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August 11, 2003 Senator Ted Kennedy Washington, DC Attention: Jeremy – Telephone Conversation Follow-up Re: Senate Bill 1390 “The Child Medication Safety Act” Dear Jeremy, It was a pleasure to speak with you on August 5th regarding the importance of Senate Bill 1390, “The Child Medication Safety Act of 2003.” I was so pleased to hear that both Senator Kennedy and our organization share common ground when it comes to teachers, school psychologists, and other school personnel diagnosing children with mental illnesses. We may disagree on the validity of ADHD and other subjective labels placed on our children, but feel that we can both agree on the importance of protecting the basic human and constitutional rights surrounding checklist diagnosing of our children within the schools. As discussed, I am able to provide you with numerous samples of subjective ADHD checklists that parents and children have been subjected to within the educational system. This subjective labeling of children is being done without proper informed consent or the right to refuse psychological testing being provided to the parents. Sadly these factors are contradictory to safeguarding our children’s basic human and constitutional rights. Our organization has had the pleasure of recently speaking with Patrick Kennedy’s office regarding his amendment that has been attached to the Senate bill. This amendment would address the concern you raised regarding the communication between a child’s teacher and parent. We would like to reiterate to you that we fully support this amendment, recognizing that behavior as well as academics should and must be discussed with parents. This bill with the attached amendment, therefore, would not prohibit this communication from taking place in any way. You raised concerns regarding behavioral drugs being singled out. I wish to point out that evidence clearly shows that the coercion is happening only with psychotropic drugs that are being forced onto our children via school systems. Further evidence to support this fact is the numerous state bills and resolutions that have been proposed and or enacted in this country as a result of parents being coerced to drug their children. Parents have testified throughout the country on these bills and assert the fact that schools are pressuring them to drug their children with psychotropic “medications” to “treat” behavioral and or attentional difficulties. It is crucial that Senator Kennedy recognizes this fact and targets it as the real problem. I can only hope that your office uses as reference our website www.ablechild.org and the over 300 signatures from parents across the nation as evidence of the critical need for bill 1390 to become law. As per our conversation, the investigation from the GAO should be welcomed. The lack of accountability regarding the number of children that have been falsely diagnosed and been placed on mind-altering drugs, is at a dangerous level in our country. I know that Senator Kennedy has been a wonderful advocate for the mentally challenged. I think he would be shocked to learn of school psychologists and other school personnel diagnosing children with mental illnesses and recommending “drug treatment” based on random and subjective checklists of behaviors. I am sure that this is not what motivates his advocacy. As a parent who experienced coercion to drug my child by the school system, and one who works with parents who have lost their children due to the mind-altering drugs forced upon them by schools; I wish to stress the importance of finding common ground. Our organization would be eager to work with Senator Kennedy to ensure that a label and drug free education is a basic right of every child. Respectfully, Sheila Matthews Parents for Label and Drug Free Education National Vice President
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