<p>I found out that children with ADD are allowed extra time on the SAT. I think this is outrageous. I have ADD and never did I feel the need for extra time on my SAT or any other exam compared to other students.</p>
<p>if you don’t need accomodations in high school- you probably won’t need it in college- however some very bright students also have disabilities that are supported by accomodations.
My daughters both have learning disabilties- especially in processing speed. If needed they can take tests home- have extra time- or have the test in a seperate room to help concentration.
If you don’t need accomodations that is great- but why would you want to take that away from other students who do need accomodations?</p>
<p>Students who actually need extra time don’t actually have ‘extra time’ ; for them it is just enough time to get by on what we would be able to do in less. The problem is that in more and more affluent areas, parents and students are discovering ways around the SATs and are being “evaluated” by “doctors” and then qualifying for extra time. In my grade alone (of about 130) about 15 people received extra time, and I’ll bet more than half didn’t need it. The SATs are rife with socio economic inequalities.</p>
<p>I disagree, no one with ADD needs extra time. While I never been diagnosed with ADD, I believe I have a severe case of ADD, so I don’t see why other students with ADD would need extra time on exams when I clearly didn’t. It is unfair to give students with ADD extra time, unless you give every one extra time.</p>
<p>Why do you beleive you have a severe case of ADD when you haven’t needed any accomodations and you have never been diagnosed with ADD?
Both of my daughters were identified while they were in elementary school- I bet that if your parents or teachers had felt that there was a problem that you would have at least been assessed don’t you think?
My younger daughter attended a private school K-2 that had accomodations built into the school day- but by 3rd grade it was clear taht she needed more one on one assistance and she transferred to a public school where she received ( supposedly) special education
My older daughter also attended private school that had built in accomodations, and by dint of extra hardwork and her intelligence was able to get by without accomodations until high school when she began working with the learning coach.
In college she also has a learning coach as well as accomodations- some are available for all, but some she utilizes because her diagnosis calls for it.
To allow accomodations for students with disabilities partially ( in theory at least) brings them to the level where others are starting from- sort of like academic affirmative action I suppose</p>
<p>i know that some rich people abuse this rule by getting a fellow doctor to diagnose them with ADD and then they get like an extra hour to do the test.</p>
<p>Personally, I believe that the kids who need extra time should have it. I also think that it should be noted on the test when extra time is given, which is not the law now, I realize.</p>
<p>I’m sure parents of ADD kids will disagree. The reason I feel this way is that I think that the change in the law (where it isn’t noted on the test) has led to the abuses that many of us are aware of. These abuses hurt the kids that really need the time and make the accommodations seem like some kind of unfair treatment. If only the kids who are diagnosed and have the need got the time, I don’t think you’d hear these objections.</p>
<p>This seems a rather odd thread. VTBoy–since you have never been diagnosed with ADD and have never had difficulty with the SATs or other exams, you may not be in the best position to judge what students who have been diagnosed and do have those difficulties are genuinely going through. The fact that you “believe [you] have a severe case of ADD” doesn’t make you any more of an expert on the subject than Tom Cruise is an expert on post-partum depression.</p>
<p>actually I think if accomodations are given that it should be noted on the test.
I believe when my oldest took the SAT in 1998 and 1999 that it was noted if the test was untimed or extended.
I think that withholding that info from the schools probably does encourage some families to procure a diagnosis that would give the student accomodations in a test situation when they didn’t require it for high school.
I don’t think there is a disadvantage to letting the schools know you need accomodations for an lenghty test. After all if you need those accomodations for the SAT, you will likely need them in college, and you will have to identify schools that have adaquate support services. Hard to do if you are hiding that you have a disability.</p>
<p>I agree, emeraldkity. I also think that many kids with learning disabilites do well at competetive colleges. The year my
D graduated, one of her classmates with ADD was admitted to Harvard. But then, he was an A student with all the accompanying qualifications - a great all-around kid as well. Everyone was happy for him because they knew how hard he worked and how deserving he was-no one I knew resented the little bit of extra time he was given on the SAT. </p>
<p>(I guess I should have said SOME parents with ADD kids will disagree.
)</p>
<p>First off, Tom Cruise is a no post partum expert - he’s never bored a child !</p>
<p>Back to ADD, so many variations and there seemed to be ADD kids with learning disability ( even so a range of disability exists too, from so mild that one can overcome with determination, to severe ) to ADD kids who blows everyone away. I know someone like that and He’s at Harvard too. </p>
<p>This is a tough one and no one solution is fair. Like if ur given extra time to ADD kids who really need it, its unfair to ones who didn’t ask for it and still did well (could they have done better w more time?). </p>
<p>I am leaning toward a system like this. For those truly have been diagnosed, the medical community should come out with classes like class I ADD, Class II…etc. Questions on SAT are scaled back like for Class I you need to answer 18 of 20 math questions, class II (more serious) 16 of 20 math questions. Will that work ? To give more time on the same tests would mean proctors would have to stay longer. And if u have to change portion of SAT, the non-ADD students will have to take a longer break ? That doesn’t work. So a slightly scaled back exam might be the answer.</p>
<p>Are there better solution out there ?</p>
<p>Hey I just thought of another solution. Take same exam, do as many as you can but ADD classed students will be added automatic points. Kind of an affirmative action plan for SAT ? yeah I know this one is full of potential weaknesses, too.</p>
<p>Unrelated: VTBoy, I am sure the reason I did poorly on my last exam was due to my undiagnosed ADD. Get real, man.</p>
<p>As an ADD kid who has never received accomodations, I have no problem with other kids receiving extra time for real disabilities- provided that it’s noted on the score report. I’ve learned to live with and work around my ADD enough so that I no longer take medication (I never exactly wanted it in the first place), but I realize that not all kids are able to do that. There’s no point in forcing them into lower scores, but I do think it’s only fair to let colleges know that their scores were achieved under accomodations.</p>
<p>I agree elizabeth
Even though parents ( and students) worry that if colleges know they need accomodations - justified because that means more services which means more $$$, it will hurt admission chances.
