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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I posted on the other thread about my DS who scored a 35 on the ACT using time and a half.  He had accommodations since 2nd grade when he was diagnosed with ADHD and slow processing.  In summer prior to 8th grade, he was tested again, and the same diagnosis held, but with the processing speed improving slightly.  He continued with his accommodations through 8th grade and high school.  He had time and a half to take the ACT in February of his junior year and scored a 35 -- one and done.  He has always been a strong test taker and very intelligent, so it did not come as a huge surprise, and we were thrilled.  That summer, in preparation for possibility of need for accommodations in college, he had his third neuro-psych test.  This test actually showed a very strong improvement in processing speed.  Apparently this is something that can improve as the brain develops.  We were thrilled to see this improvement and realized then that perhaps the accommodations he had for the ACT may not have been needed because of the stark improvement in processing speed.  Perhaps that explains the high score.  We will never know, but in our case, I would not say we "gamed the system."  We just got lucky.[/quote]

no, you did not get lucky.  you gamed the system.  [/quote]

You can only do testing every few years so it isn't gaming the system.  They have had documented concerns since 2nd grade.  Different than someone coming in middle or high school demanding extra time.  [/quote]

I don't think anyone should get extended time for "low processing speed," period.  I remember this PP and she has gone on before about how "brilliant" her DS is and how he is such as "strong" test taker ... even knowing that, she STILL finagled the extra time for the ACT.  Totally gaming the system.  What she had was a bright, quirky kid who seemed a little different as a younger kid, and she decided that she could not stand even the slightest difficulty for him.  [/quote]

You don't do neuropsych testing if everything is ok starting in 2nd grade.  Do you realize the costs involved for the average family?  You have no idea what some of the challenges some of our kids face.[/quote]

NP here. I think the trouble is that there's no black and white line for what constitutes a disability and where that leads you. DSM has many diagnostic criteria but its up to an individual doctor to make a qualitative assessment and it's a gray area at best for most learning and emotional issues. My personal concern isn't that your kid gets accommodations or and IEP or whatever to help him. My concern is that there are millions of other kids who don't get that help. [/quote]

My child doesn't get help.  We removed the IEP as it was worthless.  There was no point in fighting it and we heavily supplement at home instead.  It made no sense to pay for a neuropsych and an advocate given he does well, but he does well because of what we do, not because of what the school does.  There are so many kids like mine who fall through the cracks as the teachers just ignore them vs. providing that extra minute of support that could make the world of difference.  The only difference with my kid is we knew it early on and poured every dollar we had into it and heavily work at home, but those are things you'd never know or see just meeting our child.  Plenty do game the system but many of us are trying to focus instead on getting our kids to the highest level of functioning because the school system has failed us and it makes no sense to spend $5K on a test when we know what is the issues (as does the school) and another $3-8K for an advocate right now.  That is what you are missing.  We've had our child in daily services from 2-7 privately, but again, you are slamming families like us when you'd never know seeing our kids from the outside.[/quote]

PP here. I'm not slamming you. I would do the same thing. But providing support at home is very different from asking for accommodations for standardized tests. It sounds like you are doing exactly what one would want- helping your kid learn and demonstrate his learning. When he goes to take a standardized test, he will be able to perform well because he's had help learning how. That's wildly different from changing the test itself.[/quote]

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