S17 was diagnosed with ADHD spring of sophomore year. We have never requested any accomdations. He has always struggled with finishing tests on time. Prior to medication, reading in particular was a huge challenge as the classes got tougher. I guess I should thank AP world for forcing the issue lol.
We were under the impression that because his grades were “ok” (not stellar, A’s & B’s with an occasional C) from the schools perspective, and that since his course load was moderately rigorous, he would like not be accomdated with extra test time.
Grades have improved with medication and it is less of an issue with test finishing in school and the rigor is greater this year. However that extra time would really really help him on the ACT.
I’d been told since he doesn’t have accomdations at school he wouldn’t get it for the test. Should we try to get it at school and then see? He is taking it again in June and bumping that score up could make a nice difference in aid at a few of the schools on his list.
I know he would really like that for the ACT but may not want it at school. Thoughts?
We are starting the process for my son who is 14. I have been told that unless you have had accomidations written into your son’s schooling (IEP or 504 plan) AND there is evidence he has been using them, it will be extremely difficult to obtain accomidations from the ACT or SAT.
Our GC has told us to gather as much information as we can going as far back as we can, which for my son is 3 years old. We have records of end of year testing and regular classroom testing accommodations. This is the kind of thing they are looking for.
Your chance of getting accomidations will probably be pretty low. It never hurts to try, but I would not count on it. Also, getting it by June may be tough. My son is heading into high school, and we are starting the process now in anticipation of the PSAT and AP tests.
Like I said, you can try. Why not speak to whoever deals with accomidations at your high school. They would have experience with this.
I chatted with the GC today. Honestly I don’t think even if we had tried it earlier we would have gotten anywhere but the likelihood of anything is pretty much slim to none. Had we done this earlier possibly but it would need to go pretty far back and he would have to have a 504 which frankly, despite him definitely needing the medication and it helping, I don’t think he would ever have qualified for based on grades alone. Behavior in Elementary…maybe. He could have really used the accommodations in AP World last year but for the most part, in class, is ok this.
It was worth a shot. Would definitely help with AP and ACT. All the GC had to say was that hopefully they will look at the rigor. Which honestly doesn’t help his specific goals which would be hitting thresholds for merit aid but still, it was worth exploring.
Students with 504 plans often have a disability such as ADHD that does not hamper them in earning decent grades, even on tests, but are granted accommodations because the disability presents a functional limitation that keeps them from performing on tests as well as they might. As an example, a student attending an academically rigorous high school had a reading disorder, but had not used accommodations. I asked him how he read his textbooks and literature. He said he first read the text as well as he could, often aloud and several times. He had difficulty reading fluently which compromised comprehension. He the met with a tutor two days and worked on getting through the text efficiently enough to increase reading speed and develop comprehension of the material. This was a time-consuming effort. He then read and re-read the chapter until he could identify key points and supporting data. His effort was extraordinary and time consuming and a bad, in my estimation,use of his time and talent. He would not have the time to read questions on college-admissions tests to perform at a level commensurate with his knowledge and abilities. His paperwork was developed and organized concurrently with the school granting extended time under a 504 plan. ET was granted for the test.
If there is no history of extended time as a school accommodation, then getting extended time is a difficult process that may result in several denial and may ultimately never be approved. However, it isn’t impossible. First, get a 504 plan in place at school. As an example, a good student with an orthopedic disability affecting the hand and thus writing would likely be granted extra time because generating responses to tests and writing papers would be difficult, even painful, and would take a long time to accomplish. Why should the example student and maybe even your son earn grades on a limited amount of test questions answered.
After extended time is granted at school, you need, actually your son needs, to monitor productivity in answering test questions with extended time. There are scads of kids with ADHD whose attention and related ADHD problems persist and interfere with test taking despite extended time. The idea that the mere presence of extended time will result in kids with ADHD rejoicing and making good use of the extra time is silly. The very same issues that make standard time a problem often carry over into extended time.
