ADHD

N

Navyman

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I saw some information about this in the Service Academy forum but not on ROTC. My son is a sophomore in high school and strongly desires to obtain a Navy ROTC scholarship. He is an excellent student at a very competitive public school and has already performed quite well on his first go at the SAT. Our main concern is that he was diagnosed about two years ago with the Inattentive Form of ADHD. My wife is in the medical field and was concerned at the time about putting him on any meds so we have not. Since he has performed well, we have not informed the schools of his condition so he has not received any accommodations up to now. He has received all A's and B's despite the fact that he tends to be forgetful and disorganized and, in certain classes, can have a short attention span and be easily distracted.

I see his frustrations at times so I am having him evaluated again and have now asked the schools about accommodations. I saw from a poster on the Academy forum that receiving accommodations not received by other students, such as extended time for tests or assistance with organization, is disqualifying for the Academy. Does anyone know if the same is true for ROTC? I wouldn't think it would be since all of the universities offer accommodations, including VMI and other military schools. We have contemplated trying medication but it sounds as though he can kiss any chance at an ROTC scholarship goodbye if we make that choice. I would appreciate any information anyone has on potential disqualifiers for NROTC with respect to issues surrounding ADHD. Also, if anyone has information on waivers when DODMERB has disqualified, I'd appreciate that as well.

Thanks for any information.
 
MEDICAL

You may want to post that question in the DoDMERB section. Not sure about ADHD
 
It seems as though there are two different issues here --

1. Accomadations by a service academy or college for a learning disability. To the best of my knowledge service academies do not provide any accomadations. In fact the SAT score that you submit must be from a test that provided for no accomadations.
Colleges may provide accomations according to law and their policies.

2. Medical qualification for a student with a learning disability. ROTC scholarship candidates must pass the same physical as service academy applicants. Any waivers give for a disqualification come directly from either the academy or ROTC branch. This is a question that should be addressed in the DoDMERB thread.
 
Navydad,

After seeing your query, I did a little research of my own and here is what I have come up with for you (This is from a secure portion of the DODMERB website not many will have access to, and no, it's not breaking OPSEC.):

ADD/ADHD is disqualifying only if the applicant has been treated with ADD/ADHD medication within the previous year and/or they display signs of ADD/ADHD.

Also, the respective program may request school transcripts to demonstrate acceptable academic performance for the year without medication.
 
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Thanks all. I will post it on the DODMERB forum as well and see if I get further info.
 
I would let RetNavyHM here have a look at it before I went to the official DodMERB website. He is THE expert and should be checking in within a day or so.
 
Navyman said:
Our main concern is that he was diagnosed about two years ago with the Inattentive Form of ADHD. My wife is in the medical field and was concerned at the time about putting him on any meds so we have not. Since he has performed well, we have not informed the schools of his condition so he has not received any accommodations up to now. He has received all A's and B's despite the fact that he tends to be forgetful and disorganized and, in certain classes, can have a short attention span and be easily distracted.
Click to expand...

There is no easy answer here, just going with the basic guidelines of off meds for one year, no special accommodations, and maintaining grades this should not be an issue. Of course we are talking about someone who will not be entering the DoDMERB system for at least a year, and the medical standards do change. Also with learning disabilities every applicant is different.

I would still have him apply to an academy/ROTC program, explain everything on the DoDMERB physical (and if necessary submit a separate letter to DoDMERB explaining everything in detail). If he is found disqualified by DoDMERB, just know that waiver are granted for learning disabilities, and if he is able to maintain a good GPA the chances of a waiver do go up.

It really is to early at this point to say if it will be a medical issue or not.
 
How about after receiving scholarship?

Thanks so much for your insight RetNavy HM! We don't want to do anything that might jeopardize the scholarship if we can avoid it. Do you happen to know if taking meds and/or receiving accommodations is also a problem after he has started college? I'm assuming for a moment that he continues to perform well and is awarded a scholarship and is either deemed qualified by DODMERB or receives a waiver. Is it still a problem once he enters college if he does any of these things to assist with the condition? What about on active duty? Are there not active duty naval officers who take stimulant medication for this condition?

Thanks again so much. You provide a great service to all of us.
 
Let me also add that we just went to an allergist today and my son was found to have a number of allergies including dust mites, various trees and grasses, moulds and cats. He was prescribed Nasonex and Allegra. He has been taking Flonase for years to deal with seasonal allergies but still, at times, gets sinus headaches, stuffy nose, sinus drainage, that sort of things. None of it causes anaphylactic reaction. He still plays lacrosse and football each year and is active in other organizations inside and outside of school. Could any of this be a show-stopper? Thanks again.
 
I'm almost positive (but not 100%) that any use of medications or accomodations during college would not be looked on favorably. I am also almost positive that there are no active duty officers taking any stimulant medications for those conditions either. Now I'm not 100% sure on either one of those, but in my 20 years I never saw anyone, officer or enlisted who was on any type of medication for an academic skills disorder. If there are people out in the fleet on stimulant medication I can assure you they aren't in an aviation, sub, dive or nuke power field.

As for the allergies, as long as his condition is well controlled by the medication(s), and he doesn't have any chronic sinus infections, then there should be no reason that it would be an issue. DoDMERB may request all the records, but based on what you have stated, there should be no problems. Again, things may change in 2-3 years, but as of today I don't see an issue.
 
Thanks as always RetNavy HC. Is there some other organization than DODMERB that would address medical issues after the individuals begin their college experience?
 
Once the applicant is either at the academy or with an ROTC unit, then the medical issues are taken care of at the academy or ROTC level until the comissioning physical. Those standards are essentially the same as for getting into the academy or ROTC program.
 
Accommodation?

One last question on this subject. If I take my son to Sylvan Learning Center, or some program of that type, to assist with organization, time management, study skills, note taking and other such things that tend to be a little more difficult for ADHD kids, that will not be deemed an accommodation that could pose a problem for medical qualifications for a NROTC scholarship would it? Thanks again.
 
I'll admit it, you've stumped me on this one. I would think that going to someplace like Sylvan, and getting the tools for better learning, would not be considered an accomodation, as long as he does well in school without any accomodations, and as such would not be considered a disqualification.

I'm not positive on this, but I will see what I can find out and let you know.
 
RetNavyHM said:
I'll admit it, you've stumped me on this one. I would think that going to someplace like Sylvan, and getting the tools for better learning, would not be considered an accomodation, as long as he does well in school without any accomodations, and as such would not be considered a disqualification.

I'm not positive on this, but I will see what I can find out and let you know.
Click to expand...

Well I found out, and I was correct, that going somewhere like Sylvan, as long as no medications or accomodations are used and grades stay up, that it would not be a disqualification.
 
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