In our case a diagnosis of anxiety, together with the ADHD, helped quickly convince a reluctant school to agree to a 504 with a good set of accommodations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stretch OP. 504s are not intended to just make everything easier for all kids.

DP. Not a stretch. OP's kid is not "all kids". Things get harder each year. If he qualifies for extra time or any other accommodations, they should be granted to him. The extra work these kids put in when they have ADHD is exhausting for them.

Sure ok.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stretch OP. 504s are not intended to just make everything easier for all kids.

DP. Not a stretch. OP's kid is not "all kids". Things get harder each year. If he qualifies for extra time or any other accommodations, they should be granted to him. The extra work these kids put in when they have ADHD is exhausting for them.

+100. You do not want to wait until he’s failing before getting the accommodations.

Plus, there is also a principle in 504 and IEP law that dictates that the assessment and design of accommodations must be done on how the student performs in the "unmitigated state," meaning as if the student was not taking meds, doing therapy, using an executive function coach or tutor or getting accommodations in the classroom". The reason this is so is that there are many times when students no longer have access to some of the mitigating factors or the medication stops working or the disease has a worsening phase or the stressors on the student increase and overwhelm their normal compensation mechanisms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are common 504 accommodations in high school? We had a 504 in elementary and then switched to private where like a previous poster he’s just given extra time as needed, more flexibility with turning things in, and it’s a very small environment, etc. He also can tell a teacher when he has spent more than an hour on a subject of homework and he’s done.

In a year he will go back to public high school and I’m trying to figure out what we will need in place. I think for sure preferential seating and more time for tests because he already had that in elementary school. He also got breaks in elementary school—what does that look like in high school? Do they offer accommodations for homework or not?

HS teacher here and preferential seating is common, but that looks different for every student and every classroom. Breaks can be anything from a a trip to the bathroom or just not doing work and putting the assignment down for 5 min. Unfortunately this is one of the most abused accommodations of my students to wander the halls and skip and a “break” turns into them being gone for 20 min. We often have to meet again and say they can’t leave the room, unless it’s to actually use the bathroom.

As for telling the teacher times up after an hour, no, that’s not done in HS. Homework isn’t assigned by time anymore. You need to get an assignment done. It’s either studying to learn for a test, the lab write up, math problems, paper, etc.

It’s not as easy as asking for reduced assignments either. You can’t change the 5 page paper into a 3 page paper or the 10 math problems into 5. Your kid will be missing content.

Parent of a kid with ADHD. Extra time for tests means extra time for all assignments as well, because if you process slowly or have to spend time re-directing your attention and re-checking your work for impulsivity errors on tests, you also need that on all assignments - in class and at home. That is a basic principle of pedagogy, although it may seem inconvenient for the teacher. This means that homework that is due in 24 hours, can be due in 36 hours for kids with an "extra time on assignments" accommodation. In practice, that also leads to an accommodation that means a student can "re-schedule deadlines", because if you are spending 150% time on everything then you won't be able to complete things on the same deadlines as other students. Some ADHD kids have caps on the amount of testing in one day - "no more than 2 hours of testing in one day." Other accommodations that can be very helpful to ADHD students are: copy of class notes, graphic organizers for writing, break assignment into chunks, and memory aides (like allowing a formula sheet for tests for kids with weak working memory).

I am sure that some posters will flame some of these accommodations as leading to the downfall of the student in the real world, but our kid had all of these accommodations, which enabled him to take appropriately challenging material in high school, do reasonably well, and go to a good (but not Ivy) college where he did well and became gainfully employed.

In college, the accommodations are sometimes better than in HS. Many of DCs classes were video recorded and all students (not just disabled students) had access to the recordings. DC actually preferred watching the videos because he could pause and rewind. Colleges are doing this to be ADA compliant and are following a principle of teaching called "universal design for access" - where all materials must be accessible to different kinds of learners. In college, students have a greater ability to select classes that are commensurate with their strengths. They spend less time in a class seat on a weekly basis and have more freedom about how to study and get assignments done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stretch OP. 504s are not intended to just make everything easier for all kids.

