<p>If you have raised kids to play fair and gain according to their own efforts, then you have raised very different people from those who are always gaming the system. Your kids will have the confidence and know what they are capable of. Those who don’t play fair won’t know that.
Although this isn’t measured on ACT/SAT, I believe it will serve them well in the long run.
I am glad that accommodations are there for those who need them.</p>
<p>Relevant article in the New York Times last month: “The Not-So-Hidden Cause Behind the ADHD Epidemic”. Some interesting data cited looking at the growth of the diagnosis and its correlations to other events.</p>
<p><a href=“The Not-So-Hidden Cause Behind the A.D.H.D. Epidemic - The New York Times”>The Not-So-Hidden Cause Behind the A.D.H.D. Epidemic - The New York Times;
<p>And a more recent one based on research by Keith Conners who fought to legitimize ADHD.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html</a></p>
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<p>if you drank the koolaid, you want it to mean something; if you didn’t, you don’t believe in the magic.</p>
<p>@pennylane</p>
<p>""“I am glad that accommodations are there for those who need them. “””"</p>
<p>and therein lies the rub. My partner and I fought teachers and administrators, who told us from 1st grade through 5th grade, that our kid had ADHD. They had tests, there were medications, ‘we should not waste any time’ they said. We said, the kid is young, curious, distractible - a kid sitting in a hard seat for 7 hours a day. We refused and had to sign papers indicating our disagreement with the school. </p>
<p>It seemed like 30% of the class was being told their kid needed testing and medication, especially the boys. As a consequence a lot of kids WE KNOW, in our town, are on and have been on Ritalin and similar drugs for over 10 years. Our town is small. We know the parents.</p>
<p>Time passed - many kids took the drugs; mine did not. Everyone just grew older and grew up. Later, our kid had a neurological disorder directly attributed to Strep-A run amock, but giving symptoms like ADD. The medical community baffled, wanted to prescribe the ADHD drug - rather than first address the physiological issue with antibiotics. Again we did a lot of research and refused, although the drugs would have given instant relief. But it was hard; the pressure was intense. We dealt with the tangible and testable physiological issue and all cleared up after a year.</p>
<p>We feel that we have fought off and defended our kid since 7 years old from those who wanted to diagnose and sell their drugs to us from teachers and administrators to doctors and psychologists. If we had followed the path being sold, our kid would be diagnosed with ‘whatever’ was convenient, on drugs, unsure of whether he had deficiencies and disabilities. He would also have ‘accommodations’. It has been hard, and most other parents on this road at the time we were wanted the drugs. </p>
<p>Our kid grew up, worked hard, learned to focus over time, earned his spot and will be a freshman at HYP next year. No drugs or accommodations required - but boy, they tried to force them down our throats for years. I could laugh if what they are doing weren’t so sad.</p>
<p>I am sure there are a few kids who actually have these issues. But it is nowhere close to the number being tested and diagnosed with something. And just as disturbing is the way these diagnosed kids are being taught to spend their energy and efforts lobbying for accommodations and special teachers and aides and tests and time. Will they have special assistants and extra time to complete projects when they have a job? Maybe a ‘different’ performance scale?</p>
<p>For every person like Cubandad - seeing abuses where there may be none - I see two or three like Terrafin. Most parents <em>don’t</em> want to see their kids medicated. They have a hard time deciding whether or not to seek out accommodations for their child. Yesterday, I talked with a couple whose son qualifies for more time on the SAT. They were leaning toward no accommodation even though they have a strong case for one. Like Terrafin, they wanted their son to learn how to compensate for whatever issues he has. Further, students themselves shun accommodations simply because it makes them different from their peers. Who at that age wants to be different?</p>
<p>I have no doubt there are parents and students who cheat - I also know another couple who apparently have absolutely no qualms handing in their work as their son’s (I pity the son) but they are far more rare.</p>
<p>mmm…@SlackerMomMD</p>
<p>My point was more that my kid had NO issues, except immaturity and youth, not that K learned to compensate for something. Left alone, kid just grew up.</p>
<p>And the pressure to seek drugs and excuses came from the school to the doctors offices, who all wanted to test, diagnose and prescribe for years.</p>
<p>Terrafin, I am sorry that the school imposed this on your son. It was not their place. I am glad it worked out for him.</p>
<p>When I posted that, I was thinking about an older family member who has a disability, but also ability. He was born before accommodations existed, yet despite his struggles, eventually finished college. He had to take a test to be certified in the job he trained for. Missed the cut off by a few points. No accommodations or extended time for him. Perhaps the job would not have worked out for him, as you stated, he needed to also keep up with the standards for it.</p>
<p>While everyone has dreams that didn’t work out, I have wondered if his life may have been different if he had been born in different times. Considering the severity of his disability, he would never have taken one of those spots at HYP, but what disables him now isn’t just he was born with, but the series of emotional and educational losses from trying to get through a school system that was not able to help him. </p>
<p>It was families of kids like my relative who began the lobbying for their children. These parents just wanted their children to be the best they could be. I don’t think they even imagined that anyone would abuse the system by wishing those labels on their kids.</p>
<p>Oops, sorry about that Terrafin. I misread your point. That’s odd that they would have pushed so hard on you and your partner for medication if there was no need. Where we are medication is often the last thing to suggest and NEVER by school professionals.
