Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Should kids get accommodations when doing well?

My DS (11) is in a new school. It is a private school so there are no legal obligations to offer accommodations but they regularly do if needed. He has ADHD and dysgraphia and at his former school, extra time is all that he was given because the school wasn't given the formal dysgraphia diagnosis. After presenting the new school with testing and the report from a psychologist listing all the recommended accommodations (many) for him, they decided he didn't need accommodations at this point. He did too well in school and on various testing and teachers had too much praise for him. Recently, the night before a math test, he kind of freaked out when he realized he wouldn't have extra time. He makes a lot of careless errors so we had worked on strategies and landed on, going back and re-doing every problem to make sure messy calculations hadn't thrown things off or he hadn't thoroughly read directions. Doing this helped immensely in cutting down on the careless errors. But the extended time had allowed him to do this. Now, without the time, he was panicking because he has to do well to remain in advanced math. He ended up doing fine on that test. It was easy so he had time to do it twice.

Anyway, at first when they told me he wouldn't receive accommodations unless he was having difficulties at school, I was okay with it. And then when I started thinking about it, I don't want him to fail in order to prove he needs them. Which, after this long story, finally brings me to the question, when are accommodations appropriate? If he didn't lose points for spelling errors on his papers, he would get higher grades (he can spell if you ask him to spell a word but not when he's just trying to get the words from his brain to the page) but is that a reason to receive spell check? If extended time would allow him to go from an A- to an A+, is it unfair to have extended time? Or, are the accommodations to allow students to reach their individual potential? Should he be denied accommodations because his grades are "good enough?" If classmates are getting extra time because they have demonstrated more need (by getting lower grades) is that fair? I don't have the answers to these questions which is why I pose them here.

This is the wrong way to look at the issue. It's not about getting accommodations to improve grades, and it's not not a competition in which "fairness" should be considered. Your son may not need accommodations. If he is learning and has the means to show what he knows, then they may not be necessary at this time. But you know he has a disability and it may impact him for some classes, some assignments, some tests so what he does reflects his abilities. Generally, when you have a 504 with accommodations, data is collected on how much the accommodations are used and how effective they are. My dysgraphic at 11 was beginning to see where he needed accommodations and where he didn't. For example, he absolutely needed to type his assignments and when he didn't do that, he couldn't express himself. Extended time didn't do squat. But in high school, he was more neurologically mature and could express himself in writing for short sentences. Then he needed extra time and forgiveness on writing conventions.
I'd involve your child in the discussions. Does he feel his work captures his efforts? If yes, then no accommodations at this point. The work may be at a level that doesn't require it. But teach him to notice when his disability is impacting him and to speak up so you can ask for what he needs.

Good questions. Some semi-organized thoughts below.

The intent of disability-based accommodations is to so-called level the playing field. No student has a right to A+ grades, but every student does have a right to equitable access to their education. Federal regulatory advisement currently takes the position that this access means something better than minimal, but not quite as high as optimal. A private institution, of course, (one which takes no federal moneys) can make its own decisions.

Another, perhaps more pragmatic, way of thinking about some of the accommodations you mention is, will he have these accommodations in the future for high-stakes assessments. E.g., will he have these on the SATs? The major testing companies make their own rules for accommodations...but also increasingly have assistive technology embedded in computer-administered tests. For example, the SAT is now a semi-adaptive test (by item set), which should shorten the testing time for nearly everyone. 4-function calculator is now standard and in the platform. AP exams have a testing site option where the school actually can choose to give typed response to every student. So it might be worthwhile to look ahead a little (keeping in mind these are all in flux, and could be quite different in another 3-5 years when your DC is likely to be testing) and identify which accommodations are most likely to be relevant for him, and then focus on those for advocacy now.

In addition to your eval report, accommodations also should take into account their effects in the classroom, and consider which ones are really the relevant ones. For example, if the checking of work on a math task is because of messy calculations, then is it possible that he would benefit more from completing his work on square/gridded paper as an accommodation for reducing the impact of messy/poorly spaced/aligned numerals, thus preventing the careless errors? This is not to say extended time isn't appropriate, but simply to give him additional tools for managing different scenarios, and to focus on the underlying causes.

Along related but slightly different lines, consider whether possible perfectionism is more of a functional concern than careless errors are. It sounds like he is placing a lot of weight on single measures as determining his access to desired/necessary resources (in this case, advanced math). Does he truly believe that A- grades are merely adequate? Or that getting a B in the class will keep him out of higher-level classes? If this messaging is coming from adults (such as imposed by administration), it may be worth having a conversation not only with your DC, but with the adults around him regarding the relative health and likely long-term outcomes of a child with Bs and a flexible, resilient, growth mindset, vs a child with As and a rigid, anxiety-ridden, perfectionistic mindset.