If you need accomodations on a test- but don’t examine what support they offer on campus- you may be getting yourself into a situation where even if you get accepted, you will really struggle or even fail.
Wouldn’t it be better for students to be able to be upfront and find a school that has resources to support them? ( many do)
Some schools don’t have great resources, but I have known other students who have worked hard to expand and advertise what services they do have- at Occidental for example.
Sometimes schools just seem to be unaware of the numbers of students who can excel in college but perhaps need a few extra resources.</p>
<p>First I would like to clarify some issues, some of my teachers did suspect I had ADD, but my parents didn’t want to medicate me or test me for it. I am thankful that they never medicated me because I did fine in school with out medication. </p>
<p>The biggest reason I feel others with ADD shouldn’t get extra time is because I worked hard to overtime my ADD and I don’t see why others can’t overcome there ADD without any medication or being babied. I don’t see why people like to think of ADD as a learning disability when it isn’t. </p>
<p>I am not trying to offend anyone, and I am sorry if I did./</p>
<p>It’s ludicrous to give ADD kids extra time - the point is to see what everyone can do under a standard set of conditions. ADD is a mental DISability, meaning it makes people LESS MENTALLY ABLE than regular people, and therefore on a test designed to measure people’s mental ability this lack of ability should be reflected. Is it fair? No, but neither are most things. </p>
<p>To those who support extra time for ADD kids: would you support giving people with less natural testosterone lower standards for joining the Navy SEALS or Army Rangers because it’s harder for them? Then why do you support doing an equivalent thing for ADD kids?</p>
<p>EDIT: If the extra time is noted on the score report, I’m fine with extra time. It’s just wrong to say that two identical scores represent identical ability if one person needed more time to complete the test.</p>
<p>Another reason I feel it is not fair is because I know someone who doesn’t have ADD, but his ability to gain, process, and remember information is much slower than mines. It would be unfair for me to get extra time on an exam, when I already have an advantage over him when it came to studying the material. However many people advocate that I should get extra time just because I have ADD.</p>
<p>Academic tests are designed to show a students academic skills.
If the test was geared to show processing speed- then extending the test for some and not for all would give inaccurate results.</p>
<p>The SAT is geared to measure critical thinking skills- yes some people will process faster- but faster is not always better in all circumstances including college requirements.
My daughter has been measured as having an overall IQ of 160- comparable to the IQ of Benjamin Franklin and John Locke, however the subsets range from way above her measured age- to below. Clearly an indicator of a disabilty.
She functions fairly well in college- & the college was quite aware of her ADD when they offered her admission.
While scores no longer indicate what conditions were used to administer the test- allowing students who have a processing speed disabiltiy to finish the test with extended time gives the schools more accurate information about their true ability.</p>
<p>As to your question for physically and mentally demanding pursuits as with someone seeking a career in Special Forces, I don’t believe that hormone measures are part of the requirements.
Extra time would not be appropriate in testing say a ocean rescue operation, because that would not be transferable in the field. Someone with lightening reflexes is going to be more successful than someone who has to stop and think about what to do.
However- a college student does have support services available and does have the flexibility to have more time for their studies as indicated.
I am getting the impression that even if the test indicated who was recieving accomodations, that you would be against anyone recieving that even if they did very well. I do think that tests should indicate if the time was extended for the reasons I have given above, and I think that colleges use the SAT as a factor certainly not the only one to gauge how a student will do there.
the SAT is only a tool to possibly gauge how a student will do, many schools don’t even require SATs including some of the most competitive using instead grades, essays and recommendations to determine if a student will thrive.
Yes public schools sometime do just go by numbers, grades and scores, but those schools are also obligated to offer accomodations to students with disabilites.</p>
<p>If processing speed shouldn’t be a factor then why not give everyone as much time as they want.</p>
<p>However many people advocate that I should get extra time just because I have ADD.</p>
<p>I ask for like the 4th time— why do you think you have ADD when you DON"T need accomodations in college- when you DIDN’T need accomodations in high school and you HAVEN’T even been diagnosed?
( I do suspect that you have some sort of disability however- I would expect a college student to have better spelling skills otherwise)</p>
<p>If processing speed shouldn’t be a factor then why not give everyone as much time as they want.</p>
<p>Take that up with the College Board- sounds reasonable to me- but I expect they want some differentation between your average student and the ones that they are legally required to accomodate</p>