Wall Street Journal on rampant growth in percentage of college students with “disabilities”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem of gaming the system would be solved quickly and easily if there was a designation on the score report when a student tested with accommodations. Then only those who truly need it would be willing to accept the accommodations and send that info on to colleges.
If a student is receiving accomodations in school, and will receive accommodations in college, why the need to hide that there were accomodations on testing?

There you go...do you realize this is discrimination? Please, go back to the dark ages where you belong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it is illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities.

And if you don't think many people bear negative misconceptions about people who need testing accommodations (i.e. those with learning disabilities), read the previous posts in this thread.

Disclosure does not equal discrimination. Discrimination remains illegal when disclosure is required. Students usually disclose a variety of other facts that could lead to discrimination like race, religion, gender identity, and it is illegal to discriminate based on those factors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it is illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities.

And if you don't think many people bear negative misconceptions about people who need testing accommodations (i.e. those with learning disabilities), read the previous posts in this thread.

Disclosure does not equal discrimination. Discrimination remains illegal when disclosure is required. Students usually disclose a variety of other facts that could lead to discrimination like race, religion, gender identity, and it is illegal to discriminate based on those factors.

Yes but students are not required to disclose that information. Nor should they be required to disclose whether they used accommodations. Doing so just reverses any leveling of the playing field that the accommodations provided. You might as well not even bother with the accommodations. Shocking how some people are cruel, heartless, and self serving at the expense of struggling kids. Pathetic.

[Anonymous]

For those of you posting here who don't have a kid with special needs and feel that either everyone should have extended time or that accommodations should be disclosed to universities, have you ever taken a peek at the DCUM forum for special needs? If not, I highly suggest you go there and read a few threads to get an understanding of the extreme situations these families are facing. Maybe have a little empathy? Go ahead, give it a try.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/forums/show/36.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem of gaming the system would be solved quickly and easily if there was a designation on the score report when a student tested with accommodations. Then only those who truly need it would be willing to accept the accommodations and send that info on to colleges.
If a student is receiving accomodations in school, and will receive accommodations in college, why the need to hide that there were accomodations on testing?

Because accommodations are given only if a child has a medical diagnosis, and there are laws protecting people’s private medical information. And saying there are accommodations is meaningless, unless you disclose what accommodations were given and what the rationale was. So schools trust the college board to make this call. Freshman retention and 4 and 6 year retention rates are a huge deal to top colleges. I think if they were seeing a significant problem with kids being admitted who could not handle the curriculum, they would stop accepting college board scores or call for a change.

There are a couple of schools of though about disclosing ADHD to colleges in the application procedure. Some families do not disclose, because they think it will hurt their kids admissions chances. Which to some schools it might. But once the kid is admitted, work with disability services. Some families never disclose, and get help privately, and try to keep the kids record clean. I would like my child to disclose on his college applications. It explains why his TJ math grades are so much lower than everything else. I think what he has done at TJ despite his ADHD is pretty dang impressive. And I think college fit is important for my kid. I do not want him in a school that does not want to work with him. But ultimately disclosure will be his call, because he will be an adult by the time he enters college. And it is his medical information. If he does disclose, which a lot of kids do, the colleges will know he was accommodated in HS with a 504 and will strongly suspect that he had SAT accommodations. That’s fine. I want a college for him that is excited about his strengths, and feels he can succeed, as he has at TJ, with the ADHD.

But that is my call as a parent, and intimately my son’s decision as he becomes an adult. People have a right to control the disclosure of their private medical information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it is illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities.

And if you don't think many people bear negative misconceptions about people who need testing accommodations (i.e. those with learning disabilities), read the previous posts in this thread.

Disclosure does not equal discrimination. Discrimination remains illegal when disclosure is required. Students usually disclose a variety of other facts that could lead to discrimination like race, religion, gender identity, and it is illegal to discriminate based on those factors.

But it not illegal to disclose race, gender, etc. Medical diagnoses are protected by HIPPA. It’s illegal to disclose these without a waiver.

