Students with disabilities who received accommodations in high school and had an IEP, 504 plan or a formal plan can request accommodations on the SAT/ACT. The most common request is extended time at 15 time. Both testing agencies provide a wide and widening range of accommodations such as readers, extra or extended breaks, enlarged text, special desk, etc. These special accommodations (out-of-the-ordinary) are applied for on a separate form and often require more information about the student’s need.
Students with disabilities taking the ACT/SAT are legally protected from submission of flagged scores to colleges for a very good reason. Flagging suggests that the scores are not quite fair or not representative of a student’s skills, knowledge and aptitude for college-level work. Accommodations are described outcome-neutral in that the student with a disability only needs and receives accommodations for accessing the test. There is no expectation or attempt to “level the playing field” by equalizing scores as may have happened with high school grades. Information about accommodations on the SAT and the ACT are found easily on their websites.
Please note that an IEP or a 504 plan in high school is not sufficient in many cases to receive accommodations on either test. Both websites identify documentation standards, but ETS/College Board provides far more and better explanation about the standards and how they are met. There are also guidelines for evaluators.
Please consider the document standards and start working to fulfill them because they are the same standards that disability services offices use to determine accommodations with students. AHEAD.org also has discussion of documentation standards.
Why the difference in accommodations? The student is moving from a school environment where to goal is ensuring all students learn to an institution that the student meets admissions criteria and needs accommodations to access classes. Accommodations are now civil rights that don’t guarantee any positive outcome, only that access was provided effectively. Then it is up to the student to pass or fail on their own merits.
In my opinion, adding information about disability in the application is self flagging. If the decision to admit includes information about disability and that information was supplied by the applicant, how can a claim of denial of admission based disability be brought and/or substantiated when the applicant disclosed the information? Its easy to find an attorney, but winning isn’t. Everything in the application is fair game for the admissions committee. If the student with a disability is denied admissions and decides to appeal the decision, the student’s disability then can become part of the appeal.
I understand that some students might want to write their essay about how they dealt effectively with disability. That also discloses disability and, as above, may taint the application process. Indeed, talking about how a student’s accommodated disability is an outstanding topic for other forums. So, I wouldn’t waste, if you will, that information on college admissions because good information has little actual impact on others with disabilities, their families and fellow students.
Somewhere, maybe on CC, I read a comment from admissions people who received lots of essays about missions, a truly worthy thing to do, and how the student went thinking s/he had a lot to offer and ended up learning more. A student doesn’t need to submit another feel good essay. Instead, talk about who you are and what you treasure even with a disability. Besides, the student is far more than a disability in human form.
Students with disabilities are admitted to the very most prestigious campuses in the world and often receive accommodations from disability services. They met and applied for schools under the same rigorous admissions criteria as all students and were admitted over equally qualified and talented and deserving applicants. There is no quota system or humanitarian or whatever other criteria used to admit students with disabilities. They are where they are because they deserve admissions. After enrolling, students with disabilities adhere to the same requirements, after receiving access, as all other students.