Once they were presented with timed exams that were between hard and impossible to finish, lots of law students discovered that they had ADHD. A little research, an appointment with a psychiatrist and you not only get enough time to finish, you also get medicine to help you study

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happens when these kids make it through college (presumably with accommodations) and then enter the working world? I'm not aware of employers making accommodations.

+1

In the real world, you are not being timed. You may have deadlines, but those can be easily managed. And yes, they might need to ask for extensions at times, just like people without disabilities.

Signed, very successful management consultant with ADHD making 7 figures

I think the ACT should be a little bit longer for everyone in general

Anonymous wrote:What happens when these kids make it through college (presumably with accommodations) and then enter the working world? I'm not aware of employers making accommodations.

+1

Anonymous wrote:When these kids become doctors and the hospital gives them extra time to perform surgery, won't that increase the infection risk to the patient?

Maybe they're not becoming surgeons but are becoming radiologists, oncologists, PCPs, or any other of the host of specialties where speed isn't as much of a factor. My DD is great at math, but she's like a freight train. She's not going to be the fastest at doing multiplication tables, but she's been able to keep up her steady pace as the math gets harder and harder and other students begin to struggle more. She's planning to become an engineer, and I think her steady, thoughtful approach to problem solving will be a benefit as much as a hindrance there.

Anonymous wrote:What happens when these kids make it through college (presumably with accommodations) and then enter the working world? I'm not aware of employers making accommodations.

Then you are not aware of a lot; I am in big tech and my employer makes accommodations for all kinds of needs arising from neurodivergence and employees themselves are very active in sharing their own strategies, including the technology they have learned to use to help them be productive. As we get older we can find the kinds of working situations that fit our differences and develop ways to address any deficits. Kids in the classroom and taking standardized tests don't have the wide options adults enjoy. I am happy that we are not just dismissing children who need extra time or other support to become the most productive and happy members of society they can be and think often about my classmates who were pushed to the side due to lack of understanding a generation ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People see it as unfair because of parents who game the system without a real need for the child but for unfair advantage. It’s a regular scam, often used for athletes but not limited to them.

This is the problem with it. I don't think people are upset with kids getting extra time who legitimately need extra time. It is akin to parking in a handicapped spot when you don't have a real need for it, but you nevertheless have a handicapped hangtag. You're permitted to do so, but you're not who it is intended for and your ability to game the system frustrates others.

(And I hope you know by "you" I don't mean you, personally.

Agree. Also, this is about the parents, not the kids. I know a family that has gamed the system for their kid (they said as much) and they do that in many other aspects of their kid’s life too. In the long run I think they are doing their kid a disservice by implying that they are above the rules. But again, my gripe is with the helicopter parents not the kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learning disabilities are sometimes manipulated as an excuse to help low competence and low effort candidates.

This. Many people have legit needs. But many don’t. I do t dwell on it but since you asked, that’s why. There is an over diagnosis, arguable, of disabilities that need accommodations. A friend of mine just secured one for her kid who she acknowledged probably didn’t need it. But why not? That’s not ok.

It's a thing at elite schools. Google The more elite, the higher the percentage of "disabled" kids. Go figure.

Anonymous wrote:People see it as unfair because of parents who game the system without a real need for the child but for unfair advantage. It’s a regular scam, often used for athletes but not limited to them.

This is the problem with it. I don't think people are upset with kids getting extra time who legitimately need extra time. It is akin to parking in a handicapped spot when you don't have a real need for it, but you nevertheless have a handicapped hangtag. You're permitted to do so, but you're not who it is intended for and your ability to game the system frustrates others.

(And I hope you know by "you" I don't mean you, personally.

Anonymous wrote:What happens when these kids make it through college (presumably with accommodations) and then enter the working world? I'm not aware of employers making accommodations.

I'm one of "these kids." I didn't get accommodations because I grew up back in the dark ages and my parents didn't want me labeled as dyslexic, but that didn't make the dyslexia go away. So I struggled with poor grades and feeling stupid in a way I hope kids now don't have to struggle. What is important for you to know, though, is that who you are at 17 is not who you'll be at 25, or 30. Yes, these learning differences are life-long, but the longer we live the more opportunity we have to learn coping mechanisms, executive functioning skills, etc. A kid who gets accommodations in high school and some support in college may simply not need them anymore at 23 when they are out on their own. One thing I've found is that college allowed me to focus on things I am good at while avoiding things that I am rotten at. Paradoxically I am a dyslexic whose skills run to words and language, so I was an English major and that worked out great. I struggle with anything that requires memorization, even today - I can't memorize any information that seems random to my brain, like unconnected facts, dates, or even short chains of numbers. Which means I am struggled mightily with math and science and history, but did well in policy sci, literature, sociology where what was important was understanding meaning, and connections between themes, and memorization wasn't important.

I went on to get a masters degree in my late 20's, after my brain had even more time to build some coping mechanisms, and did well. I have had a really good career and am now in a leadership role in my organization.

So, PP, the answer to your question "what happens?" is that most of us do just fine. We just take a little longer to get there. Have a little faith in us.

Anonymous wrote:What happens when these kids make it through college (presumably with accommodations) and then enter the working world? I'm not aware of employers making accommodations.

They get jobs where this doesn’t matter. I’m one of them. I have had a great career, in large part because of my creativity and work ethic. But I could never finish standardized tests. My scores weren’t reflective of my abilities.

There are so few jobs in the world that operate like standardized testing. It’s a false narrative that they prepare kids for the real world or in fact are remotely reflective of the real world. I am a terrible standardized test taker, because I’m so slow in that format. But I’ve had a very lucrative and rewarding career.

Anonymous wrote:Learning disabilities are sometimes manipulated as an excuse to help low competence and low effort candidates.

This. Many people have legit needs. But many don’t. I do t dwell on it but since you asked, that’s why. There is an over diagnosis, arguable, of disabilities that need accommodations. A friend of mine just secured one for her kid who she acknowledged probably didn’t need it. But why not? That’s not ok.

These programs and accommodations are crucial for people with real learning disabilities but often unfairly used by unethical parents to give unfair advantage to their offspring while people who do need it, often doesn’t have advocates or diagnosis to help their cases, they are labeled as low performing and low effort.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child just took her first AP exam. She gets extra time because of documented learning disabilities. Not only does she need extra time for the test, but everything takes her longer. This means that she was able to complete half as many practice tests each weekend. It means she missed twice as much class time and had double the assignments she missed/will need to make up, and those assignments will take her twice the time.

Before you complain about how unfair it is because your child struggles with time constraints, think about all the ways in which kids who get extra time are hurt by this requirement.

Mental health percentage is very high in elite colleges and universities. It's somewhere around 20-40% at elite schools like Pomona, Swarthmore, T-10. These students get doctors notes to get more time, more this, more that. Another way elites of this country know how to work within the system.

Such an ignorant statement. Some elite families make sure they have a child with autism and other processing delays--documented back to the pre-K days, just to work the system.

Mental "disability" is more prevalent at elite colleges and universities. It's a thing.

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