<p>Does anyone else in the world have this problem besides me?</p>
<p>I can't finish anything ever on time, my mom refuses to get me tested for ADD, because she doesn't believe I show symptoms for it. But its one of the hardest things to go through in high school, its affected everything! I can barely, if at all, finish my tests, the SATs are another whole story. And well its just really aggravating!</p>
<p>Mallika, you should talk to your GC. She can talk to your mom, and explain what disadvantages your problem could give, and how you can be helped. I don't know if ADD is your problem. My son who is a good student has the same issue. It is not ADD or anything else. It is the way he works, the way he is, slow and steady. Not bad, in fact good, for many things but a problem for standardized tests. We are working on it.</p>
<p>Mallika, </p>
<p>There are many learning differences other than ADD that make it difficult to finish in the same amount of time as other students. One thing to take a look at is called cognitive processing. A person with a processing problem can be extremely intelligent and do very well in school but may need accommodations from the school, such as additional time on tests, to be able to show what they know. </p>
<p>In our society, the term "slow" is sometimes used as a euphemism for unintelligent, but there are lots of highly intelligent people who have LD's that cause them to do certain things slowly. Many of these LD's have nothing to do with ADD; ADD students may have a hard time finishing because it is hard for them to sustain their attention on the task. But students with processing issues may have not have any problem at all with paying attention and remaining focused and on task for a very long time -- they just can't go quickly on certain tasks. </p>
<p>Your mom could be completely correct about you not having signs of ADD, but you still might have another LD that makes it hard for you to finish. (Especially with smart students, it is easy to go for years without anyone figuring out that there is an LD. But if you see a problem, listen to cptofthehouse and talk with your GC and ask about being tested. It might make a big difference for you if you fully understood what was going on and if your school could help you find ways to cope.)</p>
<p>You should also know that even if you are tested and found to have an LD, this won't go into your record in such a way that your high school will tell colleges. The information will be kept private, like medical records. High schools are not allowed to tell colleges about accommodations either, and colleges are not allowed to ask. Not only that, if you take SAT's with accommodations because of an LD, colleges won't know that either unless you tell them. Sometimes parents worry about testing their kids because they don't want their kid to be labeled. Be sure your mom knows that legally, even if you test with an LD, your hs is not allowed to share this information.</p>
<p>Another thing to know is that colleges have offices to help LD students. Their are LD students in all different kinds of universities, including top tier schools, and yes, the Ivies have offices to support LD students too. </p>
<p>If you have an LD and need accommodation, being testing and getting the right kind of help is going to make it easier for you to be a good student, to keep up your motivation, and to understand your learning style so you can find strategies to help you learn better.</p>
<p>I urge the OP to get some type of testing/diagnosis, but want to warn that HS guidance counselors are not always the right place to start because they have a conflict if interest at play: often at the large publics, the last thing they want is the expense of another LD kid on a 504 plan. If your school has a school psychologist, talk to them. I think they are bound by ethics clauses to help kids in a way that GC's are not. One of my very smart kids ended up testing in the 4th percentile on a processing task, which explained a lot about his math grades! Good luck. Worst case is that you may have to get tested on your own in college or, if you have any money, get yourself tested by an educational psychologist without your mother's blessing. Not finishing IS indicative of some type of LD.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, school psychologists are not bound by ethics to identify and advocate for students with learning problems. Very often school psychologists are either strongly discouraged or prohibited from diagnosing a learning disorder. They have the same conflict of interest as all school staff. The school psychologist's assessment role is to evaluate the student's academic achievement and to see if achievement levels fall at grade/IQ expectation. This method very often misses learning difficulties entirely. I routinely evaluate kids who perform at grade level, but they are at grade level because they work three times as hard as their peers and have parents who work extensively with the child. The diagnosis of learning problems very often requires more extensive testing. Although they don't routinely offer, schools are required by law to provide an independent evaluation when denying services. I would encourage the OP to have her mother ask the school to do an educational assessment. If you are not happy with the results, it is your right to request an independent evaluation that will usually be paid for by the school. Starting a paper trail now will be extremely important if seeking accomodations at the college level.</p>
<p>^^ To clarify a smidge, the role of the school psychologist these days is to see if the child qualifies for services, not to diagnose a learning disability. the school psychologist serves a more of a gatekeeper, to see if the student meets criteria for services, modifications, accomodations, intervention, etc.</p>
<p>In California, teachers can also originate a request for testing by the school district. You can search online for the laws in your state, but there should be a similar provision. Do you have a relationship with a teacher who could start this for you?</p>
<p>In my experience (in CA), teachers are discouraged from referring all but the worst cases for testing. And, if the student is anywhere near grade level performance, it could be difficult. Additionally, the biggest challenge I have faced with my own two highly intelligent, unable to finish homework kids, is that teachers simply believe they are lazy and are not trying hard enough. And that is WITH a diagnosis, so unless the OP is in a district with sufficient funding and an enlightened teaching force, that might be an uphill climb.</p>