Perfect ACT Score

[Anonymous]

Most kids could get a 36 with unlimited time over a week long time frame. The main issue with the ACT is that it’s a time crunch with less than 30 seconds per problem.

However, If OPs son actually has a documented disability, then the accommodations are allowed and understandable.

The issue is that many cry disability and get a diagnosis for the exact purpose of accommodations, as there is no indication on the score report to indicate if the child completed the test in three hours or three days. Colleges don’t know that accommodations were necessary, and then colleges must provide similar accommodations for 4 years. They also have to keep silent about accommodations. The actual disability may not show until employment, where being able to complete work by the deadline is not accommodated.

[Anonymous]

The accommodations would only be given with a documented disability. There would need to be testing done and a psychologist would need to share the test results along with a report to document it. I would imagine if someone knew a doctor willing to falsely present a student with a disability, they could "game" the system, but honestly it is very hard to get accommodations like this for standardized testing. I have a friend who had her kid diagnosed with ADHD as a rising junior in high school, and he got no accommodations because there was no history of the disability, so it really isn't easy to "game" the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. DS has a serious processing speed disability. He is extremely bright, but his brain just works slowly. He is a straight A student, as I mentioned earlier, but he needs extra time on tests. I am very proud of how well he has done despite his disability and how he has managed to compensate as well as possible. He is in the 25 percentile for for processing speed where he is in 86th all the way up to the 97th percentile for other test measures. I think some people call this twice exceptional. ACT gives these kids these kinds of accommodations because of the fact that taking such a long test with extended time is such a long day for these kids.

I am shocked that people would jump on us and say we are gaming the system without knowing the facts. I have no problem giving my son the opportunity for an even playing field.

I didn’t know that this was a diagnosable issue. My daughter had similar results as your son on a WISC test in 3rd grade. They told us that she was a slow processor and that it was typiCal in gifted children. I didn’t do anything about it, because I didn’t know you could do anything about it. Long story short - she’s now at TJ, excelling in music, classes, and also got a 35 on the ACT.

I don’t begrudge you at all for you helping your son and getting accommodations.

[Anonymous]

My kid got a 55th on processing speed and 99th on everything else. If you take out the processing speed score, his average is a 158 (out of 160) on the WISC IV. He gets no accommodations. He runs out of time on every section and has a 29 on the ACT. He also struggles to finish tests at school and is a B student. According to his verbal and quantitative Iq scores, he should be the most capabale student, but because he is above the cutoff he does not qualify for accommodations. A level playing field does not exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a 55th on processing speed and 99th on everything else. If you take out the processing speed score, his average is a 158 (out of 160) on the WISC IV. He gets no accommodations. He runs out of time on every section and has a 29 on the ACT. He also struggles to finish tests at school and is a B student. According to his verbal and quantitative Iq scores, he should be the most capabale student, but because he is above the cutoff he does not qualify for accommodations. A level playing field does not exist.

But that's life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. DS has a serious processing speed disability. He is extremely bright, but his brain just works slowly. He is a straight A student, as I mentioned earlier, but he needs extra time on tests. I am very proud of how well he has done despite his disability and how he has managed to compensate as well as possible. He is in the 25 percentile for for processing speed where he is in 86th all the way up to the 97th percentile for other test measures. I think some people call this twice exceptional. ACT gives these kids these kinds of accommodations because of the fact that taking such a long test with extended time is such a long day for these kids.

I am shocked that people would jump on us and say we are gaming the system without knowing the facts. I have no problem giving my son the opportunity for an even playing field.

I didn’t know that this was a diagnosable issue. My daughter had similar results as your son on a WISC test in 3rd grade. They told us that she was a slow processor and that it was typiCal in gifted children. I didn’t do anything about it, because I didn’t know you could do anything about it. Long story short - she’s now at TJ, excelling in music, classes, and also got a 35 on the ACT.

I don’t begrudge you at all for you helping your son and getting accommodations.

