<p>At the end of my sophomore year in highschool my mom gave me an online test regarding ADD. I had more than enough checkmarks to show that I had ADD. So then we went to a doctor who said I should be tested for ADD. After the testing we found that I had ADD and test anxiety (yay me). We then went to my counselor who sent it to college board in order to get extended time for ap tests and the sat. After 7 horrible weeks (and a few weird nightmares) I finally got my letter, only to find I was rejected! I was wondering what you guys think I should do? Is there a next step? On the evaluation it clearly states I have both, so why was I rejected as opposed to someone else?</p>
<p>Go to the College Board website and look for section outlining requirements for application for testing accommodations. CB is quite specific regarding LD-confirmation requirements, including specific tests and report format standards. “Letter from doctor” no longer suffices. Ditto for ACT.</p>
<p>Isn’t it a bit too convenient that you have suddenly have ADD now? …just in time to qualify for extra time on standardized tests in your junior year? Both tests have a moratorium between notification and granting of extra time.</p>
<p>Your mother had you take an internet test? What!? No teachers notified your parents in all the years you’ve been their students? </p>
<p>You think you have ADD because you had enough check marks on that test?! Again… What!!! You haven’t found yourself a bit dysfunctional?.. unable to stay focused?.. during times you KNEW you needed to focus? You needed check marks on a test?!</p>
<p>What about your grades? How are they? Let me guess. You’re probably a good student.</p>
<p>The vast majority of ADD/ADHD patients are <em>compelled</em> to seek treatment and are diagnosed by middle school.</p>
<p>Your story smacks of someone trying to get over on the system.</p>
<p>@ miakia I did not find out I had ADHD and serve dyslexia until the end of my 10th grade year. I had great grades till I hit high school and then everything went downhill. Those who find out they have ADHD/LD later in their school career are often very intelligent as they have found ways to cope and get through the system.</p>
<p>maikai, you are flat-out wrong. Many very intelligent ADD students aren’t even diagnosed until college, because their intelligence carries them very far.</p>
<p>You also could use an attitude check. Hostility such as yours doesn’t go over very well on these boards.</p>
<p>You can appeal the decision, but to be honest your chances aren’t great with a recent diagnosis. But, you may want to go over your documentation with someone who knows about the accommodations process. School counselors also aren’t always conscientious about submitting a convincing application so be sure he/she wasn’t sloppy about it! Also, testing reports aren’t always written in the most helpful way, so you may need to get an additional letter from the diagnostician with clarification.</p>
<p>Over 95% of all ADD/ADHD patients are identified by middle school. Late onset is rare and it is even more rare for those symptoms to be “severe.”</p>
<p>“Found ways to cope” What?!?! You can not be serious! Sorry, but you guys have no clue. No one “copes” with ADD/ADHD, unless they have a very mild case. </p>
<p>You guys do a disservice to those truly afflicted with this. …and open up the age-old argument about ADD/ADHD being over-diagnosed.</p>
<p>Somebody need a nap? A cookie? A hug? Dial it down, dial it down ;)</p>
<p>My niece was diagnosed with ADD in 8th grade. She was never hyperactive and always had average to above aveage grades. All of her teachers always said she was bright but could apply herself better. Since her grades were relatively good, no one suspected.</p>
<p>All of sudden in 7th grade, things started to go awry. It was getting harder and harder for her. </p>
<p>Long story short, she is twice exceptional. Not many people have heard this term, but please look it up. </p>
<p>She is gifted but ADD. Because of the ADD she was never identified as gifted. Because of the giftedness, she was able to mask her ADD for all those years. Only as the work got much harder did it start to present itself. The ADD prevented her from being labeled gifted on the standardized tests. The giftedness prevented her from doing really poorly. </p>
<p>There are many kids who may go undiagnosed with ADD until high school. There are also those who probably try to get diagnosed to game the system. But let’s give our poster the benefit of the doubt here.</p>
<p>I don’t know what to do in this situation, but I do ask that everyone understand the concept of twice exceptional and what that means. Google it.</p>
<p>It may give you a different view of OP.</p>
<p>“There are many kids who may go undiagnosed with ADD until high school.”</p>
<p>Uh… no… actually the opposite is try. A very small percentage of the population shows late symptoms and much fewer than that are considered debilitating. The vast majority of these late symptom kids are completely normal with meds and really don’t need any extra time for anything. </p>
<p>Allow me a turn to say “Look it up.” ;-)</p>
<p>Yes, I’m very familiar with twice exceptional. Let’s call it three times exceptional because it’s so darn rare! The associative exceptional ability is usually a talent for something or some single class of activity. I’ve never heard of one having an associated exceptional giftedness that just allowed them to do generally well in school… essentially masking their ADD.</p>
<p>To be honest, I’m kind of at a loss here with your description. </p>
<p>Your limited description would make every kid who got diagnosed with ADD in middle school twice exceptional… because they were able to make it to middle school in the first place. They all must have had an associated gift that allowed them to do so. Do you see the problem here?</p>
<p>The thing people are missing is the attention deficit part. It doesn’t matter how much raw intelligence the kid has. If they can’t focus their attention enough to absorb new information, they fail… period. No amount of giftedness makes up for that.</p>
<p>It’s like being called away to the office while the teacher introduces a new topic. The moment you come back from the office, your teacher gives you all a quiz on what was taught while you were out. You fail! Your failure has NOTHING to do with your intelligence. Your failure has everything to do with the fact that you didn’t receive the information. No amount of giftedness “makes up” for ADD… none.</p>
<p>If they are able to absorb enough of the information to get good grades, why should they not be considered “normal”? If they had enough attention to get by with decent grades in elementary, but they did worse as more attention was needed, that’s a mild case. Meds will probably clear that up entirely… again, probably no need for extra time.</p>