In reality, extended time may not result in the better scores. Kids with ADHD don’t respond to slow down, take your time, think, pay attention, etc. If they did they would probably not have the diagnosis or take medication. Acquiring skills in test taking and time management, learning how to calm yourself are critical in successful use of extended time.
Finally, the totally fundamental criterion for successful use of extended is content knowledge. Extended time does not enable a student to answer test questions about information he has never learned. I have spent many years watching students stare at the ceiling hoping that the answer fairy will descend from the ceiling and answer test questions over unfamiliar information. Successful extended time depends on content knowledge!
@zannah thank you for your thoughtful response. His accuracy is quite good on tests, he just cannot finish. However, you are correct in that extended time is no guarantee of improved scores. Your story of the child with the reading disorder made me wince. S would take hours and hours to try to get through his AP world text book reading and simply couldn’t retain the content. At all. It was truly the catalyst that brought him to a diagnoses and medication. In speaking with his GC, based on grades and rigor of his classwork she does not feel he will be able to obtain a 504 at this point, that even getting that would be an uphill battle and that should that be successful, his chances of accommodation at the ACT (or SAT) are slim to none. She rarely sees it granted.
If you have educational testing that identifies a learning disability and shows a significant difference in performance between timed and untimed tests (you must have this data through educational testing) you have a chance at extended time–it used to be easier to get extended time from SAT than ACT, don’t know about now. However, ADHD alone usually won’t qualifiy–needs to be an LD as well.
Many LD’s can be comorbid and hidden with ADHD; testing can be an eye opener and a real aid in understanding underlying problems. It’s best to get someone who knows how to test for the type of data SAT is looking for–there were many pages of scores from different subtests in my DD’s private testing, because SAT likes quantitative data. She went to a private religious high school without 504/IEP’s or a Special Ed/Resource program, but the testing data laid out her LDs and need for extended time on tests, so approval was uncontested.
She tested late freshman year so it would cover PSAT, AP and SAT tests. Her University accepted same testing for extended time in college. It was costly, but a good long-term investment.
@eandesmom, ask your school psychologist to perform the testing (in writing, signed in blue ink). The person giving the test can influence the outcome, since some of the scoring is subjective, so school-based testing is avoided by some.
We were lucky in that DD’s high school, which was a small religious private school with no psychologist, gave us two names of psychologists specializing in educational testing with high school aged kids.
If they hadn’t known anyone, I would have asked at our home public high school, even though DD wasn’t attending–and I think they would have had a referral list.
In 2nd grade, DD had testing with the public school-based psychologist, and that was fine–it just took about 4 months to get it arranged that first time.
The public school testing, which she had in 5th grade as well, consisted of 5 or 6 overview tests, which can generally identify the LD’s but not provide a lot of understanding. There are subtests for some of those overview tests that dig deeper, and provide a better understanding of the learning disabilities. The public school doesn’t do the subtests, because they require additional expenditures. DD tested twice in the public school system, and twice in the private sector. All the testing identified LD’s, but the private testing explained more of what was going on and what might help, thanks to the subtests.
Sometimes we felt so lost not knowing where to get the information we needed, or find the resources–it was absolutely no fun. It did pay off for her, and she is surviving college, so I’m glad we persevered.
I would suggest talking to the person in charge of special ed at your S’s school. For us the testing accommodations were pretty seamless, as D has always had an IEP and has a diagnosis. But it was definitely the sped teacher who got everything going, not the GC or psychologist. It probably is too late now and I know D’s teacher said the ACT is harder to get accommodations with than the SAT. Even with D’s background, she wasn’t 100% sure they’d come through, but luckily they did. If your S doesn’t get accommodations hopefully he is at least accustomed to not having extra time. Best of luck either way.
Thanks. I really don’t think we will get anywhere with the school itself, GC made that pretty clear. They feel his grades and test scores and rigor demonstrate he does not have enough of an issue for support. In fact, they don’t “see” an issue.
I also know that S would have nothing to do with voluntary private testing, he does not want attention called to anything.