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[quote=Anonymous]Extra time on tests for kids with ADHD and other diagnoses can often work against them: at best they can run out of focus stamina and zone out or start making unforced errors; or worse, they can feel terrible about themselves for not being able to bring it in, bring it home, and get it done, and get stuck in an anxiety spiral.  ADHD kids will also sometimes rush either to pack everything in while they are focused on it or to get it over with because there is something else around that is of greater interest.  (As fellow ADHD parents know, kids like this can have superhero-level laser focus on something they care about, even from a very young age.)  Finding the middle ground is very hard.  At the college level, sometimes it helps them to just take their tests and quizzes at the same time and the same pace as everyone else, not even for appearance' sake, but because they have nothing left to give in the extra time anyway.  Plus, as general human logic suggests, it is also considered helpful in the education sphere (where you can find it called "modeling") to be surrounded by others who are engaging in the positive behaviors--like focused work--that you yourself are striving to emulate.

Are there people out there who may have "purchased" a diagnosis of ADHD or something like that because the customary accommodations are perceived as academically advantageous?  Surely.  And classmates have probably heard stories about it, too.  Some of them might even be true.  But if the environment and the accommodations are right, and the situation is properly supportive of a given kid, the kid has a very good chance of being quite successful, even highly successful, even excellent--and that is what accommodations are for.  In the best-case scenario an accommodated kid may absolutely shine in they eyes of their classmates--because that is the kind of student they are really supposed to be, and the accommodations are a key part of making that possible.  In other words, some of what looks to classmates like a scam may in fact actually be the good results of a lot of honest hard work by a team of family members, therapists, and teachers--and by the kid themselves.  If things are going well, classmates probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  Knowing that probably won't alleviate the sense of unfairness that observers might feel, but sometimes a bit of explanation might help.

Where I think we have room for growth in higher education is in transforming our understandings of accommodations into best practices for maximizing learning for everyone.  I learned a lot about my own teaching, and about accommodating students generally (not just those with learning challenges), under pandemic lockdown that is going to affect what I do in the future, and I think many of my colleagues can say the same.

- College prof and ADHD parent[/quote]

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