To tell or not to tell, that is the question

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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<p>Oh…didn’t know you haven’t notified the school about the ADD diagnosis…well, in my opinion, it could not hurt to tell the school; there are many, many kids in school with ADD with and without IEP’s and accomodations…if it hasn’t affected his schoolwork, then the GC would have no reason to mention on his recommendation…</p>

<p>that being said, not sure your school would “be on board” to help you request the “extra time” accomodation on the SAT without that accomodation being necessary in his normal schoolwork…</p>

<p>and one more thing…you do have to ask yourself if the extra time would really benefit him that much if he doesn’t usually need it…why do you think he would need it now?</p>

<p>If it was my child, I would definitely tell the school…but understand that they might not be overly willing to cooperate…</p>

<p>One more thought: if they do cooperate, the school may want to implement an “extra time” plan when needed for your son, so that there is documentation for the SAT request…</p>

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<p>I would NOT tell a college unless you have proof that it affected your ability to work and you overcame it. About a quarter of the students in my high school class were labeled ADHD, including some of the top students. It is not like dyslexia or a more serious LD to overcome. Many, many highly successful people have it. It sounds like an excuse…not some huge thing you had to surmount. My mother has it and has 2 Ivy degrees. If you were autistic or something that would be different but adhd is just too, too common. </p>

<p>Also, if you are applying to really competitive colleges, they want people who will be really successful - why give them a reason to think you have an issue when you are doing well in school? Again, I think too many people have it to give you any advantage.</p>

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<p>Anyone have an opinion on whether I should tell?
My GPA in 9th grade was a 3.75ish, 10th was a 3.8 or so but junior year I was diagnosed and got a 3.9 UW. The main difference is that I increased course rigor dramatically. I went from taking just honors english to 4 APs and an honors class senior year. My problem is that colleges might see my intense senior year workload as me shaping up to get into college. In reality, my adhd prevented my work from being done quickly and as a result increased my stress levels ( so I didn’t take APs ). </p>

<p>I’ve never had any accommodations/extended time and I have no IEP. I have been diagnosed by a psychiatrist and I am on medicine but that’s all. I’m wondering if by noting that I have ADHD they would assume that I’ve had accommodations/extended time and maybe lessen my SAT score ( which would be higher if I had extended time obviously ). Could this be resolved by saying that I have no accommodations/extended time in extended info? Can they check that? Thanks!</p>

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<p>Nice username.</p>

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<p>I’m currently getting tested for adult adhd (since I’m already 18), and I’m applying to universities this year. When I was 16, my high school counselors suggested I get tested for adhd, but I waited two years before I met with a psychologist.</p>

<p>I want to write about my adhd in my college essays, but I haven’t been officially diagnosed yet. However, it takes months to get tested for adult adhd, I won’t have any results until my applications have already been submitted.</p>

<p>On my essays, can I mention how I’m currently testing for adhd, and then talk about how it has affected me (provided I give concrete examples of why I think I have adhd)? Or would that make me sound delusional?</p>

<p>Any advice is appreciated.</p>

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<p>Michelina – If you suspect your child will EVER want or need accommodations at University then I strongly suggest getting the IEP in place NOW and using the extra 20 minutes on the SATs. I suggest this only so that you have the OPTION to request accommodation if needed (but I do feel LD students deserve to show their true capability on “standardized” tests as well).</p>

<p>My s. was very adamant about NOT getting a 504 (although he had long ago been diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder, severe) because to his mind (and in truth) he was also “gifted” (and as he points out, they don’t TAKE AWAY minutes for that.) He gained entrance to a G/T Magnet school that was very competitive, so he just felt accommodation inappropriate (and I think he was afraid we’d all make him wear the headset…). He managed a rigorous courseload without official compensation (and probably took twice as long as his peers on every single thing he did; ), scored well on his standardized tests (but notably did not FINISH some…still a 34 in Eng. ACT but lower math even though math is typically his “highest/fav” grade but always takes longer to process…) etc. At the same time (ironically) he chose to disclose his CAPD as an example of overcoming adversity (treating the condition as a gift, which in a way it is, because it has also given him super-hearing, which has been very handy for musical composition pursuits, sound engineering, etc…)</p>

