extra time on tests and applying to college

[Anonymous]

Our son finally agreed to be tested for ADHD in Sophomore year in high school. He always had to work 2x to perform at the level he knew he was capable of and it was becoming too much. It was reassuring to know specifically the details of his ADHD and where he struggled so he could get the appropriate therapy and learn techniques to deal with it. He also tried medication for a little over a year but his goal was not to rely on it and has since stopped taking it. He is working to live with it. While he does get extra time on tests (currently in college), he believes that he has learned how to manage it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious if all the kids getting extra time on tests have to disclose this for college and/or does your high school mention on your application. My DC has been asking I look into this and I have always said no although DC could benefit as we manage some add issues. DC gets good grades but has to study a lot and is getting frustrated at so many kids with the extra time. My answer was always that this will catch up when applying for college but now am not so sure and wonder if I should go through the process for extra time to lessen stress.

No this is not reported to colleges. Once admitted to college the people with diagnosed issues then share that with college to get services there -- like extra time, etc.

But you have to have an issue. You can't just ask for extra time. Colleges (and most high schools) will require a report from a medical professional of some type.

Not being snarky, but how do these kids turned adults tend to do in the workplace where they may not get extra time and accommodations they've had for years ? My son may be going down this road so I'm genuinely curious.

In college, students can get extra time on exams but generally not extensions of due dates. Instead, they are expected to manage their time to allow for assignments taking longer. This is similar to how most work places work. Also, employees have more control than students: my 2e kid who can't write a paragraph under timed conditions isn't going to become a lawyer, but her difficulties won't stop her from being an amazing engineer.

I doubt you are a lawyer or you aren't a very good one. Not every lawyer is going to be before a judge. You're making all kinds of dumb assumptions.
Not true, many students get both. I am a law professor and the number of students with accommodations these days compared to 10 years ago is out of control. The PP's question is not dumb at all (as another poster suggested). I am constantly wondering how my law students are going to function in the real world. The judge isn't going to give them "extra time" to get something done during trial, for example. Nor is a partner going to give them "extra time" to do that quick research she needs. We are doing such a disservice to these students by so freely granting extra time and other accommodations (e.g., you can get up and leave class because of some issue; or you can record every class; or you can stand up in the middle of class because your ADD prevents you from sitting through a 75 minute class). Totally ridiculous...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious if all the kids getting extra time on tests have to disclose this for college and/or does your high school mention on your application. My DC has been asking I look into this and I have always said no although DC could benefit as we manage some add issues. DC gets good grades but has to study a lot and is getting frustrated at so many kids with the extra time. My answer was always that this will catch up when applying for college but now am not so sure and wonder if I should go through the process for extra time to lessen stress.

Would he like to trade places with my child? He's autistic, had no friends, and everything (including tests) takes him twice the time as everyone else, so he has less time to relax or for fun activities. Because while your son is "frustrated" that my child gets extra time, my child is frustrated that he *needs* (not wants) extra time.

Please calm down, PP.

My DC tells me there ARE kids in school who do not appear to have any learning disabilities, don't struggle, yet somehow have a diagnosis of test anxiety or something like that, and they get extra time on tests and on the ACT/SAT.

Is this true? I don't know, but DC is fairly observant. DC knows what autism looks like, and these kids do not have autism or anything like it. They're just hyper-competitive, as are their parents.

Hate to reference Varsity Blues, but one of the most common abuses was getting a fake diagnosis resulting in extra time (of course, they then bribed the proctor for your special test and paid someone to take it for you...but it started with bribing the medical person first). Yes, there are medical professionals that can essentially be bribed, and I guarantee that families are "in the know" as to whom you should go see in order to get your diagnosis.

Again, just give everyone more time, and be done with it.

What does “give everyone extra time” actually mean? How is it “extra” time if everyone has it? Does it mean eliminate time limits? That would be fine, but hard for testing centers to manage.

Yes, eliminate time limits for everyone, or increase the overall test time to 4.5 hours (from he current 3.0 hours) which I believe is the time kids with accommodation receive. If there were no time limits, then you probably cannot expect any human proctors to agree to proctor the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dc kid had extended time for high school in a 504. Chose not to have the same accommodation in college. First semester grades were hideous, but had to learn to be like everyone else. Because in the workforce there will be no accommodations like that for late work.

Again, learning is not the same as producing.

It sounds like your kid has not been served well by the "shove him out of the nest" mentality. Sounds like neither of you has really accepted the fact that he has a disability.

But you do you.

This is so frustrating. For kids who actually have disabilities, they don't just magically disappear because someone has decided they have to. This is absolute ignorance. Also for you jerks constantly worried about how unfair it is and how the kids will survive in the working world, you have no clue about the working world. Just because you work in an evil hellscape doesn't mean everyone else does. Worry about your own job.

