Suzy is a hypothetical Northwestern student who was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, but she learned long ago to hide her impairment. No one knows that it takes her three times as long as her peers to read or that she daydreams and embarrasses herself by forgetting what she’s saying mid-sentence.
Many students don’t believe that she has ADD, or that ADD even exists. They don’t realize that the stress, frustration, isolation and low self-esteem from ADD are crippling. Nonetheless the uncertainties of ADD raise questions about how NU attempts to provide equal opportunity to students with disabilities.
ADD students can receive accommodations such as extended test time and designated note takers. It is impossible to prove whether this levels the playing field. Some people purposefully do poorly on psychological assessments in order to receive benefits, and this gives them an unfair advantage. Normally, students may be willing to accept the extra help given to their peers, but how about when they’re competing against them on timed tests like the LSAT?
The Law School Admission Council currently provides extra time to students only after careful scrutiny. It notifies law schools that these student’s scores should be interpreted with great sensitivity. If extra time once balanced opportunity, the cynical system throws it off again.
It is impossible for the LSAC to determine how much time each ADD student should receive, so I suggest abandoning their special accommodations entirely. Instead, schools should be informed that the student received her score in the normal amount of time and with ADD. After all, when given accommodations, the school already knows that the student had some disability. But this method would allow students to receive recognition for their exceptional effort rather than disparage it.
Furthermore, accommodations should be given more sparingly to ADD students at NU. The university’s program may help students succeed in class and thus get a job, but it won’t help them keep it. Employers are not so forgiving.
Under the current system, the university sets up an environment in which students need not learn to succeed in the face of their deficiencies.
The disabilities office should implement mandatory coaching sessions through Counseling and Psychological Services that ADD students must attend in order to receive accommodations. These sessions should be designed to improve or manage students’ learning disorders, and as students become more confident with their skills, their accommodations should gradually be removed. Though more costly, this program would much better prepare students for life after college.
Why make such an effort for students with ADD?
Whether students like Suzy are seen as dumb or bright for working with their inabilities, these students have to work exceptionally hard to accomplish the same tasks as their peers, and they still made it to NU. With her ambition, resources and training from the university, Suzy is bound to succeed. Don’t deny her that possibility.
