He's been in a traditional school setting since the first grade. Spangler says she fought to get him out of the disabled handicapped unit because she wanted her son to assimilate into the community. The school was willing to help but in a lot of ways they needed to be told how to do that. There are roughly 236,000 children in Ohio that have been identified as special needs by the Ohio Department of Education. In many cases diagnosis are made in the classrooms of public schools.
Symptoms start to reveal themselves.
Teachers notice a child's mind wandering or a child fidgets everyday in class. Lisa Lorenzi says both of her sons have been diagnosed with ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyper activity Disorder. And she came to the coalition meeting to find out what more she can do to help educate her sons, but she also wants to know what is the school's responsibility. I think more so the schools are not ready for it - they don't know what to do. I don't think that teachers are prepared or they don't have a strategy.