EARLY INTERVENTION": Any attempts to increase "early identification" and "early intervention" of children with disabilities must be based on physical diagnostic criteria and not subjective criteria for "learning disorders" that will only exacerbate the growing numbers of children being prescribed dangerous mind-altering drugs.

• SEC. 602. (3) This section of IDEA is key to reform as it contains the generalized psychological and psychiatric terms that lack any scientific validity. The terms "serious emotional disturbances," "emotional disturbance" and "specific learning disabilities" should be deleted.

• Kevin P. Dwyer, a former assistant executive director at the National Association of School Psychologists admitted that the way "learning disorders" are diagnosed is "not a science." "We're not sophisticated enough to do a perfect diagnosis," he candidly admitted.

• Pediatric Neurologist Fred Baughman, who has testified before Congress on this issue, says: "The most fundamental aspect of reforming IDEA is to provide a definitive physically based definition of disability. A proper and equitable definition for disability must include the necessity to establish that a tangible, objective physical abnormality can be determined by a test such as, but not limited to, blood or urine test, x-ray, brain scan or biopsy. If none of these learning 'disorders' can meet this test, then clearly there is no physical abnormality and we are labeling entirely normal children as abnormal."

"In schools throughout the nation, children who are having problems with their academic work, their peers, their teachers, or their families are being labeled…as suffering from disorders that carry labels like Oppositional Defiant disorder, Conduct Disorder, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. These children may be placed in special classes, dismissed from school, or given medication. From prisons to child welfare agencies, DSM [Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders] is shaping how we think about problems and determining who gets labeled as having a mental disorder."

Professors Herb Kutchins & Stuart A. Kirk, Authors,
Making Us Crazy, DSM: The Psychiatric Bible and
The Creation of Mental Disorders

1. SEC. 602. (3) needs amending to provide an objective, scientifically based definition of "learning disability." The terms "Serious Emotional Disturbances," "Emotional Disturbance" and "Specific Learning Disabilities" have no scientific merit, are subjectively determined and should not be included in IDEA reform. The subjective terminology must be eliminated in order to prevent the mass misidentification of children.

2. As part of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) under IDEA, it should be mandatory for parents to be given all options for their child's education, including first ruling out any physical problem manifesting as a behavioral/learning "disorder." This would require advising that a full and searching medical examination be conducted.

3. As part of the IEP, parents must have access to all educational resources, including tutoring to address any perceived learning or behavioral problem in their child, and testing for giftedness.

4. Special Education should be available to those children suffering from physically-based/caused disabilities and intellectual disabilities that have been physically caused, including autism. The psychological/psychiatric system should not be able to abuse Special Education by diagnosing childhood and educational problems and failure as "mental disorders."

5. Existing funds used for school psychologists and psychiatrists to identify "learning disabilities" and to recommend drugs, should be channeled to provide more teachers and tutors, including specialized teachers who can deal with the special needs of a physically or intellectually handicapped child.

This report was issued by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) International, a mental health watchdog established by the Church of Scientology in 1969 to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights. CCHR has been responsible for the reform of more than 100 laws internationally that protect the rights of the mentally ill. For more information, contact the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International at 800-869-2247.