So many people use this old saw about how the accommodations will hurt the student in the working world as a justification for them hurting or discriminating against a student with disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious if all the kids getting extra time on tests have to disclose this for college and/or does your high school mention on your application. My DC has been asking I look into this and I have always said no although DC could benefit as we manage some add issues. DC gets good grades but has to study a lot and is getting frustrated at so many kids with the extra time. My answer was always that this will catch up when applying for college but now am not so sure and wonder if I should go through the process for extra time to lessen stress.

We found out DD has ADD just a few weeks ago. She complained bitterly about the kids with extra time on tests. She thinks they are cheating, faking it to get an ADD or LD diagnosis so they can get extra time.

She does have to work extra hard, probably too hard, which is why we had her tested, finally. Her case is mild, so she likely wouldn't even qualify for extra time, but it does seem unfair that so many kids get it.

You and your daughter are jealous. Complain bitterly all you want. You aren't intelligent enough to understand that without the accommodations lots of students with disabilities would be barred from education. You are ignorant. You are supporting the denial of education to people with disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious if all the kids getting extra time on tests have to disclose this for college and/or does your high school mention on your application. My DC has been asking I look into this and I have always said no although DC could benefit as we manage some add issues. DC gets good grades but has to study a lot and is getting frustrated at so many kids with the extra time. My answer was always that this will catch up when applying for college but now am not so sure and wonder if I should go through the process for extra time to lessen stress.

Begs the question...why not give everyone 50% more time to take the ACT?SAT and be done with it.

Sigh. The number of teachers my kid had to deal with who insisted upon this bs...

The accommodation is there to make the playing field equal for the student with disabilities. You clearly don't like kids with disabilities and put the neurotypical kids first. The kids without disabilities don't need the accommodation. You are hurting the student with disabilities.

Also I'd like to know who these billions of kids are with extended time. At my kid's very large public school it is obvious who has extended time and it is very few students.

[Anonymous]

When my DD has done standardized testing with extra timeAt school it’s usually been one room of kids out of the whole 550+ student class

[Anonymous]

We all know there are a couple of schools with in-house professionals who provide personalized testing to all students to ensure everyone gets extra time. That's part of the reason most colleges will go (or have gone) test optional - the system is rigged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious if all the kids getting extra time on tests have to disclose this for college and/or does your high school mention on your application. My DC has been asking I look into this and I have always said no although DC could benefit as we manage some add issues. DC gets good grades but has to study a lot and is getting frustrated at so many kids with the extra time. My answer was always that this will catch up when applying for college but now am not so sure and wonder if I should go through the process for extra time to lessen stress.

We found out DD has ADD just a few weeks ago. She complained bitterly about the kids with extra time on tests. She thinks they are cheating, faking it to get an ADD or LD diagnosis so they can get extra time.

She does have to work extra hard, probably too hard, which is why we had her tested, finally. Her case is mild, so she likely wouldn't even qualify for extra time, but it does seem unfair that so many kids get it.

Parents need to discuss learning disabilities with their children. They are not obvious to peers. In fact, the first clue is often a disconnect between how “smart” a kid is and how hard academic work might be for them.

Something is seriously wrong if kids resent peers with medically documented learning disabilities because they fear they are losing a college entry advantage. Really twisted.

They get that from their parents who are insanely jealous of any perceived advantage someone might have over their kid. It's the same selfishness that has infected the crazies who don't want any acknowledgement of racism in school. MC white parents will die before letting go of that privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I’m a business owner with ADHD, and I’ve always found the realities of the business world much easier to deal with than the artificial, assembly line structure of traditional education.

Power to you. Same for me. Entrepreneurship in particular. I recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Hypomanic-Edge-Between-Craziness-Success/dp/0743243455

Not specifically about ADHD and has an offensive title, but really illustrates how traits which are handicaps in school and middle management jobs can actually empower other business roles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious if all the kids getting extra time on tests have to disclose this for college and/or does your high school mention on your application. My DC has been asking I look into this and I have always said no although DC could benefit as we manage some add issues. DC gets good grades but has to study a lot and is getting frustrated at so many kids with the extra time. My answer was always that this will catch up when applying for college but now am not so sure and wonder if I should go through the process for extra time to lessen stress.

Would he like to trade places with my child? He's autistic, had no friends, and everything (including tests) takes him twice the time as everyone else, so he has less time to relax or for fun activities. Because while your son is "frustrated" that my child gets extra time, my child is frustrated that he *needs* (not wants) extra time.

Please calm down, PP.

My DC tells me there ARE kids in school who do not appear to have any learning disabilities, don't struggle, yet somehow have a diagnosis of test anxiety or something like that, and they get extra time on tests and on the ACT/SAT.

Is this true? I don't know, but DC is fairly observant. DC knows what autism looks like, and these kids do not have autism or anything like it. They're just hyper-competitive, as are their parents.

