AIBU to think that DS should get extra time in exams

[yearofthehorse]

DS is 15, in Year 10 and has GCSE's next year. He is also ASD, diagnosed by an NHS doctor and has all the associated issues of lack of concentration and anxiety that go with the condition.

However he was diagnosed by a diagnostic service who do not engage under any circumstances in correspondence. The school insist that he cannot get extra time unless they are sent a letter by an NHS doctor to say that he will benefit from it but DS has now been discharged from CAMHS and the waiting list to get back on is over a year so that may be too late.

Has anyone else found themselves in this Catch 22 situation and found a way round it?

The SENCO should be able to do their own assessments to decide whether your DS needs extra time.

Thank you Glittercandle - they have done that and say that he is too bright. Unfortunately that doesn't account for the anxiety that goes with the condition. He didn't have a sleepless night before classroom testing but will have before an exam.

That’s frustrating. You could pay for a private ED psych assessment- my son recently had a full assessment and even though he’s only year 7 the EP recommended extra time in exams.

Needing extra time has nothing to do with intelligence!
I would ask them to do the proper testing. However if he doesn't meet the criteria for extra time, then I would ask for other accommodations to help him achieve his best.
Would he be better in a smaller space? Can he have "breaks"?
I would also be starting stress reducing strategies now.
And discussing contingencies - what happens if he is late? How can you prevent this? What if he goes to the wrong exam venue? What steps can you, him and the school take to prevent this? (My DD missed half her Eng Lit Exam due to going to the wrong venue, which led to a meltdown which she couldn't recover from in time to sit the exam).

Extra time is not the only solution.

Thank you everyone. I have been told that there is no point getting him seen privately because the diagnosis has to be NHS. Very glad you understand my frustration. I am so proud of the way he has turned his life around recently; he could be one of that small proportion of ASD kids who go onto live an independent life so I just want him to go armed with a decent set of exam results.

Can his GP write a letter confirming his diagnosis after accessing the CAMH records? Ours charges a fee (I think £12) so it could be an option?

Both my DD's got extra time but they had to go through tests and the senco wrote to the exam boards re dd1 to explain her anxiety. The rules are quite strict, a diagnosis doesn't get extra time, only the symptoms so to speak

The letter can't come from the GP, it has to be a consultant. (The GP did offer). I have written back to the Headmaster to say that I have posted on Mumsnet and other schools have worked with a private assessment so will wait and see what he has to say.

Can you see a GP and ask them to write a letter explaining that he needs extra time because of his anxiety?

The Senco sounds a bit rubbish.

What advantage would extra time actually give him though? I understand he is anxious-but what would extra time gain for that? If anything, I’d expect extra time to be more stressful as he’d be staying behind when others left etc. What I’d do is ensure he gets plenty of practise doing past papers in a time limit and you’ll probably find he finishes them and checks within the right time. Which might help ease the anxiety. Le DH sos he’d also benefit from not having to sit them in the exam hall?

“Le DH sos” = perhaps 😂

Have a look at the JCQ regulations for special access arrangements.
I work in FE and a form 8 is completed which has to detail the learners ‘normal way of working’ when requesting special arrangements. Does your child usually need additional time over and above peers to complete the same work?
Would a separate room be helpful in calming anxiety? There some things school does not to apply for- eg word processing and an individual room.
Supporting evidence/report will be sent with the form 8.
Good luck

For anxiety at our school children are put in a smaller room (that doesn't mean he gets more time but a less stressful environment).
My ds gets extra time due to dyslexia not the asd and also goes in a smaller room for both reasons. He has in school testing and had to retake it at the beginning of year 11 ready for the summer exams.
Can you get a copy of the examination board criteria and what proof they need?

I'm pretty sure he can only get extra time if he's always had extra time and its his normal way of working. Certainly thats the case with my DS. It is nothing to do with intelligence, its solely about removing the negative impact of the disability (assuming the condition amounts to a disability in law). My DS is at an academically selective school.

I'm a secondary teacher and the way it works in my school is that we have to prove extra time actually helps. Usually this means by asking the pupil to swap the colour of their pen at the point at which the extra time kicks in. We then see if the pupil gains more marks in that time. 9/10 they don't. Writing more does not equal more marks. Where it does make a difference is where the extra time enables the pupil to finish the paper and therefore significantly increases their mark. Is this the case for your DC? What have they been doing in assessments up until this point? If they have been on or over target then the school will struggle to justify extra time ime. I usually tell parents to start the ball rolling for this during KS3 if they know / suspect any issues as it can be difficult to secure during the GCSE course itself.

There must be a diagnosis letter somewhere. If he has been diagnosed and discharged by CAMHS, then a letter should have been sent to your GP. Have you spoken to your GP?

You don't need a rereferral and a year waiting list to get a copy of a letter that should already be on file.

Contact your GP. Ask them what documentation they have received from CAMHS. Somewhere in there should be a letter/report stating the diagnosis. The GP could do a cover letter including the report.

Failing that turn up at their office and ask for written confirmation of the diagnoses.

I'm not convinced by all these access arrangements. Surely an employer wants to know that if you have GCSE Engish, you passed the test, not that you passed English with extra time and a scribe.

I work in exam support in HE and our rules are stricter than schools, but we would still accept evidence from a GP!
Agree with a previous poster that a separate location and rest breaks would probably be more useful for anxiety than extra time. Perhaps try approaching the school about this rather than additional time that he most likely wouldn’t need. Good luck

@elderave it’s about providing a level playing field. Under the equality act it’s called reasonable adjustments. It’s not unreasonable to allow a pupil additional time for example if they had dyslexia and had a slower reading rate or processing speed. Or if they had diabetes and needed to check heir blood sugars during an exam and therefore loosing precious time whilst doing that just because they happen to have diabetes

Thank you all, great advice. TellMeWhoTheVillainsAre - I have the letter of diagnosis (as do the school). What they need is a letter to say that he will be at a disadvantage if he doesn't get the extra time. He has just told me that he has never managed to finish an essay style exam.

Of course, I understand why it is but the qualifications are valued because they're supposed to be a standard achievement, except when they're not

My DS has ASD. He had an EHCP (previously a statement of SEN) and was DXed age 3. He had 1:1 support at school. BUT, he didn’t qualify for extra time in GCSEs because his processing speed wasn’t slow enough. There are quite specific criteria that have to be met. Just having ASD isn’t relevant. The school can assess his need to have extra time without him having a DX or an EHCP.

I do agree with @ElderAve
Surely the point of a grade or qualification is to tell a future employer the standard you work to.
So, if I was employing a proof reader, I want to know that they can read a text in ten minutes for example. I want to know if they have slow processing. If everyone gets given extra time or whatever else, to get to the same grade as everyone else, what's the point of exam grades? (And that isn't intended to be goady).