SAT Accommodations without prior 504

[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!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding when my DD went through thus was that the child needed to have had at least two years of accommodations in order to apply for extra time on the SAT -and even the she was turned down (and she had an IEP for two years!) So she went with the ACT which had given her extra time. But this was several years ago so perhaps times have changed

k


This. plus SAT likes to refuse (did to my DS with an IEP at nova public and autism!) and make you appeal. The school said ACT is more accomodating and it was.

[Anonymous]

^^ same PP. also, OP, if you think your child might need accomodations in college (mine did) you must submit testing proof when asking for accomodations. GMU (after acceptance and DC talked about disability in her essay) even demanded that we get fresh testing (another 6k) because our DC's was more than three years old (norm in the industry). So you need to get that 504 or IEP and YES you are going to get pushback. public schools dont like to give out 504s and certainly not IEPs. you have to fight for it. please repost in the special needs subforum here. parents are very helpful there. btw you need fresh testing also if your kid takes the LSAT or GRE someday.

[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.

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?

The publics are governed by the IEP and 504 rules. The privates are not and often the school psychologist at the private has no idea how to write out the equivalent of a 504 or IEP. We took our private-generated one to an IEP specialist (lawyer) who said it was drafted all wrong and put too much of a burden on parents and child. They recommended we go public to get the necessary accomodations which is exactly what we did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding when my DD went through thus was that the child needed to have had at least two years of accommodations in order to apply for extra time on the SAT -and even the she was turned down (and she had an IEP for two years!) So she went with the ACT which had given her extra time. But this was several years ago so perhaps times have changed

Interesting. The rap used to be that it was harder to get accommodations for the ACT than the SAT.

OP, our son received a similar diagnosis halfway through 9th grade. He had been a strong student in the humanities and good enough in STEM, but started unraveling when he entered HS when memory wasn't enough for success. He attended an independent, so he had a "learning" plan, not an IEP/504, but that didn't seem to have any bearing on the ACT accommodations. Fortunately, he got it on the first submission. I know some folks were burned up by all these kids suddenly getting accommodations in HS, but inattentive ADHD often does show up till older, so shouldn't be surprising.

GL!

[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)

Or perhaps your DC is the outlier here and others with ADHD are not.

In instances like these, perhaps better to count your blessings than casting judgment on others on whom you have no idea about their challenges/successes.