How did you get your ADHD teen through SAT's?

[Anonymous]

You don't have a 504? College Board gave our DD extra time no questions asked.

[Anonymous]

My kid was immune to peer pressure, bribes, and threats. After doing all the things for a while and it really making life unpleasant for a while we showed him a list of test optional and test required schools that were “likelies” for him given grades, and asked if he was happy applying to only schools on the test optional list, and forgoing schools on the test required list. He said he was perfectly happy, and so we were done.

He never took the SAT. He is headed to St Mary’s of Maryland in the fall and he’s happy as a clam. It is in the budget and he got merit $ and it’s a solid education so we are happy as clams.

You do have the choice to skip the fights and madness, but there are trade offs. Some schools are just off the table. But plenty are still possible, too.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure he won’t do well? I have severe adhd and got basically a perfect score on SAT. I used the computer game style prep courses — love a quick click!. My oldest child who also has adhd but not that severe did very well. For her we used a by the hour title that just focused on some areas where she needed review — just a few hours that were targeted so not like an overwhelming course.
My younger on has incredibly bad adhd — his walk in the door score was not bad. I’m trying to get him to study more but I guess we’ll see.
I think the sat is actually a great Ted for people with adhd. If all of life were a sat test, I’d be flying high! Sadly most of life is not a 2 second pick a multiple choice test.

[Anonymous]

My inattentive kid with a history of testing well did absolutely great on the sats, so I wouldn’t worry about it unless a practice test or the psat shows you need to.

(She also doesn’t struggle with time on tests and I’m assuming is the case for your son if he does well on tests?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't have a 504? College Board gave our DD extra time no questions asked.

Yes, we def have a 504, and it's not the extra time I'm worried about - it's the prep and sustained attention.

[Anonymous]

Upon the advice of our college counselor, we’re only applying to test optional colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't have a 504? College Board gave our DD extra time no questions asked.

Yes, we def have a 504, and it's not the extra time I'm worried about - it's the prep and sustained attention.

I say this as someone with adhd myself and two adhd kids.

If the issue isn’t time but instead the fact that they aren’t going to being their a-game to prep I really would try to let that go.

You won’t be doing him any favors if you are somehow able to make him do a wildly in characteristic amount of prep and thereby get into a school where scores of the type he is unlikely to get under his own steam.

Not that he won’t get good scores! plenty of kids get great scores with little or no prep including my two ADHD kids. One did a little bit of khan and the other did nothing. the one who did a little khan academy scored a little bit higher and got into a more selective school (one that wouldn’t have been a good fit for my zero prep kid in terms of intensity of academic culture.) zero prep kid also got into a great school that is a much better fit for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't have a 504? College Board gave our DD extra time no questions asked.

Yes, we def have a 504, and it's not the extra time I'm worried about - it's the prep and sustained attention.

Did you ask what they want to do? Have they taken a practice test so you know where they’re starting? Some kids (regardless of ADHD) do well right out of the gate. You mentioned your child is a good test taker so you might be worrying for nothing. If they want to test and the score is concerning then try individual tutoring. Also, remind them that the tests can be taken multiple times and superscored to alleviate any pressure. My ADHD DD (now college grad) did some prep but it didn’t move the needle. She just didn’t want to work on anything between class sessions. We didn’t push. She took the SAT once and did ok. We encouraged her to try one more time because it could only improve her score if one subtest was higher but she declined saying it was too stressful. We asked our DS with a different disability what he wants to do and he’s decided to go TO. It does take a few schools off of the table but there are still so many great options (in-state, out-of-state pubiic and private) that he has the grades for and offer merit aid even TO.

[Anonymous]

This is all helpful info - thank you to everyone who responded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn't the answer you want but, we didn't do it at all.

+1

I have a ADHD rising senior and a 2024 HS grad who was a recruited athlete, so it’s easier for me to say this in the current test optional landscape which could change significantly.

Neither of my kids took SAT/ACT at all. I knew test prep wouldn’t happen, but we do have a college admissions consultant, that’s where we chose to put time and money.