Claiming a disability on the SAT/ACT - have people been gaming the system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unlimited time for all would work to meet the needs of the kids with disabilities.

Giving extended time to all would not and in reality extended time is often not enough for kids with more severe processing or attention disorders. It does help those with mild disorders and levels the playing field. The playing field is not leveled though if the group with a severe disability still has a deficiency, the group with the mild disability has been brought up to normal and the neuro typical group now has an advantage. You basically just moved the goal post up above the kids with LDs again.

That's what one who doesn't understand the issues would think. Extra time in and of itself wasn't devised to give students with LD's an advantage over regular kids just because they are otherwise disadvantaged. It was devised and designed to allow them to compensate for their disability--not to give them something extra. They don't need to have more time than the regular students, just the right amount of time for them.

None of the extended time accompanied are personalized to say one kid only needs 10 minutes vs another needs an hour. So to avoid abuse, give everyone untimed tests. If the goal is to test knowledge of materials, as obviously we are not testing processing speed when sunsets of the population are getting time accommodations, then why the resistance from anyone on giving Unlimted time to every kid? I don’t understand how parents who got accommodations for their kids won’t support this - there are lots of kids out there whose parents do not understand the system or have the money to get the diagnosis, so why not support untimed exams for every kid? Unless of course, you believe there is an advantage for your kid to getting this extra time and do not wish to give this advantage to a poorer kid who can’t afford to get a diagnosis....

I am okay with giving everyone untimed tests, but how would those be administered?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The accommodations professor is not representative. I teach college, have for over 15 years, and MOAs are hard to come by. I have referred students to the disabilities office who clearly need help but it turns out they don't qualify. It's actually sad.

I would say I MAYBE get one student a semester who has an MOA

+1 from another professor. 1 or 2 a year our of 140.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unlimited time for all would work to meet the needs of the kids with disabilities.

Giving extended time to all would not and in reality extended time is often not enough for kids with more severe processing or attention disorders. It does help those with mild disorders and levels the playing field. The playing field is not leveled though if the group with a severe disability still has a deficiency, the group with the mild disability has been brought up to normal and the neuro typical group now has an advantage. You basically just moved the goal post up above the kids with LDs again.

That's what one who doesn't understand the issues would think. Extra time in and of itself wasn't devised to give students with LD's an advantage over regular kids just because they are otherwise disadvantaged. It was devised and designed to allow them to compensate for their disability--not to give them something extra. They don't need to have more time than the regular students, just the right amount of time for them.

None of the extended time accompanied are personalized to say one kid only needs 10 minutes vs another needs an hour. So to avoid abuse, give everyone untimed tests. If the goal is to test knowledge of materials, as obviously we are not testing processing speed when sunsets of the population are getting time accommodations, then why the resistance from anyone on giving Unlimted time to every kid? I don’t understand how parents who got accommodations for their kids won’t support this - there are lots of kids out there whose parents do not understand the system or have the money to get the diagnosis, so why not support untimed exams for every kid? Unless of course, you believe there is an advantage for your kid to getting this extra time and do not wish to give this advantage to a poorer kid who can’t afford to get a diagnosis....

I am okay with giving everyone untimed tests, but how would those be administered?

You come back once every month or so to see if everyone finished.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The accommodations professor is not representative. I teach college, have for over 15 years, and MOAs are hard to come by. I have referred students to the disabilities office who clearly need help but it turns out they don't qualify. It's actually sad.

I would say I MAYBE get one student a semester who has an MOA

+1 from another professor. 1 or 2 a year our of 140.

My DC is one of them. He gets several accommodations at his University. The process was relatively painless, but then he is an obvious candidate. So far he has had excellent reception from his professors, save one- but he came on board fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2 cents -- my child has a fine motor delay among other issues, and we've specifically asked for him NOT to get extra testing time in his IEP because we think he should learn to compensate, and we don't want him to think of himself as disabled or not having to work hard. He's still very young, but I think it's good for him to realize his weaknesses and learn to compensate, because the real world will not accomodate him.

