ADHD Student Loses Bid for Compensatory Education Under IDEA

An eighth grade student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder isn’t entitled to compensatory education just because her school violated a procedural rule under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Eleventh Circuit said.

The compensatory education remedy is available only for students who suffer a substantive educational harm, the opinion by Judge Britt C. Grant said Sept. 10.

When M.N. was in sixth grade, her mother decided to stop giving her the drug that kept her ADHD under control. From that point on, M.N.'s grades and behavior deteriorated.

M.N.'s teachers spent extra time with her, and her mom was notified ...