does study disability like dyslexia affect my chances at top schools?

AnonyMom
Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:04:56 +0000

I have two suggestions. I’m not sure they’ll work, but worth a try. Email the divisions of the ETS/College Board and ACT for students with LD’s. Explain that you are a native Hebrew speaker in Israel, were diagnosed with dyslexia using tests A, B, and C that are standardized for Hebrew-speakers, and given accommodations at such and such Israeli high school in the years D, E and F based on data from those tests. State that you wish to be retested for accommodations on standardized admissions tests and for accomodations at the university level, and hope that it will be acceptable to the ETS and ACT if you use these same tests A,B and C that are (I assume) standardized and normed for native Hebrew speakers. Ask them if this will be acceptable, stating that you will be willing to have the testing report translated into English by a certified translator. Hopefully, this will work. (The ETS and the ACT might respond differently, so be prepared.)

Second, if you have to be tested for dyslexia in English using American test instruments – which is, IMHO, completely ridiculous, if different instruments exist in your own language – try contacted the American Psychological Association at [American Psychological Association](http://www.apa.org) and ask if they have members in the division for educational or school-based psychology or psycho-educational testing with office addresses in Israel. This might give you a list of people who are able to test you using the instruments listed on the ETS/College Board website.

Good luck!