<p>In retrospect, we’ll see how he feels about his decision to NOT get a 504 in place during HS now that he’s learned it’s more difficult to opt out of the language requirement for the degree he seeks at the university he chose. His counselors are going to bat for him (he can’t follow conversational foreign language due to processing speed lag) but of course the party line is that if you didn’t receive the accommodation in HS, you’re not really eligible to receive it at this particular school without a lot of re-evaluation, adult neuropsych testing, etc. All of which takes time and costs money, neither of which are abundantly available to him at the moment.</p>

<p>So, if I had the opportunity of a do-over, I would have more strongly encouraged the compensation just to have the easiest option available for him at university. I am confident he will work out whatever he needs to, but his free time will be the casualty. An upper-level language requirement is just pure torture for a CAPD kid, pure and simple.</p>

<p>On whether or not to disclose, I guess my thoughts on that at the time were that his decision was risky but if his top pick couldn’t see that what was valuable about him was “who he chose to be about it” then he’d be better served elsewhere. And he did beat the odds, gain admission and scholarship to his school of choice under his own power.</p>

<p>Hope this is helpful.
Cheers,
K</p>

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<p>On a more serious note, I was thinking of a writing an essay on oncoming such challenges myself. I will often uncontrollably start walking in circles when doing homework, causing it take longer, as an example. Though I wonder if the admissions crew will think that that counts as whining. >.></p>

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<p>Haha mamooie312! I don’t walk around while doing homework but whenever I am talking to someone I tend to walk around the couch or chair they’re sitting in. I also don’t like sitting down for eating. It’s not uncontrollable, I just find myself doing it if that makes sense ( I don’t consciously initiate it but I usually become aware that I am doing it and can choose to stop if I choose to .) </p>

<p>I don’t think putting ADHD up as a huge disadvantage is a good idea for an essay. I would think that mentioning that you did not receive extended time while taking the SAT might be worthwhile. I have pretty severe ADHD but I have never thought of any potential accommodations that could be made. Extended test time to me feels like cheating because that is a large portion of the test, answering questions without having time to think about it. There are no extended test times for life, remember that ;). Also to those who have more serious disabilities I don’t think that extending the time is cheating, I just was saying that people with ADHD should try to minimize special treatment. Maybe I’m just weird haha.</p>

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<p>This question may be somewhat off-topic; feel free to ignore me ;). Why are so many of you mentioning opting out of language requirements? I am severely ADHD (really, not just an “overdiagnosis”). My favorite classes are French and Spanish, and I almost always make 100s on my assignments and exams. Is this abnormal? My weakness is in math. By the way, I have an RTI and extended time for tests; is it possible to get accommodations on SAT? I think I could get perfect scores if I didn’t spend half my time daydreaming (note: a bit of exaggeration). My counselor said that ACT would give me accommodations, but not SAT.</p>

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<p>This thread is now raising several important but very different questions. I want to respond to the question of whether to request accommodations whenever there is a diagnosis that might justify them.</p>

<p>I come at this from the perspective of a parent with a child for whom accommodations are always, across the board, on almost all academic tasks, a necessity if he is to succeed in school. Simply put, with accommodations, top student in both hs and college, consistent with his IQ and individually administered achievement testing. Without accommodations, tests are failed. It is not an A minus versus B plus kind of a situation. Teachers noticed the problem and early in his education and provided accommodation on their own without calling it accommodation. Later on, new school, teachers noticed and recommended/insisted that we get him tested asap. The thing is, the need for accommodations kind of jumped off the table and hit you in the face. </p>

