Extended Time Accommodations during Testing

My son, 12, recently had to take a standardize test (which we have avoided by going to the Lab School of Washington). However, now that we have moved and are seeking admission to a traditional private school, it is required. Even with approved accommodations and preparation, it was a diaster. The test administrator refused some of the accommodations when in the testing room and the extended time she did allow was accompied by either a continual countdown ("10 more minutes, 9 more minutes, etc) or dialogue ("are you finished" "Do you need more time" followed by "really, you need more time?). Of course, this resulted in almost complete meltdown by my son, an incomplete test, and terrible results.

We have since had the test invalidated due to the refused accommodations. Now, however, we are faced with explaining to the school to which we are seeking admissions, why the test was invalidated and why we can't allow our son to retake it. He is not the same child that went into the initial test, happy and confident in his abilities. In addition, we need to explain how this type of testing environment is detrimental to a dyslexic kid and in no way shows his abilities (e.g. he is a 6th grader taking algebra now, but did not get a single question correct on the math portion).

Can you explain exactly what happens to the dyslexic brain when time restraints are placed upon it?

Thanks in adavance for your wonderful book. At our house, we are "Owning our Dyslexia"

Peggie Bobo

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Permalink Reply by Rose on February 3, 2012 at 6:29am

I don't know...I'm not a doctor, I'm a mom. But I remember in 3rd grade seeing my son's brain "short circuit". He spilt a glass of water on the bed, and rather than be helpful and fix it, I decided to see what he would do. He went to the linen closet, came back, felt the bed, went again towards the linen closet, came back, felt the bed, and got up to go to the linen closet again. The third time he brought a towel and put it on the wet spot. I thought at the time, Jesus, this must happen a hundred times a day.

Kids with epilepsy were once thought to be "possessed". We are so ignorant today, and trying to place a moniker of mental illness on more and more kids that is little different from the past. I think one day we will figure out just what out kids deal with, and wonder how they did so well!!!!

Ben is 18 now, and I've never seen his brain short circuit again. It was a fluke, I guess, or maybe not. I was so afraid to give him driving lessons...ADHD/LD/Aspergers kids (pick a label, any label) are more apt to get into accidents, or to choose NOT to drive.

What was the question? Oh, yeah, I think there is a medical reason why testing takes so long. Maybe.

If you KNEW it takes you longer, and KNEW the teacher seemed to bothered by that...it would make you feel like crap. I had a student in middle school who couldn't do the timed tests. Yet he was brilliant, an IQ over 160. It's confusing, and there is such a push for everyone to be the same, when they aren't. For being set on good grades, I think the schools fail many kids, in more ways than one..

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Permalink Reply by Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide on February 7, 2012 at 8:24am

Hi Peggie,

Thanks for joining our forum!

Slow processing speed and average working memory, but excellent problem solving ability (nonverbal, verbal) are the most common findings we see among the dyslexic students in our clinic.

Time pressures - especially like you describe swamp working memory due to a number of factors, such as anxiety. Everyone is susceptible to the 'choke' effect in test taking (this is a whole area of research in psychology), but especially those with slow processing speed and susceptibility to perceptual errors, substitutions, and sequence mistakes. One can't go faster -because one has to read and re-read and check for errors. When the situation is impossible, you understandably have a meltdown. The difficulty with many dyslexics is that written tests so underestimate their understanding - hence the despair. If they didn't know what they knew - a poor test result wouldn't have that huge emotional component.

Your son may need specific extended time guidelines - like 1.5-2x time.

At many schools a solution is to have students take a test with their class - and if they're not finished, have an understanding they can continue with the test under a teacher proctor after school.

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Permalink Reply by Peggie Bobo on February 7, 2012 at 8:46am

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Since he has had an IEP for years, we did have those accommodations in place, authroized and even discussed with the test administrator on-site that they would be used. However, either an uninformed test adminsitrator or with sloppiness, the accommodations were not given. They have agreed to invalidate the test.

I remember reading in your book how dyslexic children can "choke" under these circumstances. This explains how a 6th grader that easily handles an algebra class on a daily basis would fail to answer one question correct on a basic math exam. Your explanation above may help me explain to his potential school's admission department that the math exam in no way reflects his abilties. Unfortunately, I hate walking in the door already behind due to someone elses failure to provide accommodations.

So frustrating for a bright child.

We so appreciate your work. We are passing out your book like candy to whomever we think could use it (e.g teachers, parents of LD kids, school administrators, dyslexic adults, etc). Keep up the work.

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Permalink Reply by Brittony T. on February 10, 2012 at 12:58pm

I am a dyslexic who had extended time. Before I had the extended time the typical conversation that went on in my brain was like this: "Okay, reading question number one, Who named the Pacific Ocean?...okay we are talking about an ocean, the question says who named it....God why am I taking so long, I know this one....okay, it's an ocean, no wait it is the PACIFIC ocean...man why do I always do this it is a simple enough question I am going to run out of time if I spend this long on the easy questions, damn it, what's wrong with me, come on Brittony, focus, focus, focus....okay, the Pacific Ocean, someone named it, it was that guy from Portugal..., but Portugal is near the Atlantic ocean, why would someone from Portugal name the Pacific Ocean, am I suppose to be thinking about the Atlantic Ocean, nope, the question does say Pacific...damn it, more time wasted, focus, I know it’s like the pizza place.... Maggio's.......the pacific ocean, the PACIFIC ocean...come on, it's not Maggio it's...it's Magellan!!!! YES, okay, onto question 2...oh crap people are flipping pages, I only got ONE question done and people are already on page two!!! I am NEVER going to finish this test on time, I may as well just give up now!

After the extended time it went more like this "Okay, reading question number one, Who named the Pacific Ocean?...okay we are talking about an ocean, the question says who named it I know this one....okay, it's an ocean, no wait it is the PACIFIC ocean...someone named it, it was that guy from Portugal..., but Portugal is near the Atlantic ocean, why would someone from Portugal name the Pacific Ocean, am I suppose to be thinking about the Atlantic Ocean, nope, the question does say Pacific...I know it has something to do with the pizza place...Maggio's....the pacific ocean, the PACIFIC ocean... it's not Maggio’s it's...it's Magellan!!!! YES, okay, onto question 2..."

The extended time didn't take away my dyslexia, I still had to go from point A, to point L, to point Z, to point D to figure out the answer....lol, ah, my brain at work, it is a MARVEL! The extended time just cut down my berating of myself, I wasn't worried about running out of time. But I also took my tests in a separate room from everyone else so that I could talk it out with myself and so I wouldn't get discouraged by other people doing something like flipping to page two when I was on question one! If you take away the time limit and you take away the pressure of "what is everyone else doing, am I falling behind, are they ahead of me....etc" then I personally was able to perform adequately to well on tests, and today I am a chemist.