Venting: Denied Accommodations

@roycroftmom, to clarify- teachers have commented that ds’s knowledge goes beyond what is exhibited in his writing. They do not alter his grades or test him orally in the sense that he is given grade boosts due to oral exams. They have asked him about details that he did not address and informed us in an effort of better understanding his issues. These teacher’s are familiar with his disability as well as accommodations, and also our appeal to have the CB grant the use of a computer. This is quite different from his middle school teachers who routinely gave him graded oral exams.

I think you have missed the point of his accommodations and need for the use of a computer. With the use of a computer he can type at a speed much faster than he is capable of writing. His thoughts and ideas flow at a much faster speed than he can physically write. Due to the writing disability this creates a huge log jam of information. He is given this in school, and has been using this accommodation throughout high school. To be denied it for the College Board exams is a serious disadvantage. He will be granted the use of a computer in college to take tests, I am quite sure of this. So it is really unfortunate that for SAT or AP tests, he has been denied.

DS is managing to maintain honors and AP courses and strong grades. He will not be seeking a college where he can take (or where he needs) oral exams as an accommodation. He is not seeking to ‘maximize’ test scores any more than any other student. He is simply wishing to have an opportunity to show what he knows.

Oh that makes more sense. Can he take the tests without the essay part and have his counselor explain why?

Unfortunately not for AP tests. He was granted the use of a computer for the ACT. He will have to take the ACT again, with writing, and make sure this accommodation is given next time.

Following up with information regarding the ACT score reports noting the location of testing. I spoke with someone at ACT today. They were made aware of the issue last summer and changed the score reports. While the website still shows a sample of an old score report (2016-2017), the new score reports no longer include information on the testing site for student privacy reasons. I have not seen a copy of the new report.