<p>I realize that with some kids, the issues manifest in more subtle ways, but my sense is that if you’re agonizing about whether your kid needs accommodations, you really should be talking with the neuropsychologist who did the psycho-educational testing that resulted in the kid’s diagnosis to see specifically what kind of accommodations, if any, would be helpful, and having that psychologist explain exacly why each of the recommended accommodations is needed. The neuropsychologist should also be able to make recommendations to your child about techniques and strategies to facilitate learning given the specific (excuse me, PC police) disability.</p>

<p>To my mind, having an LD that calls for accommodation is not about needing 20 more minutes on the SAT, but is a more global problem that always exists (or always exists with certain kinds of academic tasks) and always calls for an accommodation that the student will always request and use. </p>

<p>I realize that with some LD’s, medication is an issue, and a student’s need for accommodation may vary depending on the effetiveness of the medication regimen at any given time. And for others, there may be ways to overcome some aspects of the LD, or a developmental progression. But especially if you are talking about a diagnosis that was given by the pediatrician, do get input that stems from exhaustive testing that tells you how the diagnosis affects your child in terms of a variety of academic tasks and situations, at the time of the test battery. It might be that extra time will be counterproductive, resulting in the child going back through test items, getting anxious and bored and changing initial correct responses, or that having an SAT that takes longer than the already longer sitting will exacerbate focus problems by the end of the four or five hours. It might be that what the child actually needs is tests given in a quiet, distraction-free setting. Or as needed breaks. Or the test administered over several days in shorter sittings. Or larger print. Or the use of a keyboard. A good neuropsychologist will be able to observe the child during individualized testing, interpret test results with sensitivity to your child’s specific needs, and will also (with your release) be able to communicate with teachers to get a sense of what is going on in the classroom. </p>

<p>The notion that even though the child doesn’t need accommodations now, you ought to try to get them (and get the child to use them!) just in case if at some point in the future the child runs into a task on which he does need accommodations, they’ll be in place, just doesn’t make sense to me. </p>

<p>The big proviso, though, is that if the child hasn’t had accommodations pursuant to some kind of written plan in place for a period of time, the ETS and ACT tend to deny requests for accommodation. Parents who strongly suspect that their child has an LD and would greatly benefit from accommodation, but who are avoiding formal testing and diagnosis out of a desire not to label or stigmatize their child, should be aware of this. If your child really does need accommodation but you don’t act until the end of high school, you could be harming your child in terms needed accommodation being unavailable on SAT/ACT exams – even if the need is very well documented.</p>

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<p>Personally, I want to go in there with his IEP and justified services letter from the district, with my middle fingers blazing.</p>

<p>There are services, and there are services, and you never know which colleges have GOOD people in charge until you visit them. I went to one school and the guy in charge said “oh, he can get in line with the 500 or so other students who want extended time”. Another said, “if he has ANY problems, he should see me immediately. We’ll also give him prioritized scheduling, (yadda yadda” The latter one also told me he needed to have justification (not just his Asperger’s) for each specific service he wanted, i.e. he is distracted easily, so he needs extended time and a quiet room for tests. Each Specific Service.</p>

<p>So if you don’t disclose, and you don’t visit the people in charge of services, you don’t get to know which school had which for the A-hole. I’m not stacking the deck against him from the beginning.</p>

<p>Oh, and both of those schools were in the State U system of a certain state.</p>

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<p>Hi, Do you mind my asking, where did your son choose to attend? Thanks.</p>

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<p>Reply to #15 Shawbridge, Do you mind my asking, where did your son choose to attend? Thank you.</p>

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<p>Would admissions think the reason they did better was because of medication like the stigma with adhd meds (ritalin, concerta, et al.) that they are “brain boosters” and improve everyone’s grades. Would telling admissions make them think the only reason your high scores are because you were taking drugs?</p>

