Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images Plus.
March 31, 2025
Sarah Carr wrote an article in Slate Magazine about the Trump administration's actions targeting students with disabilities, particularly, neurodivergent children.
For a couple of years, the driving forces of grade school—learning and friendships— were out of reach for Grace’s young daughter. The girl, who has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia, would walk around the classroom, touching and distracting classmates. When she inevitably got in trouble, the child felt embarrassed and anxious, but it was impossible to control the impulsive behaviors. “She could not function in school, at all,” says Grace, who lives in central Oklahoma and whose last name is being withheld, like those of other parents in this article, to protect her daughter’s privacy.
That began to change four years ago when the then-6-year-old started on stimulant medications to control her ADHD symptoms. After trying a few, the family found the right fit, and for the first time, learning and friendships felt like a real possibility for the girl.
Now it feels like the hard-won progress—for the girl and for our national understanding of the roughly 1 in 5 American children with neurodivergence—is at grave risk.
Read the full article here.