Doctors Exemption Note for Mask Mandate

Doctors Exemption Note for Mask Mandate

The morbidity risk for children of the virus is nearly zero. Still, schools are attempting to mandate masks with some giving options to opt-out with a doctor’s note. Here is an example of an exemption note obtained for a child that was used successfully in a school situation.

To Whom It May Concern:

Child’s Name has been under my chiropractic care for a number of years.  I care for his spinal integrity and nerve system optimization. Having an unobstructed nerve system allows him to better adapt to his environment and function at his best.

The child’s name is a curious young man, full of wonder.  He has a terrific sense of humor and he isn’t afraid to ask deep questions. I believe, with his mother’s corroboration, that he is quite at ease in my office because he knows what to expect and I eliminate as many stressors that may hinder his comfort. Otherwise, he can act inattentive and become easily distracted.

In 2020, Child’s Name underwent a psychoeducational evaluation that revealed that he has some challenges with language processing which are impacting his ability to complete classwork to his full potential. Furthermore, he demonstrated relative weakness with making sound/symbol (auditory/visual) and visual recall associations for spelling and reading. These difficulties, concludes the evaluator, are indicative of an auditory, visual, and kinesthetic integration challenge.

Apparently, Child’s Name’s scores were below average on one selective attention task and one dual attention task, and very low on single attention tasks. These combined results indicate that he has features of ADHD, combined presentation. He also has underlying processing difficulties that make academics, especially writing, very laborious for him and create fatigue, inattention, and overactive motor tendencies.

Child’s Name’s parents are concerned, with reason, about the effects that wearing a mask will have on Child’s Name’s academics and social development/engagement. Social engagement depends on how well we can regulate the muscles of our faces and heads via pathways linking the cortex with the brainstem. These are the muscles that give expression to our faces, allow us to gesture with our heads, put intonation with our voices, direct our gaze, and permit us to distinguish human voices from background sounds.

The neural regulation of the muscles of the face and head influences how someone perceives the engagement behavior of others. Absent facial expressions, and especially in someone who already exhibits learning, processing, and social challenges, may cause compromised emotional regulation and limited, spontaneous social engagement.

Should Child’s Name be forced to wear a mask while at school, we may likely see a further decline in his ability to learn and to exhibit adaptive and social behaviors? 


Child’s Name’s parents are very well informed about the current health situation/crisis in which we find ourselves.  They go to great lengths to ensure that Child’s Name eats well, gets plenty of clean water, exercises, and rests. I believe that Child’s Name’s nerve system and subsequent ability to learn would be enhanced if he was allowed to attend school without having to wear a mask. To ask this child to wear a mask while in school would very likely impact his ability to learn, to interact with others, and to continue to develop socially.

Sincerely,

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