BipolarCentral
Your One Stop Source For Information On Bipolar Disorder

Loved One With Bipolar Disorder?
Discover how to cope and deal
With your loved one's bipolar.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Do You Have Bipolar Disorder?
Discover how to cope and deal
With your bipolar disorder.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Child With Bipolar Disorder?
Learn How to REALLY Help
And Support Your Child.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Dating Someone With Bipolar?
Secrets Revealed.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Marrying Someone With Bipolar?
Avoid Mistakes.
Click here for FREE information.

Need Money Because of Bipolar Disorder?
Click here for FREE Report
 

Drug Addiction and Bipolar Disorder
Secrets to Beating It
Click here for FREE information.
 

Need Affordable High
Quality Health Insurance?
Click here for FREE information.
 

In Debt Because of Bipolar Disorder?
Get out of debt fast.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Improve Your Emotional Health
Reduce Your Stress Levels
Increase Your Brain Power
Click here for more information.

Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Your Child

By David Oliver

If your child has been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and they are of school age, then you should know about the Individual Education Plan (IEP). With an IEP, they can stay in a regular classroom setting, while some accommodations are made for them.

An IEP is a document that is written by both you and school officials together for the benefit of your child, so that your child will have a positive school experience. The accommodations will vary according to your child’s individual needs – goals and objectives are set for each educational need; although bipolar symptoms are taken into consideration.

For example, difficulty completing homework is a common problem for students who have bipolar disorder. They may be drained and exhausted by the end of the school day just from the accumulated stress of school. So in the IEP, expectations that are concerned with homework can be modified daily, monthly, and/or seasonally, according to your child's condition. Your child can be given more homework when they are stable and feeling well and less homework when they are more symptomatic.

Another common problem that students with bipolar disorder face is episodes of overwhelming emotion – such as extreme anxiety, frustration, rage, and/or tearfulness. To accommodate children with this difficulty, the school can establish a "safety plan," which designates a person and place where the child can go, away from the glares of their fellow classmates, when they need to regain their self-control.

One disturbing problem facing schools is how to discipline a child who is experiencing extreme symptoms of their bipolar disorder such as disrupting others by raging. If your child has a problem with rage and/or other violent behavior, make sure to address this in their IEP.

Some students with bipolar disorder have a problem getting up in the morning to attend school on time, because their medications make them groggy. It may be possible to get permission for your child to enter school at a later time, if this is your case.

However, if your child simply fails to attend class or complete homework outright, some schools may choose to discipline your child just as they would any other child. If your child is being disciplined, suspended, or expelled for what you and your child's doctor believe are bipolar symptoms, ask the school district to give your child a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA).

An FBA is administered by a trained professional and is designed to pinpoint the causes of your child's problematic behavior. Once these causes are determined, the professional draws up what is called a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), to help your child deal with their inappropriate behavior in a more positive way.

Schools are NOT allowed, however, to suspend your child for more than 10 days for inappropriate or dangerous behavior toward others or toward school property, and not for more than 45 days for bringing a weapon to school or distributing drugs.

You can learn more about FBAs and BIPs from the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice, a national organization that helps students with emotional and behavioral problems to succeed in school, at:http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior/main.htm.

When you are writing your child's IEP, it is important that you, along with the school staff, consider not only the results of the required testing, but also your child’s physical symptoms and any side effects of their medication that may affect their alertness; attendance; ability to complete homework; participation in the regular school setting; etc.

Make sure that stress reduction strategies are included in your child’s IEP, as stress at school can trigger bipolar symptoms manifested only at home and can be missed in the school setting.

NOTE: Your child’s IEP is not set in stone. Any child who receives special education services must be reevaluated every three years, and several review meetings during each school year are advisable. Changes can be made to your child’s IEP at any time by requesting an "emergency" IEP meeting between you and your child's school principal, special education teacher(s), and any other school professionals providing services to your child. This meeting may be requested by you, or by any member of your child’s school staff.

The Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF) has compiled a list of symptoms and accommodations that both families and schools have found to be helpful to students with bipolar disorder. This list is available at:

http://www.bpkids.org/learning/symptoms.htm

About the Author

David Oliver is the founder of FreeBipolarCourse.com, a one-stop source of information on how to cope and deal with bipolar disorder. Sign up for one of his FREE Mini Courses on bipolar by visiting FreeBipolarCourse.com

Back to Article List

This Week's Bipolar News

Artist faces her demons in gallery show
The North Bay Nugget
Michelle LaRiviere is a survivor, but she has not escaped unscarred. She has demons and faces them daily. But now the road to recovery looks bright. The petite, raven-haired woman, who was diagnosed with affective bipolar disorder last summer, poured her heart and fears out to strangers...

Atypical antipsychotics in bipolar disorder: the treatment of mania
Adv Psychiatric Treat
He has had a career-long interest in psychopharmacology and in bipolar disorder, and has authored two editions of Use of Drugs in Psychiatry published by ...

In a sense, everyone is bipolar to some extent, doctor says
Hattiesburg American
I was having a "down day" and he said he thought I must be bipolar. He was just picking at me but I got to thinking about it and I do have up days and down ...

Click here for all Bipolar News.

Featured Article:

The Three Worst Things That Bipolar Disorder Causes - Part 1

Anyone who has bipolar disorder would agree that there are many bad things that the disorder causes for them; such as: having to take medication every day for the rest of their lives, having to change their whole lifestyle to accommodate the disorder, having to go see doctors and therapists and psychiatrists, etc.

However, the three worst things that bipolar disorder causes are:

1. Distortion of the truth
2. Suicidal and homicidal intentions
3. Destruction of families
   

Click here to read the entire aritcle

Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

Copyright 2004-2008, BipolarCentral.com