Reply to Wall Street Journal on rampant growth in percentage of college students with “disabilities”

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Reply to "Wall Street Journal on rampant growth in percentage of college students with “disabilities”"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]look, nobody is going to care about a handful of otherwise able dyslexic students who get acccomodations on exams and standardized tests. But when it starts to get to the point where 20% of highly privileged kids claim a disability ... that becomes an issue. [/quote]

It isn’t 20% that get accommodations, the 20% number includes mental health services.[/quote]

+1.   College Board reports that 7% of test takers receive accommodations -- not 20%.   And of course not all of the 7% are "highly privileged." [/quote]

Well, there are no stats for that but those complicated  neuropsych exams are typically not covered by insurance and run $4000-$6000. If you are paying that —newsflash — you are affluent. Maybe you didn’t realize.[/quote]

Maybe you didn't realize that not everyone who qualifies for accommodations for the SAT and ACT has had to private pay for a neuropsych?

Here you go: https://www.collegeboard.org/students-with-disabilities/iep-504-eligibility[/quote]

Exactly.

The problem with posters like the first one here is that many do not know what they are talking about.   They get all worked up about something they think is shutting out the poor and just go full steam ahead.  The truth is that many poor do have access to extra time.  I think an earlier post included an article from the Chicago Tribune that talked about how the wealthy had more access admitted that in their research the found that, "At four schools with high poverty levels, 21 to 25 percent of the students got special assistance, but none scored at the national ACT average of 21, and many posted well below that."

I have a friend who a special needs daughter, now a junior in high school.  In elementary school there was clearly a problem, and she was able to get her a 504 without spending a dime.  She did not need to hire anyone outside the school system, which gave her the accommodations and support.

When it came time to apply for accommodations for the ACT, any documentation she supplied was strictly from the school and no psychologist outside of MCPS.   She managed to secure extended time, use of a keyboard, mark booklet, and multi day testing.  Yes, she may have had better supports in place in her public school if she had the advocacy of an outside psychologist, but her financial situation prevented her from doing so.  She was, however, able to get the accommodations her daughter needed despite her lack of retaining an outside organization.

I agree the wealthy will always have a leg up in getting their kids what they need and more, but that is the case with everything, whether it be tutoring, membership in a club sport, private school, private college counselors, connections, etc.  And yes, there is a very small percentage who might scam the system, but I do not think it is as prevalent as people are stating on this thread.[/quote]

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