You are doing a disservice to your child and you clearly don't understand your child's disabilities. I see this all the time on sn forums where a parent with a newly diagnosed child comes and the first thing they are concerned about is the child uses the label to be lazy or to not be accountable for behavoir issues. You are, in effect, punishing your child for their disability. If your kid's writing is slow and laborious, your child is going to miss instruction because child has to use more of the brain just to take notes. You need to educate yourself. Your sanctimonious post is all about you, not what is good for your child.

ffs. I let my kid get whatever accommodations he needs in class, to actually learn. when it comes to testing, however, he's going to test without accommodations. because I care more about his learning, and less about his grades. he's a smart kid and will end up where he belongs. your issue is that you care too much about standardized tests.

Me too. I make my kid walk to school uphill both ways in the snow because it’s fairer to other kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The accommodations professor is not representative. I teach college, have for over 15 years, and MOAs are hard to come by. I have referred students to the disabilities office who clearly need help but it turns out they don't qualify. It's actually sad.

I would say I MAYBE get one student a semester who has an MOA

+1 from another professor. 1 or 2 a year our of 140.

Public or private college? And ranking - top 20, 25,50 etc?

[Anonymous]

UMD humanities prof. ~180 students per year. 5-6 requests per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMD humanities prof. ~180 students per year. 5-6 requests per year.

I think one would see higher % at LAC and private colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD humanities prof. ~180 students per year. 5-6 requests per year.

I think one would see higher % at LAC and private colleges

Or once the abusers got their SAT/ACT accommodations, they didn’t feel the need to continue in college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMD humanities prof. ~180 students per year. 5-6 requests per year.

For accommodations? Interesting.

[Anonymous]

A friend in college had her cousin “diagnose” her w something to get accommodations (it was a cousin by marriage, I remember that part bc she said she didn’t think anyone could find out bc the cousin was one step removed from being family). She didn’t use the accommodations for extra time in college (we were in several classes together and she never took extra time). Also, whatever the cousin “diagnosed” her with made her eligible for a $2,000/ year scholarship. Can’t remember what it was for, but I def remember she got $8k over four years bc I had to get loans and she didn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD humanities prof. ~180 students per year. 5-6 requests per year.

For accommodations? Interesting.

Yes. Accommodations I’ve met are extra time; needing to leave room during class; having a note taker (a work study kid not enrolled in class hired by disability services), Testing in disability office on a laptop with no internet connection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friend in college had her cousin “diagnose” her w something to get accommodations (it was a cousin by marriage, I remember that part bc she said she didn’t think anyone could find out bc the cousin was one step removed from being family). She didn’t use the accommodations for extra time in college (we were in several classes together and she never took extra time). Also, whatever the cousin “diagnosed” her with made her eligible for a $2,000/ year scholarship. Can’t remember what it was for, but I def remember she got $8k over four years bc I had to get loans and she didn’t.

How long ago?

You should have reported her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend in college had her cousin “diagnose” her w something to get accommodations (it was a cousin by marriage, I remember that part bc she said she didn’t think anyone could find out bc the cousin was one step removed from being family). She didn’t use the accommodations for extra time in college (we were in several classes together and she never took extra time). Also, whatever the cousin “diagnosed” her with made her eligible for a $2,000/ year scholarship. Can’t remember what it was for, but I def remember she got $8k over four years bc I had to get loans and she didn’t.

How long ago?

You should have reported her.

Maybe an epilepsy diagnosis. My child has this and her doctor encouraged her to apply for scholarships foundations grant to epileptics. (DD didn't apply because she doesn't really identify with being "an epileptic" although she does have epilepsy.)

[Anonymous]

Before you bitch about things being “unfair” , please let me tell you that I feel it is very unfair that my child was born with a moderate learning disability. I have no idea what causes it, but it affects his ability to understand language.
My child literally does not understand words when people speak them. That’s unfairness. It impacts almost all aspects of his life. So please don’t begrudge him extra time on a test and educate your children not to do so either.