LD and ADD Assessment, Diagnosis, and Accommodation

Joan Wolforth

McGill University Office for Students with

Disabilities Montreal

Allyson Harrison

Queen’s University Regional Assessment

and Resource Centre

Kingston

Reason for Session• Authors were granted a CADSPPE

project grant 2006-8• Objective was to develop tools and

materials to ensure service providers across the country can feel:

• A. confident in their ability to decide on the validity of LD/ADD test reports

• B. confident in their ability to decide on reasonable accommodations for LD/ADD students

Why Did We Propose This?• Feedback from service providers indicating

they need help• Need to develop a national

consensus/standard on LD assessment and accommodations

• Experience with unethical psychologists who produce reports & students demanding support

• Increase in legal challenges to decision making with little consensus to support practice.

Today’s Session• Preliminary Results of Survey

• More feedback from you on what would be helpful information to have

Outline of SessionGeographic and demographic data on

respondentsOpinions and reactions to reading reportsKnowledge of role of other professionalsService providers decision making power and confidence levelsDeclaring disability for the wrong reasonsParental InvolvementFaking disability

Institutional Distribution

• Total Number of Respondents 103

• College Respondents 56• University Respondents 46• One person did not answer this

question

Distribution by Province

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Provinces

Num

ber

Size of Institutions

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

under 10,000 10,000-15,000 15,000-20,000 over 20,000

Number of Students with Disabilities

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

50.00%

under 100 100-299 300-499 >500 No reply number of students with disabilities

Perc

enta

ge o

f res

pond

ents

Percentage of Students with LD/ADD

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

<than 10% 10-24% 25-49% 50-75% >than 75% no reply

Percentage of LD/ADD students

Perc

enta

ge v

alue

Respondents: Highest Level of Education

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

Level of Education: Percentage

9.70%

23%

7.80% 1%

58.30%

HS and CollegeBachelorsMastersDoctorateNR

Respondents: Job Description

35.90%

8.70%

27.20%

18.50%

1.90%3.90%

1.90% 0.90% 0.90%

Number of Years in Field

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1-5years

6-10years

11-15years

16-20years

21-25years

26-30years

31-35years

36-40years

years in field

num

ber o

f res

pond

ents

Comfort Level Reading Reports

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

Poor Fair Good Excellent Dependson report

No answer

Someone to Consult With?

87.40%

8.70%3.90%

YesNo

No answer

Consulting Faculty to Decide on Accommodation?

13.60%

17.50%

65.00%

3.90%

YesNoDependsNo answer

Able to Determine Essential Requirements of Course?

Yes I Can71%

No I Can't24%

No answer5%

Yes I CanNo I Can'tNo answer

Percentage Arriving with Incomplete or Inadequate Documentation

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

0.00% < 10% 10-25% 26-50% 51-75% > 75% Noanswer

Do High Schools Overdiagnose?

Yes 34%

No 50%

No reply16%

Yes No No reply

Do High Schools Provide Excessive Accommodations?

15.50%

35%

49.50%

yesnono reply

Types of Inappropriate Accommodations in H.S.

16.50%

49.50%

43.60%

49.50% 48.50%

22%19.40%

Extra time Unlimited time Scribes takingmore thandictation

Clarifiersdoing more

thanrephrasingquestions

Overlyinvolvedhelpers

(parents or edassistants)

Other No reply

Which Professionals can Diagnose L.D.?

0102030405060708090

100

Which professionals can Diagnose ADD ?

0102030405060708090

Professions

Num

ber o

f Res

pond

ents

Family Doctor Diagnoses ADD. Must you accommodate?

• Yes 59%• No 26.2%• No response 14.6%

• http://www.caddra.ca/english/pdfs/Chapter_7_Section2.pdf

The right to deny an accommodation requested by another professional?

Yes, 67%

No, 28%

No Reply, 5.20%

What would help confidence level ?

• 1. More training• 2. Guidelines on how to decide on

accommodations• 3. Improved reports• 4. Explanation of how recommendations

fulfill human rights requirements

Relevant Legislation You Rely on When Deciding on Accommodation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

FederalCharter

ProvincialCharters

Institutional Codes

Other No reply

Type of Legislation

Num

ber o

f res

pons

es

Have your decisions been challenged in a grievance or legal hearing?

Yes , 38.80%

No, 46.60%

No reply, 14.60%

Coming for the Wrong Reasons

51.5% of respondents felt that less than 10 % of students with disabilities come because

of the possibility of getting special concessions.

A further 14.6% felt that 10-25% of students were coming because of the concessions

Only 1.9% felt more than 25% were doing thisBut 14.6% did not answer

Coming For the Wrong Reasons

52.4% of respondents felt that less than 10% if students come because they want to access special funding.

A further 22.3% felt that 10-25% of students were coming because of the concessions

10.7% felt more than 25% were doing thisBut 15.5% did not answer

Number of LD/ADD Students Requesting Accommodations Who Do Not Have a Significant

Level of Impairment?

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

0% <10% 10-25% 26-50% >50% no replyEstimate of Percentage of Students

Parental Involvement

• Is the degree of parental intervention more than is reasonable?

• Yes 64%• No 21.4%• No Reply 14.6%

What Types of Interventions do Parents Make?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60Ta

king

ove

rad

voca

cy

Insi

stin

g on

spec

ific

acco

mm

odat

ions

Dem

andi

ng a

posi

tive

diag

nosi

s

Coac

hing

toex

agge

rate

defic

its

Diag

nosi

sSh

oppi

ng

No re

ply

Types of Intervention

Parental Involvement • Speaking for child in meetings• Over assisting with course work and essays• Acting as note-taker, ed. assistant• Demanding information on progress• Calling professors for information• Wanting funding for equipment• Wanting Residence priority• Over monitoring and unreal expectations• Controlling autonomy in general• Treating service provider as barrier to child’s

success

Faking to receive accommodations or bursaries

• 58% of respondents have suspected a student of faking symptoms

• 27% have not

• 14.6% did not reply

Percentage you suspect of faking

• 68.9% of respondents felt less than 10% of students had tried faking

• A further 9.7% felt 10-25% of students had tried faking

• 21.4% of respondents did not reply

Which Disability Categories are Most Vulnerable to Faking?

• 78/103 people answered this question

• 74 (94.9%) thought LD/ADD were the easiest disabilities to fake

• So large consensus on this question

Next Steps• Look at regional differences• Propose national guidelines for

diagnosis• Develop materials based on this• Set up national panel of expert

consultants