OK, but what was her percentile? And did she have any other diagnoses along with the processing? DS also has ADHD in addition to the slow processing, so perhaps that is partly why the accommodations are allowed. We did not pursue it, we were advised by the school to have him tested in 2nd grade, and when they saw the results, they gave him the accommodations. Glad your daughter is doing fine...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a 55th on processing speed and 99th on everything else. If you take out the processing speed score, his average is a 158 (out of 160) on the WISC IV. He gets no accommodations. He runs out of time on every section and has a 29 on the ACT. He also struggles to finish tests at school and is a B student. According to his verbal and quantitative Iq scores, he should be the most capabale student, but because he is above the cutoff he does not qualify for accommodations. A level playing field does not exist.

Hi, does your kid get accommodations in school, and does he use them consistently? When was he diagnosed? You cannot expect to be given accommodations unless you can show a history of using the accommodations consistently. People come out of the woodwork in high school and all of a sudden claim a disability so that they can get extended time on the SAT. That is wrong and College Board and ACT are onto it and typically do not provide the accommodations to people who are newly diagnosed.

[Anonymous]

Slow processing is not a recognized disability.

Sometimes people with slow processing also have ADHD — which is a recognized. disability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a 55th on processing speed and 99th on everything else. If you take out the processing speed score, his average is a 158 (out of 160) on the WISC IV. He gets no accommodations. He runs out of time on every section and has a 29 on the ACT. He also struggles to finish tests at school and is a B student. According to his verbal and quantitative Iq scores, he should be the most capabale student, but because he is above the cutoff he does not qualify for accommodations. A level playing field does not exist.

Hi, does your kid get accommodations in school, and does he use them consistently? When was he diagnosed? You cannot expect to be given accommodations unless you can show a history of using the accommodations consistently. People come out of the woodwork in high school and all of a sudden claim a disability so that they can get extended time on the SAT. That is wrong and College Board and ACT are onto it and typically do not provide the accommodations to people who are newly diagnosed.

Do most kids with ADHD ask for testing accommodations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a 55th on processing speed and 99th on everything else. If you take out the processing speed score, his average is a 158 (out of 160) on the WISC IV. He gets no accommodations. He runs out of time on every section and has a 29 on the ACT. He also struggles to finish tests at school and is a B student. According to his verbal and quantitative Iq scores, he should be the most capabale student, but because he is above the cutoff he does not qualify for accommodations. A level playing field does not exist.

Hi, does your kid get accommodations in school, and does he use them consistently? When was he diagnosed? You cannot expect to be given accommodations unless you can show a history of using the accommodations consistently. People come out of the woodwork in high school and all of a sudden claim a disability so that they can get extended time on the SAT. That is wrong and College Board and ACT are onto it and typically do not provide the accommodations to people who are newly diagnosed.

Do most kids with ADHD ask for testing accommodations?

No, in fact from what I understand, adhd is the one disability that they won't give accommodations for (unless there are other issues in addition to adhd).

[Anonymous]

For kids not asking for accommodations, why do they design the SAT and ACT, giving such little time for each question anyway?

It's like - "bake a cake from scratch in 30 minutes", when any normal cake takes 45+ minutes in the oven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came back to this thread thinking there would be serious discussion since my sophomore got a 35 on the ACT. At first I thought the OP might be embarrassed because they bragged too early and son did not do as well. If this is a troll, so what, I'll ignore since other people shared insights. But if OP is gaming the system, she really is as awful as she originally revealed herself.

You are awful for implying someone who has a disability is gaming the system.

I actually have spent most of my life working with the public school system on families with children with disabilities since the 80s. My brother is categorized as "severely mentally retarded". Since the 80s the accommodations and education has grown by leaps where any child with a disability can learn to acclimate into society. But there is a definite truth to this: families gaming systems for disability labels. I've had to sit through countless meetings where parents talk about how after their 8th doctor search, their child finally has been diagnosed as "ADD" or "ADHD". Basically they are shopping for the doctor until they get the results they want. And then other parents jumping in "where is this doctor? We need to see her too? I know my kids have a ADD but no doctor agrees with us". Between redshirting in private school and the over label of "learning disability"; yeah, I think there are plenty of parents who game the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came back to this thread thinking there would be serious discussion since my sophomore got a 35 on the ACT. At first I thought the OP might be embarrassed because they bragged too early and son did not do as well. If this is a troll, so what, I'll ignore since other people shared insights. But if OP is gaming the system, she really is as awful as she originally revealed herself.