<p>And by the way, your niece… even being twice exception, which you claim somehow masked the ADD… still exhibited symptoms in middle school! She didn’t have to take a test to know she had ADD. She didn’t have to count up check marks from an on-line quiz to see if she “qualified” to be ADD. It was evident that there was something wrong. </p>
<p>Thanks for making my point.</p>
<p>i agree with @maikai that taking an online test to know if you have add probably means you don’t have it, it is more obvious of a disorder then that. i wasn’t diagnosed until i was 17, but I’ve always had problems concentrating in school. i have had 4.0gpa trimesters and like 1.5gpa trimesters, it was very easy to lose my concentration without being aware of it, i was trying to cope with it but i couldn’t.</p>
<p>OP took an online screening test (which is probably the one AAP has out there in virtually every medical site, usually 8 questions) and then has stipulated that they were evaluated by a physician.</p>
<p>greenbutton,</p>
<p>The “evaluation” is easily spoofed. There is no telltale medical test for it. If you’d like to be diagnosed with ADD, just look up the symptoms and remember them long enough to parrot them back to a physician… and seem sincere when you say them. That’s it. </p>
<p>And that’s why this is so abused by High School kids (and their parents). I don’t have to tell this audience about the pressures to get good results on ACT and SAT tests. The lure of getting more time on these timed tests is a deal too good to pass up.</p>
<p>Worse, some kids in High School learn having a prescription is like having money on campus. The meds easily fetch $5 per pill. </p>
<p>The percentage of late onset during HS is already very low. I just wonder how low it would be if the test scammers and pill sellers could be removed from the statistics. I imagine it would be near zero.</p>
<p>The key with my niece was seeing two very reputable psychologists - one specializes in gifted kids with learning disabilities and the other specializes in ADD/ADHD. They work together in treatment.</p>
<p>I agree that ADD/ADHD is over-diagnosed. Many pediatricians and family doctors do not know enough about true ADD to make an accurate diagnosis.</p>
<p>It is important to have a professional with the right specialty make the diagnosis. An on-line test is not sufficient.</p>
<p>Twice exceptional is not as rare as you think. It more often than not goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed. Please trust me on this one.</p>
<p>maikai, both of my sons are twice exceptional. They are absolutely brilliant intellectually, and both of them have other deficits, including ADD. For each of them, we didn’t figure out the ADD piece until high school. We did not do this to request extended time or to make them more competitive for college. Neither of them is taking a medication that they can re-sell, because there is also Tourette’s in the family and stimulant ADD meds are contraindicated with Tourette’s. </p>
<p>Both of them were so bright (and so UN-hyperactive) that we didn’t figure it out until later. </p>
<p>I know another very bright young man who was diagnosed by professionals after he bombed out of his freshman year of college. </p>
<p>It happens.</p>
<p>Sad that the OP has disappeared (but I don’t blame her). She asked a straightforward question (and thank you to those who answered it) and the discussion has since deteriorated by some into trolling disbelief that she has ADD. </p>
<p>FWIW, my DD has ADD (inattentive), also has a learning disability, and she is also gifted. She obtained medical help for her ADD the last month of 8th grade, so just before entering high school. I knew she most likely had ADD when she was in elementary school, but it wasn’t until middle school that she began to really need help and not until middle school was almost over that we obtained that help.</p>
<p>MLM,</p>
<p>Your description is a valid reason for late diagnosis. Add “parents in denial” as another factor making the late onset statistics that much more invalid… as minuscule as they already are.</p>
<p>Parents often have a hard time wrapping their brains around their kid’s problem. They think their kid will somehow adjust without meds. It’s important not to blame yourself for delaying aid to your child. What’s important is you finally did! </p>
<p>And be thankful the case is mild enough that your child was able to participate, integrate and learn during elementary school. </p>
<p>I suppose teachers reported your child’s issue to you over the years. Teachers are the “canaries in the coal mine” for ADD. They are also constantly reminded/trained in how to spot the signs. IMHO, it is very rare they miss one. They see so many kids, and armed with the training, it’s easy to for them to play “One of these kids is not like the others.” </p>
<p>I suppose you witnessed certain things yourself, but hoped it would pass. I also suppose your kid didn’t need to take an on-line test and count up how many “yes” answers they had to determine they had ADD. :-/</p>
<p>My guess is the OP is gone because her position was indefensible. </p>
<p>If the OP would have had a story like that, I would have reacted differently. To me, the OP’s story was as clear a case of scamming as I can hear/read.</p>
<p>I understand maikai’s concern, it isnt all that common, but my mom was told that I might have ADD while I was in elementary school. However, it was just one teacher, and my mom thought it was simply my personality! My doctor said I was most likely rejected because we asked for 100% extended time, rather than 50%, which is what she initially recommended. Sorry to cause an uproar! And thank you to everyone for being so understanding!</p>
<p>In regards to my grades? I was fine till around middle school, then literally all my grades began to fluctuate! I went from A’s one semester to F’s the second, and back again! Needless to say it frustrated my parents because I was being to “lazy”. Im not saying I didnt do well only because I had ADD, but I think it had a large factor in my schoolwork. The reason why my mom never pursued the issue was because my test scores were always fairly high, and blamed the grades on my lack of effort. If you have any other concerns regarding my ADD ill be happy to address them.</p>
<p>One more thing. And excuse my english ;), I ****ing hate meds! I hate the idea of relying on a pill to get me through the day, so my Doctor provided another option, in which I would work on the parts of the brain through some kind of computer program. I will not be starting it till the summer, but essentially it is supposed to have the same effect as taking the pill. It’s a healthy alternative because it’s all natural chemicals rather than relying on the chemicals in the pills.</p>