DP. Not a stretch. OP's kid is not "all kids". Things get harder each year. If he qualifies for extra time or any other accommodations, they should be granted to him. The extra work these kids put in when they have ADHD is exhausting for them.

+100. You do not want to wait until he’s failing before getting the accommodations.

Anonymous wrote:What are common 504 accommodations in high school? We had a 504 in elementary and then switched to private where like a previous poster he’s just given extra time as needed, more flexibility with turning things in, and it’s a very small environment, etc. He also can tell a teacher when he has spent more than an hour on a subject of homework and he’s done.

In a year he will go back to public high school and I’m trying to figure out what we will need in place. I think for sure preferential seating and more time for tests because he already had that in elementary school. He also got breaks in elementary school—what does that look like in high school? Do they offer accommodations for homework or not?

My DC has accommodations for seating near the front of class, and frequent check-ins by the teachers to make sure he’s on task and understands. He doesn’t need extra time, if anything he needs to be reminded to slow down and check his work.

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stretch OP. 504s are not intended to just make everything easier for all kids.

DP. Not a stretch. OP's kid is not "all kids". Things get harder each year. If he qualifies for extra time or any other accommodations, they should be granted to him. The extra work these kids put in when they have ADHD is exhausting for them.

Anonymous wrote:What are common 504 accommodations in high school? We had a 504 in elementary and then switched to private where like a previous poster he’s just given extra time as needed, more flexibility with turning things in, and it’s a very small environment, etc. He also can tell a teacher when he has spent more than an hour on a subject of homework and he’s done.

In a year he will go back to public high school and I’m trying to figure out what we will need in place. I think for sure preferential seating and more time for tests because he already had that in elementary school. He also got breaks in elementary school—what does that look like in high school? Do they offer accommodations for homework or not?

HS teacher here and preferential seating is common, but that looks different for every student and every classroom. Breaks can be anything from a a trip to the bathroom or just not doing work and putting the assignment down for 5 min. Unfortunately this is one of the most abused accommodations of my students to wander the halls and skip and a “break” turns into them being gone for 20 min. We often have to meet again and say they can’t leave the room, unless it’s to actually use the bathroom.

As for telling the teacher times up after an hour, no, that’s not done in HS. Homework isn’t assigned by time anymore. You need to get an assignment done. It’s either studying to learn for a test, the lab write up, math problems, paper, etc.

It’s not as easy as asking for reduced assignments either. You can’t change the 5 page paper into a 3 page paper or the 10 math problems into 5. Your kid will be missing content.

What are common 504 accommodations in high school? We had a 504 in elementary and then switched to private where like a previous poster he’s just given extra time as needed, more flexibility with turning things in, and it’s a very small environment, etc. He also can tell a teacher when he has spent more than an hour on a subject of homework and he’s done.

In a year he will go back to public high school and I’m trying to figure out what we will need in place. I think for sure preferential seating and more time for tests because he already had that in elementary school. He also got breaks in elementary school—what does that look like in high school? Do they offer accommodations for homework or not?

Anonymous wrote:Research shows that extra time on exams / tests / assignments is counter productive for ADHD as an accommodation.

There is scientific evidence against it and none for it.

For the ADHD brain, the more time you have, the more time you put it off, procrastinate, do other things. The ADHD brain executes better under tighter deadlines and more structure, not less.

Maybe— but it can be a huge help for kids with anxiety which a lot of kids with ADHD have. My son who has both often just needs five or 10 more minutes to finish a test. Before we got it he was having near panic attacks, trying to prioritize what he could get done and what he would have to leave blank

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research shows that extra time on exams / tests / assignments is counter productive for ADHD as an accommodation.