[Anonymous]

Disclosure is fundamental to reporting the achievements of the student. In the transcript every class and grade are disclosed. It's not hard to discern what skills and capabilities a particular student has (or does not have). But one outcome of introducing "accommodations" is that students who can meet the bar will avoid/reject classes where the bar is lowered for some and not for others. This (reverse) discrimination diminishes the value of the better students' accomplishments.

It is not illegal to discriminate against people with different abilities - it is what hiring managers do all day - and it's the reason that students go to school to attain certificates of competency that are respected and meaningful (ie. diplomas).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most parents get their kids tested because they SEE them struggling, not before that happens. It is not a decision made quickly or easily.

Yes, this "advantages" upper SES families. That is a deep flaw in our system, not something awful that those families are doing to get an edge on lower income kids. They have more resources to help their children. No crime there.

I think the posters on this thread who have been talking about their child's "real" disability diagnosed in elementary versus those supposedly shady diagnoses made in high school are pretty gross and morally bankrupt. They come across as annoyed that lower-income kids (who are far more likely to be diagnosed later in their lives) are horning in on some privilege they unlocked.

You can't simultaneously support accommodation for your own child while decrying those for kids whose diagnoses were made on a timeline different than your own child's. Either you support accommodation for disability or you don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disclosure is fundamental to reporting the achievements of the student. In the transcript every class and grade are disclosed. It's not hard to discern what skills and capabilities a particular student has (or does not have). But one outcome of introducing "accommodations" is that students who can meet the bar will avoid/reject classes where the bar is lowered for some and not for others. This (reverse) discrimination diminishes the value of the better students' accomplishments.

It is not illegal to discriminate against people with different abilities - it is what hiring managers do all day - and it's the reason that students go to school to attain certificates of competency that are respected and meaningful (ie. diplomas).

Sorry, but as much as you would like to believe it, your kid is not a “better” student than my ADHD kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents get their kids tested because they SEE them struggling, not before that happens. It is not a decision made quickly or easily.

Yes, this "advantages" upper SES families. That is a deep flaw in our system, not something awful that those families are doing to get an edge on lower income kids. They have more resources to help their children. No crime there.

I think the posters on this thread who have been talking about their child's "real" disability diagnosed in elementary versus those supposedly shady diagnoses made in high school are pretty gross and morally bankrupt. They come across as annoyed that lower-income kids (who are far more likely to be diagnosed later in their lives) are horning in on some privilege they unlocked.

You can't simultaneously support accommodation for your own child while decrying those for kids whose diagnoses were made on a timeline different than your own child's. Either you support accommodation for disability or you don't.

Who said anything about lower income kids? The ones I know who did this are upper class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents get their kids tested because they SEE them struggling, not before that happens. It is not a decision made quickly or easily.

Yes, this "advantages" upper SES families. That is a deep flaw in our system, not something awful that those families are doing to get an edge on lower income kids. They have more resources to help their children. No crime there.

I think the posters on this thread who have been talking about their child's "real" disability diagnosed in elementary versus those supposedly shady diagnoses made in high school are pretty gross and morally bankrupt. They come across as annoyed that lower-income kids (who are far more likely to be diagnosed later in their lives) are horning in on some privilege they unlocked.

You can't simultaneously support accommodation for your own child while decrying those for kids whose diagnoses were made on a timeline different than your own child's. Either you support accommodation for disability or you don't.

Who said anything about lower income kids? The ones I know who did this are upper class.

That's because you hang out with wealthy people, FFS. It is your selection bias However, in general it is poorer kids who are more likely to get diagnosed later, so what you are really complaining about when you complain about accommodation for high school diagnoses is accommodation for kids less advantaged than your own, and that is gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents get their kids tested because they SEE them struggling, not before that happens. It is not a decision made quickly or easily.

Yes, this "advantages" upper SES families. That is a deep flaw in our system, not something awful that those families are doing to get an edge on lower income kids. They have more resources to help their children. No crime there.

I think the posters on this thread who have been talking about their child's "real" disability diagnosed in elementary versus those supposedly shady diagnoses made in high school are pretty gross and morally bankrupt. They come across as annoyed that lower-income kids (who are far more likely to be diagnosed later in their lives) are horning in on some privilege they unlocked.

