<p>All right, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia when I was 8. This is how I got extended time:</p>
<p>1) went to my councilor and requested a 504 plan sheet
2) me, my mom, my councilor, and the special education director filled in the 504 plan.
3) the 504 plan alone got me 1.5x time on the prarie state test, which is the ACT taken at our school, most colleges accept this score.. I don't know if other schools do or not.. However, it's harder to get it for the national test dates
4) after that I had my doctor write a letter stating why I needed extended time on letterhead paper.
5) my councilor put that letter in my ACT packet with the registration form and a copy of my 504 plan and sent it to a different location than the standard ACT registration spot. They have their own address, the normal ACT place doesn't deal with extended time applicants.</p>
<p>Well that's how I got it, if anyone has any questions feel free to post. The one and a half time should help plenty! :]</p>
<p>Yea, I know.. but it allows a great advantage for anyone who qualifies. It doesn't matter to me, I'm going to do whatever I can to do the best I can.</p>
<p>So you think that its fair that a kid who can only make it to question 15 out of 24 in 25 minutes should still have the same time restrictions as someone who can finish that same section with time to spare?</p>
<p>So you think its fair that a kid who can only make it to question 15 out of 24 in 25 minutes should still have the same time restrictions as someone who can finish that same section with time to spare?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yea, that is not fair any way you see. Right? on the SAT it took me so long to finish. when got my score back, i was amzed however.</p>
<p>screw fairness. The SAT/ACT are standardized tests. Meaning the time constraints should be standardized or equal for everyone. Its ******** for anyone to get extra time, that just defeats the purpose of a STANDARDIZED test. Furthermore, the point of the SAT is to measure achievement or intelligence if such a measurement is possible. In the real world you're not guna have extra time to complete your job. If you work for a prestigious law firm and ur case is tomorrow the judge isnt just gunna let you have an extra week to prepare bc u have a "learning disability". If you write for the new york times, your boss isnt guna say "its alright if you don't finish ur column by tomorrow bc of ur learning disability, the sunday paper will just come out on tuesday, no worries." Not to mention kids who have extended time aren't even required to indicate that on applications--Thats unfair. Colleges should know what they're getting.</p>
<p>The kids with the learning disabilities will adapt in real life, if they want to succeed. Which they do, just as you do.
If the boss says at 5 p.m. "have it on my desk by tomorrow morning" they won't go to dinner but will use the extra 2 hours so they meet the deadline. The kid without the disability knows he can eat, start at 7 p.m., and finish the work on time.
A learning disabled student might have a very high level of intelligence, but has the equivalent of fudge clogging up the brain. Well, not fudge, but neurochemical misfires in the brain. Your smart brain is triggering and firing nice and smooth. Theirs is a good piece of brain equipment but the triggers are built jammed-up. You're both entitled to your thoughts; but for the learning disabled kid, some of whom might even have genius IQ, extra force has to be exerted each time to get the trigger over the jam.
Don't envy them their lousy extra half-hour. They have to make it look like it's no problem when somebody rattles off street directions and you "get it" but they have to jot it down, ask for a repetition, or get lost on the way but cover it up by saying they had to stop at the drugstore...
You have compassion, and if you saw a kid with a twisted leg who wanted to compete in a marathon, you'd let him start a half hour before you, no?
Also, learning disabled kids with big issues about doing things under timed circumstances won't choose professions where quick-turn-around-time is required. A kid who can write well, but needs extra time to summon the thoughts, will be guided into a profession like college teaching (do you know or care how long it takes your professor to prepare the lecture at home? Of course not...as long as the result is good the next day when you hear it).
That person wouldn't likely want a job writing at a newspaper or TV station where everything has to be performed quickly under timed pressure.
