A New Hampshire school district should not have required a hyperactive child to stay on a controversial medication as part of his special-education program, the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union argues in a suit filed this month in a federal court.
In May, a state hearing officer found that the Derry School District had acted “appro6priately” by relying on the advice of the child’s physician and making Ritalin use part of the individualized education program of 10-year-old Casey Jesson. (See Education Week, June 1, 1988.)
The boy’s parents have maintained that the drug causes their son to stop eating, lose sleep, and experience violent outbursts.
The boy, who has been off the drug for nearly two years, currently is being tutored alone in a separate school room, says the advocacy group.
