I agree that we need to let kids show their strengths. I don't think anything is more frustrating than to have something to say or show and not having a way to express it.
I also agree that we need to help them reach the highest level of functioning they can, within reason. I don't think any child should have to wait to show what they know if there is a reasonable means for them to show it now, but I don't think anyone in this thread has been arguing in favor of that position, only arguing that the opportunity for real rehabilitation, where possible, shouldn't be ignored.
My son has had accommodations for his disabilities in place during almost his entire education (one of the many reasons we homeschooled), but he has also had OT and PT and vision therapy. I don't think it should philosophically be an either-or situation. Every family has to carefully consider what the best balance for their child is, taking into account the nature and severity of the disability, the outlook for rehabilitation, and the time, energy, and resources available to the family, as well as the personality of the child. There is no one-size-fits-all plan.
I know I sometimes get so frustrated by having to fight and fight for reasonable accommodations in activities and settings that are away from home, and from having to listen to well-meaning people who insist that a soft pencil grip would solve all of my son's problems because it really helped their neighbor's cousin-in-law's stepchild, that I have a bit of a knee-jerk defensiveness about the topic, and I know from talking with others in similar situations that that I am not alone in that.
Sometimes, my awareness of how hard my son has to work to show what he knows without accommodation blinds me to some extent to what he is really able to accomplish on his own, particularly when it really matters to him. There is no doubt that testing under those conditions did not allow him show everything he can do, but even so, he did well enough to get access to the highest level of the Duke TIP summer program's humanities courses. It didn't get him access to most of the high-level science courses, which disappointed him, but I would not have predicted that he would have been able to do even what he did under those conditions. I had been really tempted to forgo testing until we could get current documentation because I thought that he wouldn't be able to manage it. I'm glad I didn't wait. Sometimes, our kids can surprise us. I think we should give them the opportunity to do so.
Reading back through the thread, I'm not finding any evidence that anyone here thinks that kids who need accommodations to show what they know shouldn't have them, or that kids who can benefit from therapy shouldn't get it. It's a refreshing change!