A standardized SAT test is to predict the college success of future college professors AND newspaper/TV writers.</p>
<p>SAT's don't measure intelligence, anyway; they're not IQ tests.</p>
<p>They test you ability to reason, so are the (so far) most reliable predictor of college performance, academic success. How the student will compensate, in his own room by studying extra long hours to be at the same place as you in fewer hours, means you can both "succeed" if you get the same score, and if both of you try and do what you need to.</p>
<p>OF course, if an LD-ADHD kid doesn't do the extra steps necessary once you andhe get to college (he'll study extra long, read the notes or listen to them on tape, whatever it takes), he'll also tank. That's fair.</p>
<p>"i dont think its fair
unless someone has mental retardation</p>
<p>and
i think their should be bonus time not unlimited"</p>
<p>"screw fairness. The SAT/ACT are standardized tests. Meaning the time constraints should be standardized or equal for everyone. Its ******** for anyone to get extra time, that just defeats the purpose of a STANDARDIZED test. Furthermore, the point of the SAT is to measure achievement or intelligence if such a measurement is possible. In the real world you're not guna have extra time to complete your job. If you work for a prestigious law firm and ur case is tomorrow the judge isnt just gunna let you have an extra week to prepare bc u have a "learning disability". If you write for the new york times, your boss isnt guna say "its alright if you don't finish ur column by tomorrow bc of ur learning disability, the sunday paper will just come out on tuesday, no worries." Not to mention kids who have extended time aren't even required to indicate that on applications--Thats unfair. Colleges should know what they're getting."</p>
<p>How about in the instance of a kid who has a visual disability? There are kids whose brains work just as well as yours but their eyes don't. Convergence difficulties are quite common and cause the person with the disabilty to take longer when reading the written page. They are working so hard just to get their eyes focused on the writing that their comprehension is disturbed. The best situation for a kid like this is some extra time to read and allow for comprehension. As paying3tuitions noted it is no picnic for the kid dealing with the disability. They may have grades just as good if not better than yours, but they need to spend way more time to do assigned reading and their homework. In the end all the extra time is allowing for is for this kid to actually finish the test. They are not going to get any more problems correct because of the extra time, but at least they can get it finished.</p>
<p>My daughter just got time and a half because of Convergence Insufficiency, after a 2-year long battle with the SAT board. Her eyes can't focus on dense text, so she can only get through 1/2 the questions on the Critical Reading. She can do the math and writing fine because the text is not as dense (resulting in a 200 point difference between her math/writing and her reading scores), but on the CR her eyes jump all over the place and become painful. All we asked is that she be allowed to finish the test, because the test is not a race, but an assessment of reading skills and comprehension. If she tanks with extra time, so be it. I've read that the difference in score for a normal kid who gets extra time is negligible, but for a kid with a reading disability it can be huge.</p>
<p>tanyanubin did you get your daughter some glasses to help enlarge the page and take some strain off her eyes? There is a lot of evidence that suggests a slight blue tint to the lense will also help to ease strain while reading. I hope the extra time helps her to complete the test.</p>
<p>I mean you can say what you want, but the bottom line is if a student who is a born athlete should be offered admission bc of their in innate athletic ability, or an under represented minority should be given that extra bonus of URM status in admission, then a student born with a learning disability should also have that count for or against them. I mean admissions committees seek to unveil all the flaws and strengths of an individual in order to measure their worth to a college community. If the characteristics that you are born with i.e IQ, intelligence, race, athletic ability, etc... are all counted as either flaws or strengths, then why not should mental retardation, or dyslexia be coutned as well..it is in fact an aspect of the individual?
Not to mention it is incredibly easy to abuse the option of extra time. I have friends who have extra time on the SAT/ACT only bc ther parents are doctors/pyschologists or payed a fee etc etc...</p>
<p>IBleedHoyaBlue
A learning disability is not mental retardation. A person who is retarded would not be able to complete the SAT test with a successful score no matter how much time you gave them. Retarded children can range in mental ability from a 1 year old to a 10 year old. You need to understand the difference here. Kids with an LD are every bit as capable in their IQ/abiltiy as others. They just can't work as quickly. There is a huge difference. Your posts are insulting and stem from ignorance. Extra time requires a great deal of documentation. People find ways to abuse any system it is an unfortunate reality. Students with a documented disabilty should not be denied the opportunity to demonstrate testing proficiency and gain college admissions because of the poor behavior of a few. Why do you feel the need to come post here anyhow?</p>
<p>In my opinion an online college discussion forum is a place for the discussion of questions of public interest pertaining to college admissions, SAT, and ACT preparation. For this reason I feel the need to come here and voice my opinion. If you are insulted or just flat out disagree with my opinions then I strongly encourage you to voice your disagreement as you have so eloquently done. However, it is my own right to do the same and say what I have to say whether you agree with it or not.</p>
<p>I understand what you mean in your argument, Hoya. In a way, you're almost right, and I support your right to post here. But please consider this: should a blind person be eliminated from college because he cannot take the SAT? Should a person with CP be eliminated because he cannot hold the pencil? Where do you draw that line? How disabled is disabled? When is it ok? If only able-bodied individuals can succeed at taking the SAT quickly enough to score well, should people with disabilities that slow them down just accept a different place in society? I agree that this system is horribly abused. That's why it took 2 years for my D to be approved for extended time. There are far too many people from rich neighborhoods getting extra time who can afford to pay some psychologist or educational lawyer thousands of dollars to document a disability that is not there. Apparently, some wealthy school systems have 30% of their students getting extra time! The ETS then tightens up on the rest of the student population, resulting in denial for lots of kids like my D. As for your point that colleges recruit URMs; they do that in part to widen the class's diversity because exposure to people unlike oneself is part of the educational value of the school, and enriches everyone. Top schools want students from all over the world who are interesting and can contribute to their diversity. Disabled people are in that category as well, in my opinion.
