Do I need to be keeping records?

Alef

Alef

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Dec 13, 2015
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When I went through the medical qualification process for ROTC eons ago, I'm pretty sure I didn't have any medical records. My family moved a lot and I wouldn't have even had a dr.'s name to give for records. I did have an immunization record.

I have kids talking about wanting to apply to a service academy, the oldest is twelve so we have a few years. Are they going to need copies of medical records, names of dr.'s, etc? We've moved a few times and they haven't exactly had one primary physician over the years. I'm wondering if I will need to keep records of everything or if they will be primarily evaluated on their physical/medical condition at the time of application?

Does DODMERB care much about what happened before age 12 or so?
 
Surgeries, positive TB, etc. are important to document. If you're military (or were discharged in the last 10-12 years), it should be in AHLTA.
 
I'm thinking of things like this: one of my kids has an ADHD diagnosis but is not medicated; I'm assuming they will want to know about the diagnosis but will they need dr.'s names for past dr.'s? If he's applying at age 17 or 18 I'm guessing then-current dr.'s and evaluations will have more significance.
 
Good rule of thumb is that if you answer yes to any of the DoDMERB medial history questions you should be prepared to answer follow up questions. Often they will include a request for documents.
 
Alef said:
I'm thinking of things like this: one of my kids has an ADHD diagnosis but is not medicated; I'm assuming they will want to know about the diagnosis but will they need dr.'s names for past dr.'s? If he's applying at age 17 or 18 I'm guessing then-current dr.'s and evaluations will have more significance.
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Medications are just one factor. Reasonable accommodations (IEPs, etc) also effect eligibility.
 
MabryPsyD said:
Medications are just one factor. Reasonable accommodations (IEPs, etc) also effect eligibility.
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Thank you, that is good to know. The only thing he has an IEP for right now is speech therapy, which will hopefully be finishing up soon (those darn r's...)

Does an ADHD diagnosis mean an automatic DQ and having to go through the waiver process?
 
ADHD isn't a DQ; it's the meds and the accommodations that DQ a person. I would be more concerned about the IEP and speech therapy.

See AR 40-501; 2-27i

Any current receptive or expressive language disorder, including, but not limited to any speech impediment, stammering and stuttering (307.0) of such a degree as to significantly interfere with production of speech or to repeat commands, does not meet the standard.
 
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Alef said:
Thank you, that is good to know. The only thing he has an IEP for right now is speech therapy, which will hopefully be finishing up soon (those darn r's...)

Does an ADHD diagnosis mean an automatic DQ and having to go through the waiver process?
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I am in no way disparaging his speech therapist at all, nor if he has any impediment, but I want to mention my youngest son's case. He had a very mild speech impediment, so mild that several times over his younger years the school bumped him out of speech therapy....to make room for a kid that needed it more. Apparently the district gets a set amount of dollars budgeted for speech therapy, and they (teachers/therapist) judge who needs it most. My son was on the borderline of needing speech therapy, and so when they had extra budget dollars he got it. (He's 11 yrs old now)

Just throwing an idea out there, if your son is only needing speech therapy for a minor issue (R's)....could it be possible that your district has the budget and so give him therapy....but maybe it's not entirely needed? When my son was in speech I got the vibe of "Oh, we have some extra money so let's put "that kid" in speech therapy".

Again, I have no idea if this is the case for your son, and I truly mean no disrespect. I am not a therapist or teacher, just a mom.

Either way - wishing your son all the best.
 
Just for the Army. However generally speaking, the Army has the most relaxed medical standards of the services.
 
In my opinion, I would not mention speech therapy if he is fine by high school and does not need therapy. I would also not mention ADHD if he is not taking medication or on behavioral therapy?
 
The medical history form will specifically ask "have you ever had any learning disability or speech problems". In this case it would be difficult to say No. Also, it says "ever" not after the age of 12. You must add a remark to any health question that you answer yes. That is your opportunity to say when the issue occurred and why it was minor and why the condition is not disqualifying.
 
Yeah, I have no intention of leaving anything out.

The standard I have seen for speech impediments indicates that a current impediment is a problem, so unless he is still struggling with R's in high school it doesn't sound like it will be disqualifying. Probably it's time to get him to a private therapist since the school therapy he has done for years really hasn't helped much with this issue.
 
There is a section on the DoDMERB physical where they read a paragraph. You should get a copy and see how he does.
 
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