SAT Accommodations without prior 504

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is extra time always the go-to ask? My kid has ADHD and has been medicated since 9th grade. that was-life changing. the endless homework battles and procrastination and disorganization got about 90% better within a month. this kid went from getting A-/B+ grades at a challenging private to straight high As. he/she now finishes assessments with time to spare. Extra time would actually not change anything and he/she has classic ADHD (medication has a complete calming effect)

Lucky you. My kid has ADHD, Anxiety, depression, OCD. So DC needs the extra time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had, and used, accommodations, including extra time, since middle school and was denied extra time for the PSAT. Our school told us they’re denying everyone unless there are intellectual disabilities. The fact that he has an above-average IQ and decent grades (As, Bs and one C at a well-regarded private) apparently means he’s not disabled enough to qualify.

My child who does not have intellectual disabilities had no trouble getting accommodations. He's had an IEP for autism since kindergarten. The vast majority of people taking the SATs with accommodations don't have intellectual disabilities.

Exactly. My kid with a high iq and multiple learning disabilities had extended time on both the sat and act.

[Anonymous]

I am currently concerned about this too. Im a sophomore currently and I did great on the reading portion of the PSAT but bombed the math portion due to the time limit. I have been diagnosed with adhd but don't use school accommodations because I've never needed to be able to do a math problem in less than 2 minutes at school. Im worried they will deny me because I don't have any at school.

[Anonymous]

OP, the only advice I can give is that if you are going to apply, try to have the school do it for you. We made the mistake (pre-pandemic) of listening to a school counselor who told us to just apply on our own (with a neuropsych eval and 504 plan) and were promptly denied by the College Board. We then had the school apply to the ACT and they approved it. But once the College Board denied DC, they would not reconsider, even when we appealed. So DC took the ACT and didn't bother with the SATs...but wasn't able to get the much needed accommodations for APs).

Our takeaway was that they do not like it when parents apply directly even with a 504 and neuropsych eval...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is extra time always the go-to ask? My kid has ADHD and has been medicated since 9th grade. that was-life changing. the endless homework battles and procrastination and disorganization got about 90% better within a month. this kid went from getting A-/B+ grades at a challenging private to straight high As. he/she now finishes assessments with time to spare. Extra time would actually not change anything and he/she has classic ADHD (medication has a complete calming effect)

ADHD often goes hand in hand with low processing speed. Extra time can help with that.

It doesn’t help my Inattentive ADHD kid with multiple choice tests like the SAT, but it’s helpful for essays, where they have to marshal a lot of information and organize it into a coherent argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, the only advice I can give is that if you are going to apply, try to have the school do it for you. We made the mistake (pre-pandemic) of listening to a school counselor who told us to just apply on our own (with a neuropsych eval and 504 plan) and were promptly denied by the College Board. We then had the school apply to the ACT and they approved it. But once the College Board denied DC, they would not reconsider, even when we appealed. So DC took the ACT and didn't bother with the SATs...but wasn't able to get the much needed accommodations for APs).

Our takeaway was that they do not like it when parents apply directly even with a 504 and neuropsych eval...

This, the letter needs to come from the school and confirm that your child already gets accommodations at school. You are very unlikely to get accommodations otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, the only advice I can give is that if you are going to apply, try to have the school do it for you. We made the mistake (pre-pandemic) of listening to a school counselor who told us to just apply on our own (with a neuropsych eval and 504 plan) and were promptly denied by the College Board. We then had the school apply to the ACT and they approved it. But once the College Board denied DC, they would not reconsider, even when we appealed. So DC took the ACT and didn't bother with the SATs...but wasn't able to get the much needed accommodations for APs).

Our takeaway was that they do not like it when parents apply directly even with a 504 and neuropsych eval...

This, the letter needs to come from the school and confirm that your child already gets accommodations at school. You are very unlikely to get accommodations otherwise.

Our school applied for DS, he has a 504 due to his ADD inattentive, OCD, and anxiety. He still got denied.

We are appealing and I’m having his devped provide a letter. We are also doing one of the tests noted in our denial letter, the Woodcock Johnson achievement test.

DS scored a 1500 on PSAT without accommodations this past fall - I wonder if that impacted the request. Our school counselors are perplexed by the denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the input. Dx is ADHD, Inattentive Type. Major processing delay and exec function impairment. As to why he doesn't need accommodations at school - he does. But we missed it all these years. Parenting failure.

Applying now so you can say in your documentation that you realize now that he needed this support and are fixing that problem probably makes more sense than applying without the 504.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS has had, and used, accommodations, including extra time, since middle school and was denied extra time for the PSAT. Our school told us they’re denying everyone unless there are intellectual disabilities. The fact that he has an above-average IQ and decent grades (As, Bs and one C at a well-regarded private) apparently means he’s not disabled enough to qualify.

I am confused about paying for private. I see on DCUM so many people being denied the math placement they want, 504s and in general picking classes, why do people pay to be told NO?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DS scored a 1500 on PSAT without accommodations this past fall - I wonder if that impacted the request. Our school counselors are perplexed by the denial.

Maybe, if your DS scored a 1500 on the PSAT without accommodations, he doesn't need it. It seems he's doing just fine if he's scoring 1500/1520 on the PSAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DS scored a 1500 on PSAT without accommodations this past fall - I wonder if that impacted the request. Our school counselors are perplexed by the denial.

Maybe, if your DS scored a 1500 on the PSAT without accommodations, he doesn't need it. It seems he's doing just fine if he's scoring 1500/1520 on the PSAT.

His anxiety is affecting him and causing him distress that he won’t do well on the SAT. I explained the denial and gave him the option to take the test without accommodations or pursue an appeal. He’s rather appeal now.

He also mentioned he felt rushed during the PSAT. We are requesting time and half and allowances for breaks. I don’t think it’s unreasonable given his diagnoses - he’s had executive functioning issues since age 3, all documented by developmental pediatricians.

I do believe he would do well on SAT even without accommodations but am willing to give it another go with an appeal.

[Anonymous]

It’s a stressful, timed test. All kids feel rushed. That’s the intention of the test.

[Anonymous]

My kid took the ACT with extra time.

Keep in mind that some testing centers that offer this may be far away. (At one point it was over 90 minutes away and we opted to get a hotel so kid could have a good night's sleep).

Also, kid said that the room for kids with ADHD was filled with kids with ADHD (joking...but you get it) so there was a lot of pencil dropping, subtle tapping, etc., and one kid yelled out an expletive.

I offered to have a re-take but they were burnt out. I was also told that superscoring ACT works out well for kids with text anxiety, because the 2nd or 3rd time, you might not be as stressed about sections where you feel you already have a good score.

[Anonymous]

Agree to pursue 504 now. If you could get in place before school year ends might be able to get accommodations for a summer or fall test.

I also have a kid who was bright and did well in school but was diagnosed with ADHD. Standardized tests (any tests) are very hard for her as is reading comprehension while on the clock. You want your kid to achieve their full potential so it’s worth pursuing.

Fwiw she hasn’t needed to use accommodations in college although her 504 made that process very easy. A lot of her work now is in other formats that are more compatible with her skills and easier for her to focus on assignments they are of deep interest to her rather than high school requirements.

Good luck - and don’t beat yourself up about late diagnosis. It’s hard to know what’s what sometimes.

[Anonymous]

15:42 again - forgot to say that my kid also applied to schools that were true targets and safeties and applied test optional. Wanted her to be able to hack the work in college so we didn’t aim too high. She was accepted everywhere and had great options. Set your child up for success!