Testing

Question: A person had early reading problems, but seemed to outgrow the problem. He is later offically diagnosed with dyslexia when he is 27. The original testing was done at a well know hospital. He is now in grad school trying to get accomidations for testing. The current testing is not picking up on the dyslexia. Knowing you never outgrown dyslexia, what are people’s thoughts on this issue. What might be the testing issues

Will the grad school honor the hospital testing? If not, and the grad school testing doesn’t show dyslexia. I would have him retested outside of the school. (If the hospital testing wasn’t to outdated, I would use that test) Depending on your findings you may have to file suit against school. Good luck. My son was misdiagnosed ADD/ HD, four years later not ADD /HD, but dyslexic. Good Luck.

Eileen
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From: smittypsyd dyslexia-cpt8189@lists.careplace.com

Here are (hopefully helpful) excerpts from the College Board’s website outlining how to document a request for accommodations for a disability, including dyslexia, when past accommodations have not been provided by a student’s school:

What documentation is required for the accommodations request?

To be eligible for accommodations on College Board tests, a student must have a documented disability. The documentation should:

Meet the seven College Board documentation Guidelines.

Describe the functional limitation of the disability (see Functional Limitations for more information).

The documentation should be detailed. In most cases, test scores, including subtest scores, are required. Doctor’s notes and IEPs are not sufficient to substantiate a request for accommodations, and conclusive statements without supporting information are unhelpful.

The documentation should show not only that the student is disabled, but that he or she requires the specific accommodation under request.

College Board SSD criteria explained

Not all students with disabilities require accommodations. Not all students who do require accommodations require the same accommodations. Some accommodations received by students in school are not necessary for the purposes of participating in College Board tests. To ensure that the College Board provides the right accommodations, we require that a student’s documentation meet our criteria. We must approve accommodations before a student can take College Board tests.

We offer two ways for a student to be determined eligible for accommodations on its tests:

School Verification—The SSD Coordinator verifies that the student meets the College Board’s criteria and that the disability documentation meets the Guidelines for Documentation. Note that some accommodation requests cannot be verified by schools.

Documentation Review—The College Board reviews a student’s disability documentation to determine if it meets its criteria and guidelines. Students may also directly request that the College Board’s SSD office make the eligibility determination.
See School Verification or Document Review for more information about those processes.

Students need not indicate on the Student Eligibility Form the application process they are using, but they must provide documentation where required. See Documentation Requirements for information on when documentation is required, and Documentations Guidelines to learn what types of documentation is necessary.

Regardless of which process is used to review the accommodations request, basic requirements for eligibility include the following:

The student must have a documented disability.

The mere presence of a disability does not necessarily mean that the student requires accommodations on College Board tests. The disability must impact the student’s ability to participate in standardized tests. (See Functional Limitations.)

The student must demonstrate a need for the specific accommodation that is being requested. (For example, students requesting extended time must show not only that they have a disability, but that they have difficulty with test–taking under timed conditions.)

Inclusion of an accommodation on an IEP/504 Plan/Formal Plan does not automatically qualify a student for accommodations on College Board tests.

Temporary physical conditions, such as a broken arm, are not disabilities and do not provide eligibility for accommodations under the College Board’s accommodation process. In limited circumstances, the College Board will provide some assistance for temporary physical conditions through its temporary accommodation process. (See Temporary Medical Condition.)

If your communication with the College Board is not fruitful, consult a special education attorney for advice. The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, at www.copaa.org, has a state-by-state listing of attorneys with special ed expertise.

Children find a way to work around reading/writing/spelling issues called dyslexia… there are other issues that we dyslexic folks deal with daily - like directionality, word retrieval, organization, the list goes on.

Check out: www.brightsolutions.us - Susan Barton is an expert in the field.

The National Institute of Health has done research since 1978 - Susan knows the research - good chance the people who tested your son - did not. Best of luck.