Accommodation Nation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You spend $400 to get massive advantage all through school and college years.

It is the best deal there is and the greatest return on investment you can make.

No wonder people take advantage of this.

$400? Where? My kid’s neuropsych testing was $4500 and had had to be repeated more than once. Accommodations cost us over $20k (and lots of heartbreak) but why let facts get in the way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You spend $400 to get massive advantage all through school and college years.

It is the best deal there is and the greatest return on investment you can make.

No wonder people take advantage of this.

$400? Where? My kid’s neuropsych testing was $4500 and had had to be repeated more than once. Accommodations cost us over $20k (and lots of heartbreak) but why let facts get in the way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You spend $400 to get massive advantage all through school and college years.

It is the best deal there is and the greatest return on investment you can make.

No wonder people take advantage of this.

$400? Where? My kid’s neuropsych testing was $4500 and had had to be repeated more than once. Accommodations cost us over $20k (and lots of heartbreak) but why let facts get in the way?

My sons are smart. They didn’t need to cheat or get a fake diagnosis. Ivies unhooked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Accomodation Nation" article in the Atlantic.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/elite-university-student-accommodation/684946/

There's a paywall, but the main context is in the quotes below. Bottom line: a lot of UMC and wealthy families are misusing the testing accommodations process.

DCUMers rail on TO ( and ascribe it to URMs) but avoid this topic.

I wonder why?


"Accommodations in higher education were supposed to help disabled Americans enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. No one should be kept from taking a class, for example, because they are physically unable to enter the building where it’s taught. Over the past decade and a half, however, the share of students at selective universities who qualify for accommodations—often, extra time on tests—has grown at a breathtaking pace…”

“The change has occurred disproportionately at the most prestigious and expensive institutions. At Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are registered as disabled. At Amherst, that figure is 34 percent.”

Said a professor at a selective university: “You hear ‘students with disabilities’ and it’s not kids in wheelchairs. It’s just not. It’s rich kids getting extra time on tests.”

College professor here. Totally agree with the sentiments of the article. Teaching STEM has been painful this semester. AI changes how we do exam. All pen on paper now. Few students learn. Massive cheating. Every other student asks for accomodation for extra time. Exam center is full and overwhelmed. Some students prefer to go there as they can easily sneak in a phone. Not sure what is going to happen when the students leave college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the defensive parents who have kids with real disabilities should be equally annoyed and outraged that a good number of these kids are using a fake diagnosis to pretend that they have a disability and cheat on tests.

If you attend a private school or live in an affluent neighborhood, you will know of a kid (or in my kid's case, dozens of kids) who had zero issues at school, zero issues getting As throughout middle school and zero need for additional time on tests until they found out around 8th or 9th grade that they can tell a doctor that they are struggling with anxiety or have difficulty paying attention in class and can get extra time for tests. This is a very easy thing to do for wealthy kids.

In fact, certain independent college counselors recommend this to parents as a strategy for getting additional time to score high on the SATs.

No one here is saying that a kid with actual physical limitations should be denied accommodations.

All the defensive parents who have kids with "real disabilities" know that their kids' medical information is private, and that anyone who is throwing around statements like "40% of students have accomodations and they're all fake" is talking out of their nether regions. Many disabilities are not "visible," and no one except the kids' school and their doctors has the full picture. Parents who have kids who are struggling know enough not to judge what they don't know.

+1 You have no idea what the health condition of students are, except for your own kids. But if you're so sure that everyone around you is "cheating," name names and turn them in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this again.

You know why rich kids get more accommodations than poor kids? Because poor kids who SHOULD receive accommodations do not because their parents don't know they're eligible for it or don't have time to argue their case, and the schools they attend aren't as attentive to these things as the rich kids' schools.

One of my kids is supremely functional and fast-thinking. The other has severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, low processing speed and a speech impediment, diagnosed when he was little and confirmed at 10 and 17. He needed a lot of school services and accommodations, but the biggest help was double time for his low processing speed, measured below the 5th percentile. He had double time for his ACT test, and he has double time in college, that he is trying to wean himself off, because he knows workplaces will not have any accommodations for him.

My son's issues won't go away magically. They will always be there. He might be fired from multiple jobs for lack of productivity. He absolutely needed his accommodations in K-12 and to suggest that our money bought unnecessary services is outrageous. On the contrary, we were sufficiently educated and wealthy to get him the help he needed, and that's why he made it into college in the first place.

Healthcare and mental health evaluations and services NEED TO BECOME CHEAPER, so that poorer families can benefit from them too.

