Can the School District Require a Medical Diagnosis to identify a child under IDEA or 504?

The short answer is no.  But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t received a number of phone calls during the past school year asking this very question.  Somewhere, school districts have received information which leads them to believe that in order for a child to be determined eligible for an IEP or a 504 plan that parents must first provide the school district with a medical diagnosis. 

Two examples can illustrate this question:

First, a two and a half year old child has been diagnosed as having PDD-NOS and is currently receiving Early Intervention services.  The child is referred to special education and is determined to be a child with a disability.  The district proposes the identification of Developmental Delay because the child does not have a DSM-IV diagnosis of Autism. 

Second, a child has a history of anxiety and school avoidance.  The child is now in high school and has not been able to complete a full year of school since the child was in 5^th grade.  The child has been referred to special education a number of times but never identified because the child does not have the medical diagnosis needed to identify a child with Emotional Disturbance.

According to the NH DOE, the New Hampshire Rules for the Education of Children with Disabilities does not require a medical diagnosis for eligibility under IDEA. 

Parents’ Attorneys and Advocates are often very clear in explaining to parents that a medical diagnosis does not equal an educational identification.  As the NH DOE and OCR have explained, an educational identification cannot be denied for lack of a medical diagnosis.  If, however, as part of an evaluation, the team determines that a medical evaluation would provide information necessary to determine eligibility or appropriate supports and services, then the district must provide the medical diagnosis to parents at no cost.