Need advice in appeal with the ACT

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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<p>Here's the situation: My daughter has been diagnosed with ADHD -- we thought it was a problem years ago and had her tested and the neuropsychologist didn't detect anything (though a subsequent neuropsychologist said the first guy's testing was inadequate). Then my daughter had a major vision problem -- she was diagnosed with a rare juvenile degenerative eye disease essentially equivalent to macular degeneration that older folks sometime suffer and in which they lose the cones. It took two years to figure out that this diagnosis was incorrect and a further year to work to correct her vision. For 2 1/2 years, she was pretty close to legally blind. We're fortunate that she can now see, although in that period, we had bigger concerns than ADHD. A school psychologist at her HS suggested that she had ADHD and suggested testing, which we did and sure enough the neuropsych said, "Yep. ADHD. It's obvious." The school gave her 50% extra time and we gave her ritalin after a bit and her performance (and confidence) have soared. The SAT gave her 50% extra time (which reduces her anxiety a lot and helps her concentrate). She took one PSAT with no extra time and a year later with extra time. She didn't do test prep for either. Her scores went up 370 points on a 2400 point basis. </p>

<p>The tricky nature of SAT questions also increases her anxiety and this leads to lack of focus. On the other hand, she likes the straightforward nature of the ACT. However, the ACT folks denied her extra time. I'm appealing and would like your experience/advice.</p>

<p>They raise two arguments:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>A diagnosis does not by itself mean a disability -- this requires that the diagnosed impairment cause a substantial limitation in a major life activity. The fact that she has not performed badly suggests that she does not have a substantial limitation under the ADA. (I think this would change under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which defines concentration as a major life activity, but that law, while passed, has not yet been implemented by the DOJ. Congress was unhappy with the limitations that employers and courts were putting on the intended scope of the ADA and issue legislation amending the ADA to match their original intent.)</p></li>
<li><p>The ADA is not intended to ensure that someone gets a positive outcome or is able to perform at a level commensurate with her ability. It is supposed to provide equal access to prevent discrimination on the basis of disability and it would be unfair to other test-takers to give my daughter accommodations just because they would raise her scores.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>What's interesting to me is that the questions they raise are not about the diagnosis but are policy/legal questions. So my questions for you have more of a policy/legal bent than a neuropsychological bent.</p>

<p>Have any of you had to deal with these two arguments? If so, how have you done so?</p>

<p>It seems to me that my daughter spends the vast majority of her waking day learning -- taking classes and doing homework. School starts shortly after 8 and she is rarely done with her work before 10:30 PM and often does homework until midnight. So, learning is the major activity our society has given her in life. She was doing OK in school before the extra time/medication and is now doing much better. Freshman year was B's and likely a C. Junior year is mostly A's. So, the lack of time interfered with her learning, but did not eliminate it. What is the most effective argument (other than Congress's newly stated intent, which they'll ignore since the new law hasn't been implemented) that ADHD poses a substantial limitation.</p>

<p>Secondly, it seems almost hypocritical to argue that the purpose of accommodations is not to improve performance because, if there were no improvement, they would argue that there was no need to give the accommodation. But, there is a hurdle, which is that the accommodation needs to eliminate a disadvantage rather than create advantage. Any thoughts on the most effective argument here?</p>

<p>Thanks for your advice or sharing of experience. </p>

<p>Posts that argue that ADHD is not a disability or deserving of accommodation would be off topic here. As such, if you are feeling like you need to make that kind of post, feel free to post on one of several other threads already open that deal explicitly with this contention. For example, feel free to post here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/235928-add-adhd-way-over-diagnosed.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/235928-add-adhd-way-over-diagnosed.html&lt;/a>. Thanks.</p>

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<p>shaw: I’m going to send you a PM when I have time…I don’t think this is a policy issue fwiw…I’ll get back to you later this afternoon.</p>

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<p>rodney, I haven’t received a PM, which could be because you’ve been busy or because my mailbox was full. I’ve cleaned out a few spaces.</p>

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<p>I stopped by the school Thursday to talk to my son’s IEP coordinator and ask about standardized testing in the fall and to find out what I needed to do regarding extended time and to thank her because she’s been helping my son with a quiet place to take exams and small things like that. She told me that she was planning on filing for the extra time and stuff for him and she’d keep me posted regarding what if anything we need to do. Whoot. Whoot. I love it when the school is ahead of me. I may be back crying on everyone’s shoulder in the fall but for now I’m going to set that anxiety aside. Good luck with your appeal Shawbridge, your experiences are both good lessons and much consolation at times.</p>

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<p>Well, did a bit of work figuring out what categories they needed to have addressed. Modified what I was sending in (long letter from me putting things in context, reports from several psychologists over the years, eye doctor letter, teacher letter from middle school, teacher/advisor letter from HS, grade reports (with teacher comments) from middle school and HS, PSAT scores with and without accommodations, and some other stuff). I hope they enjoy reading.</p>

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<p>Would like to know how this went for you, my daughter has a diagnosed Reading and processing deficiency learning disabilities and was just denied extra time by ACT. She was diagnosed in 4th grade and recomfirmed just this last year. She has recieved time accomidation in the school (k-12 private school) since the 4th grade, we send in all current testing and was still not approved, apparently she is not really disabled according to the ACT. Any advice on appeals by you or anyone else reading this thread?</p>

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<p>The ACT folks granted my daughter accommodations for 50% extra time as requested. I sent them lots of stuff [actually 20 separate documents including 2 reports from current neuropsych, two from earlier neuropsych, test result from school psychologist, letter from advisor describing the deficits they saw and the improvements they see with extra time, letter from middle school teacher and admissions director on why they admitted her and the issues they saw once she was there, narrative grade reports from middle school and high school, detailed PSAT results without extra time last year and with extra time this year showing a 370 point improvement w/o studying, etc., and an explanation of the medical problems she had that masked our attention to the problem earlier].</p>

<p>She is ecstatic and I am very pleased.</p>

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<p>Thanks for getting back and sharing. I was going to ask if your daughter had an IEP or if you kept the history documenting the original diagnosis. Since your daughter has been on medications, it seemed pretty clear that you should have had the documentation.</p>

<p>The ACT folks do require a bit more than Collegeboard, but I have to tell you, dealing with the ACT people, even with their more intensive review, is (to me anyway), the difference between Heaven and H e l l. I will not go into it here, but, along with many other problems with Collegeboard, they lost one of my son’s SAT II tests, and he had to retake it with less than one day to prepare. We were not happy campers, and you can imagine my son’s added stress, even with the extra time. It did not go well.</p>

<p>The ACT, my son found, was a LOT less stressful than the SATs. When students have LD or ADD or ADHD, the SAT can be a huge problem, whereas the ACT is better suited to they way these students focus and learn. Can make all the difference in the world.</p>

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<p>UCLA77, my daughter did not have an IEP because she has been at private schools since 6th grade and testing prior to 6th grade was either non-existent or inadequate. [She had a major-league medical problem for grades 4-7 – vision loss – and we were concerned about getting her vision back before we worried about LDs, although it seemed pretty evident that there was an issue of some kind waiting to be identified. [She did have a 504 plan for the vision issues, but that problem was solved completely].</p>