The rise of ADHD on elite campuses
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Anonymous
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I seem to recall some months ago a poster linked an Atlantic Monthly article about the gaming of ADHD diagnoses in wealthy school districts and elite colleges. Apparently, 20% of kids at Harvard and Brown, 30+% at Amherst, and nearly 40% at Stanford have such diagnoses and accommodations. These diagnoses have become particularly popular at the end of high school when students confront high-stakes ACT, SAT and AP testing. A typical ADHD accommodation for the SAT yields 50% more test-taking time and a score boost of potentially 200 points. The rise of such diagnoses and requests for accommodation has risen much faster in wealthy districts compared to poor ones.
Fast forward to this year’s holiday break and my student, who attends an elite college, tells me that they might have ADHD. They are preparing for a major research project and are nervous. Two close college friends “have ADHD” and scored a 35 and 36 on their ACT. My kid scored a 1560 on their SAT without a diagnoses or accommodation. The friends say my kid should get a ADHD diagnosis and meds. My kid does not have ADHD. What they have is anxiety that needs to be addressed by learning new skills to do new things. I’m highly disappointed that the peer group’s solution is to reach for a drug and an accommodation, a cope they learned from their parents. Yes, I know I’m going to get blasted for this because for some kids ADHD is a real thing, but the trends, the timing, the socioeconomics, and the goals of many seeking ADHD diagnoses is nothing but a performance enhancer and a life crutch. I can’t believe what achievement and performance has come to and it’s increasingly difficult to understand the value of prestige labels without a lot of caveats. Cheat ADHD diagnoses fundamentally change the college evaluation environment and devalue the ethics and integrity of genuine achievement. It is one thing to take a drug to return to baseline health and another to avoid real life challenges and artificially enhance performance. We all rightfully decry performance enhancing drugs in sports and we should do the same in academics. |
Anonymous
| Yes, and . . . |
Anonymous
Stop the testing accommodations for kids newly diagnosed with ADHD in high school (if they really have ADHD, how did they previously qualify for those advanced classes and get top grades?) and encourage kids to acknowledge anxiety in novel situations and help them learn appropriate life skills to meet those new challenges. |
Anonymous
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Not surprised. Lots of these kids had mommy and daddy prop them up all through HS so this would be the next logical step.
One of my kids (still in HS). actually has ADHD so I find this particularly disgusting. Despite multiple diagnoses over 10+ years, it is already hard enough to get teachers to believe they have a disability. Btw this is not happening as far as I know at state flagship where my kid with similar stats attends. Way less cut throat culture. |
Anonymous
+1000 |
Anonymous
| Yes, the numbers keep going up. |
Anonymous
| Our Culture has become very supportive of rampant drug use. Drugs for depression, drugs for anxiety, drugs for over eating, drugs for “ADD”. Vaping, alcohol, nicotine patches, edibles. I find it very concerning, and it’s probably terrible for our long-term psychological and physical health. |
Anonymous
You’re putting vaping in the same category as prescriptions for anxiety? Wow. |
Anonymous
| My daughter is at a top private school where almost 40 to 50% of kids are on some form of medication for anxiety or Adhd etc. Recently before a test she was extremely nervous and her friend was suggesting medication for it. I told her being anxious before a major test is normal. Developing coping mechanisms is part of growing up. Part of the issue is that there is so much emphasis on maintaing a high GPA in her school that kids and parents are ready to do anything to get ahead. I wanted to avoid magnet schools because of intense pressure but now I realize there is another kind of issue at private schools. |
Anonymous
| I sense these name brand educations are fading in value and this is just one more reason why. |
Anonymous
Yeah- I also sense the anxiety is induced by the crazy parents on dcum. |
Anonymous
| If one A- or B+ on your transcript over 4 years of high school knocks your college prospects out of the top20, of course neurotic parents are going to do whatever they can to assure that their kids get straight As. I say this as a parent of 2 kids with ADHD (diagnosed in 3rd grade) and a 3rd kid with no ADHD. Blame the college admissions offices that are rewarding and pushing this sort of perfection on 13-18 year olds. It is ALL because of what these colleges are expecting from kids. |
Anonymous
| Why do we need yet another thread on this topic? |
Anonymous
| My Ivy kid's 2 roommates both have extra time and both are on stimulants--long acting in the morning and then booster short acting in the afternoon. I know this because my kid off-hand has joked about all the medication administration that goes on in his dorm room. He doesn't care but he's aware of it. |
Anonymous
| Why r u so quick to assume your kids friends don’t legit have ADHD OP? Worry about your own kid and treat their anxiety. |