Both my children have slight learning issues and both were on the active side of things. Both times, slight accommodations were suggested (e.g., let the child get up and walk around the room). Teachers and principals cannot diagnosis ADHD on their own.</p>
<p>I think extra time should be available to those who need it. Unfortunately, like everything else, there will be those who will abuse the system. The ones abusing the system are the ones who are knowledgeable about the system. The parents of the lower income kid does not know the system and will not abuse it. </p>
<p>To prove your child has a condition necessitating extra time is a costly and time consuming process. I would guess the greatest percentage of students receiving extra time are from middle to upper income households.</p>
<p>It is time consuming to figure out why a child isn’t paying attention in class, and this isn’t always covered by insurance. Schools are supposed to do some of the testing, but with budget cuts I am not sure how much they are able to do.
I have not looked at any reports of numbers, but I think one can assume that it is easier to get evaluated more thoroughly if you can pay for it. However, ADD/ADHD and LD affect all income levels. One of the articles in the links above mention that the diagnosis has risen in proportion to high stakes testing, and poverty is a risk factor for school difficulty, so some of the rise in diagnoses must be from low income families too. The schools would have a stake in students doing well on the tests too.There is also pressure on teachers over student performance, and if active or impulsive students disrupt the class it is hard to teach.
I’m going to guess it’s a number of things: The true incidence of these disorders. More of them being diagnosed due to high stakes testing. Some being over-diagnosed. Some who need help not being diagnosed.</p>
<p>How much does extra time help people who don’t have a condition that makes them read/process stuff way slower than everyone else? I think my reading speed is about average and my main problem with the SAT/ACT was always that I didn’t know the answers to some of the questions…extra time (for which I don’t qualify) would not have helped me. This probably isn’t true for everyone, though.</p>
<p>My daughter has general anxiety, which makes choosing a single answer on a multiple choice test very difficult. (It’s a family trait, definitely genetic.) She’s under treatment, but it still crops up on MC tests. (Getting her to order in a restaurant is sometimes excruciating, because she can’t decide among all the choices, we still have to tell her to just pick something, otherwise it would take 20 minutes. At home, she makes meals that consist of strange combinations of ten seperate things, so she can doesn’t have to decide, and can try an infinite number of bizarre combinations, like cranberry sauce and peanut butter with smoked salmon.) If you give her the exact same questions in essay form, or as a problem to be worked out by formula, she’s fine, she outscores nearly everyone, but put it in MC form and her score drops noticeably.</p>
<p>I know her IQ score, therefore I know what her ACT score should be. When she first took the ACT, her score was 5 points lower than it should be. Through extensive work, she managed to suffer only a 2-3 point penalty, but if she took the test without time limit, she would score close to where her IQ predicts, which we can see on practice tests without time limit. On AP tests, she always shines on the essay section, but the MC section is just killer, and unfortunately we live in a multiple-choice education world, though the work world is an essay world. So if I can just get her past the education world, she’ll do fine.</p>
<p>We don’t ask for extra time, though we could. Maybe we should, but it’s too late now. I prefer to get her to deal with it, get treatment, and take the proper medication, all of which helps every aspect of her life, not just multiple-choice tests. I guess I just view extra time as a short term fix, whereas I’m more interested in a long-term accomodation that she can develop on her own.</p>
<p>This is anecdotal (which every story here is also) I have a very good friend who paid upwards of $8,000 in fees to an elite ‘education specialist’ to 1) get a diagnosis that would allow for extra time and 2) provide support in navigating the maze of getting the time accommodations. </p>
<p>My friend is doing this in order to get her D to get a minimum 33 on the ACT. She will then apply to mid-tier colleges with lots of merit money. Her goal is for D to get a minimum scholarship of $20,000 per year at a respectable name private U. This adds up over the course of 4 years to $80,000 in savings for a $8000 investment on the front end pretty good ROI. </p>
<p>With no accommodations this girl would probably get a 28 or 29 ACT, perfectly respectable, but not enough for big merit $$'s</p>
<p>Not everyone games the system this way, but I know of this one personally. Her daughter’s ‘diagnosis’ was essentially fabricated with coaching from both her mother and the ‘education specialist’.</p>
<p>I have never seen anyone put numbers on it like that, but wow, it makes perfect sense. It’s a completely rational, although unethical, thing to do.</p>
<p>Kids that suffer with learning issues that cause them to need a conditions like extra time can be normal kids. Your best friend for all you know needs these accommodations. My best friend for example doesn’t even know I have accommodations as I am a normal person for the most part. </p>
<p>Why any one would want to game the system is
beyond me as having accommodations sucks. Sure it is nice to have extra time or be allowed to use a computer for exams and tests is nice but the reason why most people need this is what sucks. </p>
<p>I am one of those kids who gets extended time and gets to use a computer for exams and tests. It’s great and it helps me a lot but the reason I need these accommodations is what sucks. I have a hard time always sitting still and focusing. I touch everything around me and am always fidgeting with something. I wish this wasn’t my case. I would trade anything to get rid of my learning problems so I didn’t have to have accommodations. </p>
<p>For those of you who are thinking kids are gaming the system they might not be even if they are normal kids. Also for those of you gaming the system please stop as accommodations are serious things and its not nice to joke about them in this way.</p>
<p>Swimmer, you are right that many kids who need accommodations are regular kids, and that their learning issues aren’t visible. Consider the many celebrities who have come forward with having dyslexia and other learning differences.