You are awful for implying someone who has a disability is gaming the system.

I actually have spent most of my life working with the public school system on families with children with disabilities since the 80s. My brother is categorized as "severely mentally retarded". Since the 80s the accommodations and education has grown by leaps where any child with a disability can learn to acclimate into society. But there is a definite truth to this: families gaming systems for disability labels. I've had to sit through countless meetings where parents talk about how after their 8th doctor search, their child finally has been diagnosed as "ADD" or "ADHD". Basically they are shopping for the doctor until they get the results they want. And then other parents jumping in "where is this doctor? We need to see her too? I know my kids have a ADD but no doctor agrees with us". Between redshirting in private school and the over label of "learning disability"; yeah, I think there are plenty of parents who game the system.

This is OP. So you believe we are gaming the system? My son was diagnosed with ADHD and slow processing in 2nd grade. We did not search for a doctor. The first doctor we saw made the diagnosis. We only took him to the doctor because the teacher suspected it. The school was already giving him accommodations before we even asked. It's sad that some people just don't understand that a very bright kid can also be struggling with disabilities. I am grateful that our society makes it possible to create an environment where he can be successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came back to this thread thinking there would be serious discussion since my sophomore got a 35 on the ACT. At first I thought the OP might be embarrassed because they bragged too early and son did not do as well. If this is a troll, so what, I'll ignore since other people shared insights. But if OP is gaming the system, she really is as awful as she originally revealed herself.

You are awful for implying someone who has a disability is gaming the system.

I actually have spent most of my life working with the public school system on families with children with disabilities since the 80s. My brother is categorized as "severely mentally retarded". Since the 80s the accommodations and education has grown by leaps where any child with a disability can learn to acclimate into society. But there is a definite truth to this: families gaming systems for disability labels. I've had to sit through countless meetings where parents talk about how after their 8th doctor search, their child finally has been diagnosed as "ADD" or "ADHD". Basically they are shopping for the doctor until they get the results they want. And then other parents jumping in "where is this doctor? We need to see her too? I know my kids have a ADD but no doctor agrees with us". Between redshirting in private school and the over label of "learning disability"; yeah, I think there are plenty of parents who game the system.

This is OP. So you believe we are gaming the system? My son was diagnosed with ADHD and slow processing in 2nd grade. We did not search for a doctor. The first doctor we saw made the diagnosis. We only took him to the doctor because the teacher suspected it. The school was already giving him accommodations before we even asked. It's sad that some people just don't understand that a very bright kid can also be struggling with disabilities. I am grateful that our society makes it possible to create an environment where he can be successful.

Were you in public or private in 2nd grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came back to this thread thinking there would be serious discussion since my sophomore got a 35 on the ACT. At first I thought the OP might be embarrassed because they bragged too early and son did not do as well. If this is a troll, so what, I'll ignore since other people shared insights. But if OP is gaming the system, she really is as awful as she originally revealed herself.

You are awful for implying someone who has a disability is gaming the system.

I actually have spent most of my life working with the public school system on families with children with disabilities since the 80s. My brother is categorized as "severely mentally retarded". Since the 80s the accommodations and education has grown by leaps where any child with a disability can learn to acclimate into society. But there is a definite truth to this: families gaming systems for disability labels. I've had to sit through countless meetings where parents talk about how after their 8th doctor search, their child finally has been diagnosed as "ADD" or "ADHD". Basically they are shopping for the doctor until they get the results they want. And then other parents jumping in "where is this doctor? We need to see her too? I know my kids have a ADD but no doctor agrees with us". Between redshirting in private school and the over label of "learning disability"; yeah, I think there are plenty of parents who game the system.

This is OP. So you believe we are gaming the system? My son was diagnosed with ADHD and slow processing in 2nd grade. We did not search for a doctor. The first doctor we saw made the diagnosis. We only took him to the doctor because the teacher suspected it. The school was already giving him accommodations before we even asked. It's sad that some people just don't understand that a very bright kid can also be struggling with disabilities. I am grateful that our society makes it possible to create an environment where he can be successful.

Were you in public or private in 2nd grade?

np but why is it relevant?