Collegemom---thanks for the tip. I'll try the blue tint. Glasses that magnify don't help, partly because Convergence insufficiency causes her to see 2 images when she wears glasses or looks through binoculars. She can't pull the images together. (she also can't see 3-D movies) She has had 2 rounds of visual therapy, with minimal success. She just reads really slowly, and has to take breaks to prevent too much pain. She inherited this from my husband, who has it so bad that when he tries to hit a baseball it splits into 2 baseballs as it gets close to him. It's not a sight problem. They both have 20/20. It's a vision problem, and there is little that can be done besides visual therapy, which is only partly helpful.</p>
<p>I understand what convergence insufficiency entails. It sounds like your daughter has a very extreme case. In my son's case it only affects his up close reading and the reading glasses help relieve the strain and headaches somewhat. He does not experience the double vision problem. He too has gone through vision therapy with very little improvement. The Dr. would like him to do another round but right now he is not too interested. He wasn't diagnosed until he was 16 1/2 so unfortunatley his reading and vocabulary have suffered somewhat. We have used books on tape for years which really helps. My son also has 20/20 vision. How old was your daughter when she was diagnosed?</p>
<p>I have adhd i admit im the opposite of retarded altho i seriously think some of my classmates r...jkjk</p>
<p>i just need double time and a reader...and i have a bunch of other useless accomidations I never use...</p>
<p>i excell in math and science(accept chem is giving me a little trouble this yr not processing things as quickly...some stuff i get really easilly i get 90+s some stuff i dont get and get early 80s) my reading comprehension sux(it showed on the writing section of psats and reading of rcts which were almost identical in format) but my english grades r Bs(infact i have one of the highest grades in my class b/c i have a very tough grading english teacher nobody has an A) and my History average is an -A) this is this yr sophmore yr was good and freshman yr sucked</p>
<p>I have ADHD and some form of dyslexia or other reading comp problem, but they ended up not formally diagnosing it because I was older and had learned ways to compsate on my own shown by my perfect score on the ACT reading. I was also diagnosis with an anxiety disorder, which my counselor said i should get more time for. Even with all these diagnosises I was still denied extended time. I was told that my previous scores were too high. I ended up doing fairly well on both the ACt and SAT, but i still think its ridiculous that i have the same disgnosises as other people, but i was deemed to "smart" for extra time. If extra time is going to be given out it should be given out regardless of previous scores.</p>
<p>i agree.
i get time and 1/2 on all my tests because of my LD. I was tested through a center and now I make accomodations. i get copies of teacher's class notes and bring tape recorders to class. in college courses this is easily acceptable and that extra time and a half allows me able to finish my tests when others can finish them with regular time. i work hard and study a lot more than many students who get the same grades i do because thats what it takes to get the As I get.
i applied and got accepted for extra time on the SAT and SAT subect tests. But, when i knew i would do better on the ACT, i began studying for that, not knowing that the ACT is very hard to get extra time on. i was rejected and when we called to appeal, they told me that my grades were too high and that although my 12 page report from a learning specialist says that i need extra time in order to get the same grades that other people do - my psat scores and my grades are too high for me to get extra time.
grrrr</p>
<p>and for those who think that LDs are stupid or nonexistant - if only you knew how hard it was to be that person last in the room when everyone else is taking a test, or how people can make you feel when you always have to wait after class to ask questions, or how you have to call a friend to get something explained that is really easy for them and they go "what don't you understand? its so simple." and then getting the answer about two minutes later than everyone else.</p>
<p>i could go on for awhile, but i think you get the point. i do understand that many people get extra time that dont have any LD issues, but that can be said about anything. people dont get extra time so that they can do better, they get extra time so that they can do the same as what other people can do in regular time.</p>