What this article is missing is that modern society is uncovering a host of variability in brain function. That is particularly true for autism diagnoses. It doesn't mean people are gaming the system and being diagnosed when they don't have whatever it is. It means our methods of diagnosis have improved significantly and are covering more and more of the population, and that's why there are more people being diagnosed. And because scientists advance to a more granular understanding of mental health differences, the threshold for diagnosis keeps getting lower. But still, due to cost, it's the rich people who get diagnosed first. It doesn't mean they're lying about their symptoms.

All this poses a greater societal question of how to think about brain variability. We should accept that people function differently and that some are entitled to more time, or noise canceling headphones or whatever it is, without pathologizing their condition and labeling them as "disordered". Because this is really the crux of your complaint: that people with no perceived handicap are acting as if they deserve pity, community resources and extra attention, and that it's not fair, because they're not handicapped.

Instead, you should think about it as: people with different brain functioning are entitled to a different learning or working environment, even if they're just as smart than others, so that they can contribute to society instead of not being able to fit in at all and thus become a drain on society.

All of this. THANK YOU.

- mom of severely dyslexic and dysgraphic student who is also gifted

First, will the extra hour exam time truly with their learning?
Second, when it is so easy to get accommodation, what does it mean for the truly disabled and fairness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what I wonder now is why if normal are having trouble finishing on time, we can't just have tests that aren't timed, you just mitigate access to outside material/Internet/etc.

Tell me how to do this at a university where there are Hundreds of finals administered with two weeks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happens if you give a cochlear implant to someone who isn't deaf?

Or give a ramp to someone who can walk up steps?

If a disability accomodation helps someone, that someone was disabled, by definition. Save your anger for the people who are DENYING accommodations to people who can't jump through hoops to get the accomodations.

What? This makes no sense whatsoever. Give me an extra hour on any test and I’ll do better. Give me an elevator so I don’t have to walk up stairs and I’ll be happier. Neither of these things demonstrates that I have a disability.

On the other hand, lots of people would not do any better. I almost always finished first or among the first on tests not because I was so prepared but simply that’s how fast my brain reads-not a brag and certainly not saying that makes me any smarter.

I know plenty of very smart people read quite a bit more slowly and I guess I don’t see what the big deal is with letting them have enough time to demonstrate what they know. And that’s just reading speed not adhd or dyslexia!

[Anonymous]

I don’t get how it’s so easy to get accommodations. We have real documented concerns and regularly denied. After each denial I demand a new meeting to be denied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get how it’s so easy to get accommodations. We have real documented concerns and regularly denied. After each denial I demand a new meeting to be denied.

That’s because it isn’t easy to get accommodations. Some people are just always feel they’re the victim and want to attack others. If they had proof that people are faking accommodations, they’re welcome to present that proof to those who could verify these issues of alleged faking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Accomodation Nation" article in the Atlantic.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/elite-university-student-accommodation/684946/

There's a paywall, but the main context is in the quotes below. Bottom line: a lot of UMC and wealthy families are misusing the testing accommodations process.

DCUMers rail on TO ( and ascribe it to URMs) but avoid this topic.

I wonder why?


"Accommodations in higher education were supposed to help disabled Americans enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. No one should be kept from taking a class, for example, because they are physically unable to enter the building where it’s taught. Over the past decade and a half, however, the share of students at selective universities who qualify for accommodations—often, extra time on tests—has grown at a breathtaking pace…”

“The change has occurred disproportionately at the most prestigious and expensive institutions. At Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are registered as disabled. At Amherst, that figure is 34 percent.”

Said a professor at a selective university: “You hear ‘students with disabilities’ and it’s not kids in wheelchairs. It’s just not. It’s rich kids getting extra time on tests.”

College professor here. Totally agree with the sentiments of the article. Teaching STEM has been painful this semester. AI changes how we do exam. All pen on paper now. Few students learn. Massive cheating. Every other student asks for accomodation for extra time. Exam center is full and overwhelmed. Some students prefer to go there as they can easily sneak in a phone. Not sure what is going to happen when the students leave college.

+1 Different professor here. I agree. We also have less students taking notes because they are just sitting back recording lectures. They don’t read anymore either. They read AI summaries instead. They take pictures of test questions and assignments and churn it through AI for answers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Accomodation Nation" article in the Atlantic.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/elite-university-student-accommodation/684946/

There's a paywall, but the main context is in the quotes below. Bottom line: a lot of UMC and wealthy families are misusing the testing accommodations process.

DCUMers rail on TO ( and ascribe it to URMs) but avoid this topic.

I wonder why?


"Accommodations in higher education were supposed to help disabled Americans enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. No one should be kept from taking a class, for example, because they are physically unable to enter the building where it’s taught. Over the past decade and a half, however, the share of students at selective universities who qualify for accommodations—often, extra time on tests—has grown at a breathtaking pace…”

“The change has occurred disproportionately at the most prestigious and expensive institutions. At Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are registered as disabled. At Amherst, that figure is 34 percent.”