Yalemom, that’s unethical on the part of the parent and the specialist. Unfortunately it seems that whenever a “system” is in place to help someone, there are those who abuse it. Extended time will not help someone if they don’t know the material, but to those who don’t need it, it may bring an advantage if it gives them longer to consider the questions. Maybe a few more points but I doubt it could raise something like an SAT of 1500 to 2200.
For many kids who need accommodations, getting them for the SAT/ACT isn’t the goal but part of an overall plan. Many of them have had an IEP or 504 plan for years. Taking these tests is just one more. Some of them have worked much harder than their peers to stay on track. When I mentioned that I wished that my relative had had accommodations, I didn’t mean just for the tests, but from the beginning: early intervention, and help in school, so that he might have had more opportunities to find meaningful work later on in life.</p>
<p>What my friend is doing IS highly unethical, but tantalizingly savvy. Family gets $80,000+ discount in kid’s education. Kid goes to a school that looks like it’s beneath her in terms of her high test scores but in fact is where she is a perfect fit academic-wise. Kid brings high ACT scores which College pays merit for to keep its ranking up…I’m not sure there are any losers in this scenario.</p>
<p>Frankly I’d be shocked if this practice was not fairly common among wealthy parents.</p>
<p>OP started the thread by asking if anyone else is seeing wealthy parents abuse the accommodations system. His post did not ask if the entire system of accommodations was good or bad, just are others seeing the abuses he’s seeing. And I responded with one first person experience, so yes, I am seeing it too. My friend’s D will not qualify for a dime of financial aid, and this is an opportunity for her to get a steep discount on her education. Cynically my friend doesn’t think a lot of her D’s work ethic so she’s thrilled to not have to pay top dollar even though they could most certainly afford it</p>
<p>My son had a dx of mild Asperger’s and was approved for extended time by both the ACT and College Board. He has had an IEP since fifth grade. Looking at him you would question why he would need it. However his anxiety is so overwhelming when it comes to high stakes tests that he can’t sleep, loses self-confidence and basically freaks out. Having the extended time totally calms him down. </p>
<p>He only uses it for tests requiring a lot of reading analysis like his AP Lit test. He refuses to use it for tests where he has self confidence like Calc or AP Physics. He is fine there.</p>
<p>Although it is possible for people to “play the system” I believe most who use it really need it even if it isn’t obvious to an outsider.</p>
<p>In response to the OP question about accommodations for APs and SAT/ACT – as schools administer the AP exam, I imagine the in-school IEPs etc are applicable for extended time, quiet rooms etc. So maybe the kids wind up doing better and getting more college credit than they might have otherwise. </p>
<p>But, the bar for getting accommodations in SAT/ACT is so high it is nearly insurmountable. We looked into it to help a friend, and the level of proof of an extended disability documented back to grade school, was daunting. We know a student whose OCD essentially compelled them to change answers they knew were correct, into wrong ones, because the obsession/compulsion made them want to follow a discernible pattern in scantron type answers. That student would have traded anything (and the parents too) to live without that disability. Few people could tell, even teachers who had known the student well for years, that the student was challenged in that way. It taught me not to question what appears to be a “normal” situation from the outside. Until you have walked in their shoes . . . .</p>
<p>The AP test is administered through the College Board so they are the ones to approve extended time and any other accommodations. We had to get approval from both ACT and College Board for all standardized tests. My son hated being separated into another room as he thought his friends noticed. But he realized he really needed it so he just sucked it up.</p>