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Original poster

Reasonable adjustments for inability to tell the time?

37 replies

Clymene · 02/03/2023 10:07

My son has autism and is sitting his GCSEs this summer. He gets additional time in his exams.

He has a mock today and we were going through a past paper which says 'you should spend about X on this part of the paper' and I was explain that would a bit longer for him as he has extra time and then remembered that he can't read a clock! Believe me I've tried but he just can't do it. I'm ashamed that it hadn't crossed my mind before.

I don't think you're allowed to wear a watch. He can't be the first autistic child who has an issue with this.

Any suggestions?

OP posts:
SpyouttheLand · 02/03/2023 18:08

We use digital clocks in all our exam rooms. No need to make life harder than it need to be, for anyone!

Original poster
Clymene · 02/03/2023 18:05

BertieBotts · 02/03/2023 15:03

Would he be allowed something like the Time Timer that he can set to appropriate length? It's not internet connected.

I don't think they're allowed to take any devices into the room

@viques - I wasn't going to give him a sheet to take in. Just tell him that for eg in the nonfiction/transactional writing paper, he needs to finish section A by 10.15 or whatever. He'll be able to remember that. I can just do that every morning where it's relevant and text him at lunchtime for the afternoon exams if he has 2 in the same day (think there's only 5 instances of that thankfully)

OP posts:
viques · 02/03/2023 15:03

Though if he could work out from the start time how much time to allow for particular questions he could jot these down on the exam paper before starting to write, might help him to keep track .

BertieBotts · 02/03/2023 15:03

Would he be allowed something like the Time Timer that he can set to appropriate length? It's not internet connected.

viques · 02/03/2023 15:01

Clymene · 02/03/2023 11:32

Thank you so much. I haven't asked him what the clock is like in the room but if I can ask for it to be digital, he'll be able to largely read that and I can prep a table with times elapsed to help him plan his time in each exam.

I'll get in touch with them today.

Show quote history

Would he be able to remember the prompts? I don’t think he would be allowed to have a prompt sheet in the exam room.

Original poster
Clymene · 02/03/2023 11:32

StopGo · 02/03/2023 11:01

Invigilator here. You need arrange a meeting with SENCO and exams officer as soon as possible.
Watches are banned in the exam room. A clearly visible clock will be provided and this is usually digital, request that it is.
Prompting and any other reasonable adjustments should be put in place.

I specialise in invigilating exams where candidate/s have complex extra needs. Your DS's needs seem straight forward and time prompting is easy.

Thank you so much. I haven't asked him what the clock is like in the room but if I can ask for it to be digital, he'll be able to largely read that and I can prep a table with times elapsed to help him plan his time in each exam.

I'll get in touch with them today.

OP posts:
ElfDragon · 02/03/2023 11:01

I don’t know if this would be ok for GCSE, but my dd used to have similar time issues, and also couldn’t estimate the passing of time, and used to zone out and then not know how much time she had ‘wasted’. She has ASD, and has an extra time allowance (also a laptop user, so has a digital clock visible, I guess).

anyway, she was allowed (at secondary, went via the SenCo as didn’t want to start anything that wouldn’t be allowed in formal exams if still needed, but haven’t tested this) to take in a sand timer - idea being se would flip it when she started zoning out, and so would only ‘lose’ 2 minutes at a time. I wonder whether a longer sandtimer would be allowed - a 10 or 20 minute one might help keep track of time passing.

dd has managed to keep track of timings more recently, and so now doesn’t need anything like this for her GCSEs, so I don’t know whether it would be even a remote possibility.

I hope you can find something that helps - have you spoken to the SenCo? Do they have any suggestions? Is your dc in isolation/a quiet room for exams? Is a prompter a possibility (deadlines for stating cases has passed, presumably, and generally it is supposed to be proven as ‘usual way of working’ or similar)

StopGo · 02/03/2023 11:01

Invigilator here. You need arrange a meeting with SENCO and exams officer as soon as possible.
Watches are banned in the exam room. A clearly visible clock will be provided and this is usually digital, request that it is.
Prompting and any other reasonable adjustments should be put in place.

I specialise in invigilating exams where candidate/s have complex extra needs. Your DS's needs seem straight forward and time prompting is easy.

CatOnTheChair · 02/03/2023 10:51

He CANNOT wear a watch.
Ask them about providing a digital clock (for him or for all).
It has to tell the actual time - you can't have a count down or count up "stopwatch"

Original poster
Clymene · 02/03/2023 10:38

Dogsitterwoes · 02/03/2023 10:26

Can he understand a digital clock? Would they allow him to bring one?

Yes he can understand a digital clock a bit better (he's terrible at estimating time passed) but I'm not sure if he would be allowed one. I guess if it was on the table?

I shall ask. I can't believe I've only just realised this is going to be an issue

OP posts:
Dogsitterwoes · 02/03/2023 10:26

Can he understand a digital clock? Would they allow him to bring one?

Regularsizedrudy · 02/03/2023 10:11

when I worked as an invigilator we were allowed to verbally prompt the students that needed it how much time was remaining at certain points. However this was about 20 years ago so things might have changed, wearing a watch was always fine then too

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