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<p>I would strongly advise against not disclosing ADD or ADHD. Some learning disorders are better accepted by colleges than others, but these days colleges are highly tuned into Ritalin and Adderall being abused by students, and are leery about admitting students who may be on such drugs. There are some schools that will accommodate learning differences once a student is accepted, and some that will not. But they would prefer to not take a student who may need services when they can take a student who will not. Especially top colleges – they get to choose the best of the best, and will find any reason to reject a student. The middle tier colleges may be more amendable to taking a student with Learning Disorders if they have outside attributes – such as athletic achievement or lots of volunteerism. It is NOT required to disclose any medical or psychological disorder, and to do so may well be to your detriment. Colleges look for diversity in ethnicity, NOT in disabilities – even if you can show overcoming the disability. Good Luck!!</p>

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<p>I agree – I have had one son accepted by several schools, and the next one rejected by all but his safety. They have similar test scores, reasonably similar grades, though the second has fewer ECs. But, S2 talked abt “Overcoming my disability” on his app, and S1 did not. Colleges are all about overcoming financial or social stresses, and stay away from students with learning disabilities. They know these students have a higher likelihood of failing or needing support, or dropping out. They do not take a risk when they can choose a student who is more likely to succeed. It is a shame, because I know that S2 has so much to give, and has worked so hard to get anywhere… sigh. We hope he will thrive at his safety – it may work out to be better than going to a more competitive school and struggling.</p>

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<p>My kid has ADD, good ACT’s (31 composite), but a low GPA. He is very bright, high IQ, extremely high scores in reading and comprehension. He is in a NYC prep without accommodations. He works hard and is not lazy, but distractible. I know that he probably won’t get into the school of his choice unless there is an explanation. I’ve been told the essay is not a good place to reveal this. What’s the best thing to do? </p>

<p>I read one book that suggested the parents send a letter with neuropsych test results directly to the admission office after the common app is submitted. I have a meeting with his college counselor next week. My kid applying ED to increase his chances of getting admitted. Kind of between a rock and a hard place. What exactly should the letter say?</p>

<p>Do admissions people just groan when they see kids like this? My son seems to think he will get into his top pick. I’m very worried.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry nobody answered you. I have worse fears: my son goes to a special ed school and i think we need to disclose. It terrifies me. I’ve posted in three threads (maybe four) about this, as we finish up the common app. We’re intending to “disclose” in the “is there anything else we should know about you?” section at the end of the Common App. If anybody has any advice, please don’t be shy!</p>

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<p>DMel: Isn’t your son’s school helping with college selection and application process? Will school’s name flag your son’s potential need for services? Some students who expect continuation of past accommodations in college are denied for various reasons: revised eligibility thresholds, outstripped availability, insufficent documentation to confirm disability, administrative disorganization, or lack of actual ability to implement services, etc. Private schools aren’t required to meet prior accommodations; public schools aren’t always able to meet need. Your son may need services confirmed before he arrives on campus, and will want to determine level of available AND accessible services in selection process.</p>

<p>Some colleges/universities self-identify as LD-friendly schools with experienced LD staff, many accommodations, and broad coverage. There are also federally-funded TRIO programs, which includes LD students, to specifically address student retention-related issues with accommodations and counseling for LD students. This includes Aspergers kids. These schools welcome such students.</p>

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<p>Thank you for responding. My son doesn’t want accommodations in college. But his school name WILL most likely be a flag (it’s a little-known private school, which I imagine the colleges are going to look up) and we have been advised by various experts to ‘disclose,’ even though his high school says that some kids disclose and some don’t and they would not advise us either way.</p>

<p>I’m really nervous about this. His essay (addendum to the common app) talks about how he has learned to work independently via learning various strategies. And it’s true. We didn’t say anything about medication. He’s NOT on it. But I didn’t even want him to mention that. But I’m very anxious about ALL of this, especially as some of his applications are due in ONE WEEK. </p>

<p>I’m pretty much a wreck about this. It could go either way. I really don’t know what the answer is. If “disclosing” turns out to ruin his possible acceptances I’m going to feel HORRIBLE.</p>

<p>UGH</p>