Yes, it's true. There are plenty of kids getting extra time for test anxiety or other issues when they have no serious learning disabilities. People will say this isn't true, but it's true. My kid's friend is one of them. In the long run these kids are not going to be well-served by all of these accommodations because, at some point, they will have to deal with the real world.

You could be one of the moms in my former mom friend group. She had a speech impediment herself and one of her kids seems to be on spectrum but they never pursued an IEP. She is horrible to my kid and treats my dh and I like we are criminals because she is certain we are cheating the system. My kid has such significant disabilites that no one expected him to achieve what he has. She has no clue that every waking moment of his life is spent working on school work. She has no clue how much money we have spent for so many different therapies. My kid had physical issues as well. He has never had a Christmas break or spring break where he wasn't trying to catch up on school work. He isn't lazy. He has multiple disabilities that have been documented since early elementary. How does this witch get to decide this is made up? One of the kids in our kid's friend group has the same diagnosis as my kid, yet my kid is more verbal. She never treats that kid differently. People are vile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all know there are a couple of schools with in-house professionals who provide personalized testing to all students to ensure everyone gets extra time. That's part of the reason most colleges will go (or have gone) test optional - the system is rigged.

NO, this isn't why colleges have gone test optional. Go read about it. It has everything to do with gaming the USNEWS rankings. It has nothing to do with students with disabilities getting accommodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my DD has done standardized testing with extra timeAt school it’s usually been one room of kids out of the whole 550+ student class

Same. Also true when my kid took the SAT and ACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

dvandivier wrote:Mom of ADHD/Anxious kid here again:
It's clear that the skeptics on here have a COMPLETE lack of knowledge about the disability that is ADHD (and its common co-morbitity that is usually either/or anxiety/depression). It's not a scam to get extra time. It's NOT an advantage to have ADHD. It's NOT suspect (to those of us who know and have hope for our kids) that college students start to develop prefrontal cortex (which for ADHD kids is a delayed process) in college and that, along with peer pressure, makes them both better and probably forces them into hiding about the condition. My son's psychiatrist (who prescribes the meds he detests but needs in order to function in class since he was 7) said that she wrote 105 withdrawal letters in 2021 alone for many of her patients who are exceptionally bright but who couldn't cut it in college as freshmen. This is what we're desperately afraid of for our son and why I am interested in this post. For those who think this is a scam, maybe it is for some, but for those of us who have suffered along with our kids their whole lives, this is serious stuff.

It isn’t so much thinking it’s a scam, it’s more concern that it’s unsustainable. There’s a fine line between reasonable accommodation and using a crutch. Workplaces are not going to be as accommodating. Deadlines

are deadlines and if their disability doesn’t allow them to perform the duties, they won’t be protected.

I absolutely don’t believe that you are worried that these kids will struggle professionally. Your type of post never comes from a patent with such a child, it comes from the parents of kids who “resent” them.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious if all the kids getting extra time on tests have to disclose this for college and/or does your high school mention on your application. My DC has been asking I look into this and I have always said no although DC could benefit as we manage some add issues. DC gets good grades but has to study a lot and is getting frustrated at so many kids with the extra time. My answer was always that this will catch up when applying for college but now am not so sure and wonder if I should go through the process for extra time to lessen stress.

Would he like to trade places with my child? He's autistic, had no friends, and everything (including tests) takes him twice the time as everyone else, so he has less time to relax or for fun activities. Because while your son is "frustrated" that my child gets extra time, my child is frustrated that he *needs* (not wants) extra time.

Please calm down, PP.

My DC tells me there ARE kids in school who do not appear to have any learning disabilities, don't struggle, yet somehow have a diagnosis of test anxiety or something like that, and they get extra time on tests and on the ACT/SAT.

Is this true? I don't know, but DC is fairly observant. DC knows what autism looks like, and these kids do not have autism or anything like it. They're just hyper-competitive, as are their parents.

Hate to reference Varsity Blues, but one of the most common abuses was getting a fake diagnosis resulting in extra time (of course, they then bribed the proctor for your special test and paid someone to take it for you...but it started with bribing the medical person first). Yes, there are medical professionals that can essentially be bribed, and I guarantee that families are "in the know" as to whom you should go see in order to get your diagnosis.

Again, just give everyone more time, and be done with it.

What does “give everyone extra time” actually mean? How is it “extra” time if everyone has it? Does it mean eliminate time limits? That would be fine, but hard for testing centers to manage.

Yes, eliminate time limits for everyone, or increase the overall test time to 4.5 hours (from he current 3.0 hours) which I believe is the time kids with accommodation receive. If there were no time limits, then you probably cannot expect any human proctors to agree to proctor the test.

IF that happened, you would see over half of those with accomodations blow away the neurotypical kids. The extended time is exhausting and not many students would do as well if they had to sit there for 4.5 hours.