ACT vs SAT for dyslexic student

swans004
Tue, 22 May 2012 09:54:11 +0000

Hi there. I’m an SAT/ACT tutor who specializes in ADHD students (and with all of co-morbidity with LD’s, I see a fair number of dyslexic students as well). I also do test accommodations consulting. The available accommodations for the ACT are generally more favorable for ADHD/LD students, but getting them on the ACT is becoming more and more difficult. I’d absolutely recommend pursuing accommodations for both and see what he is able to get. You should start this process as soon as possible (Today!). You’re likely to have to go through appeal, and you want to have some decision by the September and October tests. Talk to his school about the documentation on file to make sure he’s got as much evidence as possible (particularly his IEP/504). He’s running out of time, unfortunately.

I’d also have him start prepping ASAP as well. It’s unfortunate he’s not going to know which test (s) he’s going to be taking for a while. I’d start with the SAT, since he’s probably got a better shot with them. Repeated exposure to the needed material will help him get past the memory deficits. He will want ample time to take his own notes and go over them with parents, tutors or other students to ensure he’s got the right information. I work online, and have found that communicating by text chat rather than (or in addition to) video chat can work well for dyslexic students because they can keep a copy of the text to refer to later. The reading/writing parts of the SAT (add the science section on the ACT), will be the most challenging of course, and he’s going to need lots of time to analyze his mistakes and develop a reading strategy that works for him. I don’t know what his current scores are, or his goals, but in general I’d shoot for an average of three hours a week over the summer to get ready for the fall tests. If you’d like to talk about planning, or help with creating a self-prep plan for him, send me a PM (private message). Best of luck to him!