You can't simultaneously support accommodation for your own child while decrying those for kids whose diagnoses were made on a timeline different than your own child's. Either you support accommodation for disability or you don't.

Who said anything about lower income kids? The ones I know who did this are upper class.

That's because you hang out with wealthy people, FFS. It is your selection bias However, in general it is poorer kids who are more likely to get diagnosed later, so what you are really complaining about when you complain about accommodation for high school diagnoses is accommodation for kids less advantaged than your own, and that is gross.

Why would you say it is gross if I had no idea I was complaining about that? Like you said, I hang out with wealthy people and that is who I was complaining about. You seem uptight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents get their kids tested because they SEE them struggling, not before that happens. It is not a decision made quickly or easily.

Yes, this "advantages" upper SES families. That is a deep flaw in our system, not something awful that those families are doing to get an edge on lower income kids. They have more resources to help their children. No crime there.

I think the posters on this thread who have been talking about their child's "real" disability diagnosed in elementary versus those supposedly shady diagnoses made in high school are pretty gross and morally bankrupt. They come across as annoyed that lower-income kids (who are far more likely to be diagnosed later in their lives) are horning in on some privilege they unlocked.

You can't simultaneously support accommodation for your own child while decrying those for kids whose diagnoses were made on a timeline different than your own child's. Either you support accommodation for disability or you don't.

Who said anything about lower income kids? The ones I know who did this are upper class.

That's because you hang out with wealthy people, FFS. It is your selection bias However, in general it is poorer kids who are more likely to get diagnosed later, so what you are really complaining about when you complain about accommodation for high school diagnoses is accommodation for kids less advantaged than your own, and that is gross.

Why would you say it is gross if I had no idea I was complaining about that? Like you said, I hang out with wealthy people and that is who I was complaining about. You seem uptight.

Gross and thoughtless, then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it is illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities.

And if you don't think many people bear negative misconceptions about people who need testing accommodations (i.e. those with learning disabilities), read the previous posts in this thread.

Disclosure does not equal discrimination. Discrimination remains illegal when disclosure is required. Students usually disclose a variety of other facts that could lead to discrimination like race, religion, gender identity, and it is illegal to discriminate based on those factors.

But it not illegal to disclose race, gender, etc. Medical diagnoses are protected by HIPPA. It’s illegal to disclose these without a waiver.

But if your child had diabetes instead of ADHD, would you mind if colleges knew that they were permitted breaks during testing to check their blood sugar and have a snack? If your child had dyslexia, would you mind if colleges knew that they used audio recordings for the reading passages? Why does it only seem to be the parents of kids with ADHD diagnoses who are scared that someone will find out? Someone with ADHD is no different than anyone else with a chronic illness, and support and accomodations will be required throughout life. Why perpetuate the stigma and teach your kids to be ashamed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents get their kids tested because they SEE them struggling, not before that happens. It is not a decision made quickly or easily.

Yes, this "advantages" upper SES families. That is a deep flaw in our system, not something awful that those families are doing to get an edge on lower income kids. They have more resources to help their children. No crime there.

I think the posters on this thread who have been talking about their child's "real" disability diagnosed in elementary versus those supposedly shady diagnoses made in high school are pretty gross and morally bankrupt. They come across as annoyed that lower-income kids (who are far more likely to be diagnosed later in their lives) are horning in on some privilege they unlocked.

You can't simultaneously support accommodation for your own child while decrying those for kids whose diagnoses were made on a timeline different than your own child's. Either you support accommodation for disability or you don't.

Who said anything about lower income kids? The ones I know who did this are upper class.

That's because you hang out with wealthy people, FFS. It is your selection bias However, in general it is poorer kids who are more likely to get diagnosed later, so what you are really complaining about when you complain about accommodation for high school diagnoses is accommodation for kids less advantaged than your own, and that is gross.

Why would you say it is gross if I had no idea I was complaining about that? Like you said, I hang out with wealthy people and that is who I was complaining about. You seem uptight.

Gross and thoughtless, then.

Uptight and unhappy then.