Introduction
ADHD can be diagnosed by a variety of professionals, including pediatricians, general practitioners, psychologists, and neuropsychologists. For most students in K–12, any documentation (paperwork) their parents or guardians provide to their school is enough to get them accommodations, either through a 504 plan or an IEP. It may also be enough to get the student accommodations on the SAT or ACT. But colleges’ documentation requirements can vary widely. (Read this post or watch this video to learn how to find each college’s requirements online.)
Don’t rush out to get testing!
There is a very good chance that colleges won’t require this testing. As students add colleges to their list, families can go online to see what each school requires for ADHD documentation, and take some notes. (Use the website’s search feature to find the disability services office’s page, and then look for “documentation requirements” or “documentation guidelines.”) Students may find that the documentation they currently have will be accepted by all of the schools to which they plan to apply.
If every school students want to apply to requires further testing, then they’ll need to act. If only one college requires testing but the rest don’t, students should wait until the acceptances come in and they decide where to enroll. (It’s possible that they won’t get accepted to that one school that requires testing, or will get in but decide to go somewhere else, so they won’t need testing.) Once they get their acceptances, if students decide to attend a college that requires testing, it’s time to act.
What to do if testing is required
If students learn that they will need testing to document ADHD at college, they should make sure to print up their school’s requirements and present them to whoever will do the testing, to make sure all that of the required kinds of measures are administered (e.g., tests of executive functioning). [Learn how to make sure you get a good private report.]
And make sure the testing professional provides a list of the names of the tests that will be administered and states what skills they measure before the testing – to be sure that they cover what is required by your student’s college. [See Step 7 of my book for more on what is typically required.]
Try to save money
It’s always a good idea to save money by asking the school district to do the testing in students’ junior or senior year of high school, although not all of them will agree. Keep in mind that districts are typically able to do only a psychoeducational evaluation (testing of cognitive and academic skills), but even getting this could save you money, as you would then just have to pay for any additional testing your student’s college requires. (Or the college might accept that without further testing.)
If the school district won’t do the testing or can’t provide what students need, here are recommendations for getting testing at a reduced fee and tips on how to try to get insurance to cover testing.
Choose the person who’ll do the testing carefully
If you are going to get private testing, be sure to read my advice on what a good report should include and how you can check that the person who does the testing writes good, not just long, reports.
One thing to be cautious about is evaluators who use tests that aren’t commonly given (either because they are outdated or have validity problems). This can mean that the documentation won’t be acceptable to your student’s college. Once you get that list of proposed test instruments from the person doing the evaluation, share it with the college’s disability services office to make sure that they recognize and will accept those tests.
Remember – don’t schedule testing unless every college on your student’s list requires it or until your student has been accepted to and enrolls in a school that does.