Said a professor at a selective university: “You hear ‘students with disabilities’ and it’s not kids in wheelchairs. It’s just not. It’s rich kids getting extra time on tests.”

College professor here. Totally agree with the sentiments of the article. Teaching STEM has been painful this semester. AI changes how we do exam. All pen on paper now. Few students learn. Massive cheating. Every other student asks for accomodation for extra time. Exam center is full and overwhelmed. Some students prefer to go there as they can easily sneak in a phone. Not sure what is going to happen when the students leave college.

+1 Different professor here. I agree. We also have less students taking notes because they are just sitting back recording lectures. They don’t read anymore either. They read AI summaries instead. They take pictures of test questions and assignments and churn it through AI for answers.

This is the real harm of AI and why we must insists traditional note taking, reading and pen on paper writing. One of the harm of AI in education is to take away the human agency, and eventually shrink the brain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Accomodation Nation" article in the Atlantic.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/elite-university-student-accommodation/684946/

There's a paywall, but the main context is in the quotes below. Bottom line: a lot of UMC and wealthy families are misusing the testing accommodations process.

DCUMers rail on TO ( and ascribe it to URMs) but avoid this topic.

I wonder why?


"Accommodations in higher education were supposed to help disabled Americans enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. No one should be kept from taking a class, for example, because they are physically unable to enter the building where it’s taught. Over the past decade and a half, however, the share of students at selective universities who qualify for accommodations—often, extra time on tests—has grown at a breathtaking pace…”

“The change has occurred disproportionately at the most prestigious and expensive institutions. At Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are registered as disabled. At Amherst, that figure is 34 percent.”

Said a professor at a selective university: “You hear ‘students with disabilities’ and it’s not kids in wheelchairs. It’s just not. It’s rich kids getting extra time on tests.”

College professor here. Totally agree with the sentiments of the article. Teaching STEM has been painful this semester. AI changes how we do exam. All pen on paper now. Few students learn. Massive cheating. Every other student asks for accomodation for extra time. Exam center is full and overwhelmed. Some students prefer to go there as they can easily sneak in a phone. Not sure what is going to happen when the students leave college.

+1 Different professor here. I agree. We also have less students taking notes because they are just sitting back recording lectures. They don’t read anymore either. They read AI summaries instead. They take pictures of test questions and assignments and churn it through AI for answers.

Being teaching college for the last ten years and notice the more device and digital device they have, the less they can think well. Their ability to focus and absorb information and solve challenging problems are diminishing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You spend $400 to get massive advantage all through school and college years.

It is the best deal there is and the greatest return on investment you can make.

No wonder people take advantage of this.

$400? Where? My kid’s neuropsych testing was $4500 and had had to be repeated more than once. Accommodations cost us over $20k (and lots of heartbreak) but why let facts get in the way?

My sons are smart. They didn’t need to cheat or get a fake diagnosis. Ivies unhooked.

Kids with disabilities are smart too you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Accomodation Nation" article in the Atlantic.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/elite-university-student-accommodation/684946/

There's a paywall, but the main context is in the quotes below. Bottom line: a lot of UMC and wealthy families are misusing the testing accommodations process.

DCUMers rail on TO ( and ascribe it to URMs) but avoid this topic.

I wonder why?


"Accommodations in higher education were supposed to help disabled Americans enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. No one should be kept from taking a class, for example, because they are physically unable to enter the building where it’s taught. Over the past decade and a half, however, the share of students at selective universities who qualify for accommodations—often, extra time on tests—has grown at a breathtaking pace…”

“The change has occurred disproportionately at the most prestigious and expensive institutions. At Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are registered as disabled. At Amherst, that figure is 34 percent.”

Said a professor at a selective university: “You hear ‘students with disabilities’ and it’s not kids in wheelchairs. It’s just not. It’s rich kids getting extra time on tests.”

College professor here. Totally agree with the sentiments of the article. Teaching STEM has been painful this semester. AI changes how we do exam. All pen on paper now. Few students learn. Massive cheating. Every other student asks for accomodation for extra time. Exam center is full and overwhelmed. Some students prefer to go there as they can easily sneak in a phone. Not sure what is going to happen when the students leave college.

+1 Different professor here. I agree. We also have less students taking notes because they are just sitting back recording lectures. They don’t read anymore either. They read AI summaries instead. They take pictures of test questions and assignments and churn it through AI for answers.

This is the real harm of AI and why we must insists traditional note taking, reading and pen on paper writing. One of the harm of AI in education is to take away the human agency, and eventually shrink the brain.

Teaching needs to be undated and changed to reflect the time.