There is scientific evidence against it and none for it.

For the ADHD brain, the more time you have, the more time you put it off, procrastinate, do other things. The ADHD brain executes better under tighter deadlines and more structure, not less.

I actually agree with this. My ADHD 13yo DD rushes through things, doesnt take the time to read questions fully etc. she has “ extra time” because I think it’s an easy thing to offer. She’s never needed it though

As a tutor, I can say that it might be that she's never needed it because no one every showed her why she needed it - what kind of mistakes were connected to attention -- or how to use it. In addition, she probably was discouraged from using accommodations by enough peers and teachers to just not ask for it.

I see this all the time in kids I tutor. I also regularly tutor kids with disabilities who are very bright and can score well, with accommodations, on tests in ways that other students (and adults) cannot, even if they had all the time in the world.

Anonymous wrote:Research shows that extra time on exams / tests / assignments is counter productive for ADHD as an accommodation.

There is scientific evidence against it and none for it.

For the ADHD brain, the more time you have, the more time you put it off, procrastinate, do other things. The ADHD brain executes better under tighter deadlines and more structure, not less.

I actually agree with this. My ADHD 13yo DD rushes through things, doesnt take the time to read questions fully etc. she has “ extra time” because I think it’s an easy thing to offer. She’s never needed it though

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research shows that extra time on exams / tests / assignments is counter productive for ADHD as an accommodation.

There is scientific evidence against it and none for it.

For the ADHD brain, the more time you have, the more time you put it off, procrastinate, do other things. The ADHD brain executes better under tighter deadlines and more structure, not less.

The research and what schools actually see in practice is more nuanced than "it’s counterproductive for ADHD."

From what I've read, studies often show that extra time doesn’t dramatically, automatically raise test scores for students with ADHD — but that's not the same thing as showing it harms them. There isn’t solid evidence that it’s broadly counterproductive. ADHD affects kids differently. Some do work well with tight deadlines, but others struggle with distraction, slower processing, or anxiety when the clock is ticking.

The goal of accommodations isn’t to give an advantage - it's to level the playing field so a student's grade reflects what they know, not just how fast they can work under pressure. Extended time is just one tool schools use, and it's hopefully paired with other supports like quieter testing spaces or breaks.
It won't help every kid, but for some students it reduces the panic of running out of time and lets them actually show what they've learned.

All kids have differing abilities to work under pressure. What is happening here is that it is being pathologized and rich parents buy their kids an advantage.

Troll.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got straight As in school but I couldn't focus in class, stayed up late learning the material and wished the bus would run me over in the mornings. Yes, kids that are getting straight As can still be struggling academically.

And there’s no evidence that getting accommodations of the type demanded by parents now would have helped you, at all.

OP has not specified what accommodations the student requires

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research shows that extra time on exams / tests / assignments is counter productive for ADHD as an accommodation.

There is scientific evidence against it and none for it.

For the ADHD brain, the more time you have, the more time you put it off, procrastinate, do other things. The ADHD brain executes better under tighter deadlines and more structure, not less.

The research and what schools actually see in practice is more nuanced than "it’s counterproductive for ADHD."

From what I've read, studies often show that extra time doesn’t dramatically, automatically raise test scores for students with ADHD — but that's not the same thing as showing it harms them. There isn’t solid evidence that it’s broadly counterproductive. ADHD affects kids differently. Some do work well with tight deadlines, but others struggle with distraction, slower processing, or anxiety when the clock is ticking.

The goal of accommodations isn’t to give an advantage - it's to level the playing field so a student's grade reflects what they know, not just how fast they can work under pressure. Extended time is just one tool schools use, and it's hopefully paired with other supports like quieter testing spaces or breaks.
It won't help every kid, but for some students it reduces the panic of running out of time and lets them actually show what they've learned.

All kids have differing abilities to work under pressure. What is happening here is that it is being pathologized and rich parents buy their kids an advantage.