ADHD accommodations for exams a bad idea? Forum

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oliveum

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ADHD accommodations for exams a bad idea?

Post by oliveum » Sun Nov 19, 2017 11:32 am

I was diagnosed with ADHD a couple years before I decided to apply to law school. (My teacher in preschool actually told my mom she thought I had it back in the day, but I was never tested until adulthood.) I was given a prescription then which worked, but I stopped taking them because they made me feel irritable and ruined my appetite. Also I was working with people at the time and wasn't in school so feeling irritable wasn't great (although the meds really helped me organize my personal life).

With exams coming up, should I be seriously considering requesting time accommodations for exams? Does it matter that I'm unmedicated? I've heard there can be a stigma attached if students do this that can hurt their careers. At the same time, writing takes forever and historically I've performed worse in classes that have essay exams with limited time. I'd hate to end up low on the curve because of my ADHD if there was something I could have done about it.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

LawTweet

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Re: ADHD accommodations for exams a bad idea?

Post by LawTweet » Sun Nov 19, 2017 11:37 am

If grading is blind I don't see how it could hurt. And as far as I know, it's also illegal to flag your transcript that you received accommodations.

herecomesthesun

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Re: ADHD accommodations for exams a bad idea?

Post by herecomesthesun » Sun Dec 03, 2017 4:34 pm

I did it for another chronic health issue. And it was extremely helpful. My grades first semester (pre-accommodations) were fine except for one stinker of a grade that I attribute mainly to my brain/body crashing because of my health issues. But second semester, I had accommodations and while my grades didn't shoot me up to the top of the class, I did much better across the board.

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twenty

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Re: ADHD accommodations for exams a bad idea?

Post by twenty » Sun Dec 03, 2017 8:38 pm

On 1L exams especially (because these are where a lot of the racehorses are at), if you can get 1.5x time to write, it will likely benefit your overall grades.

inb4 "BUT IS IT FAIR??" - yeah, dude, take advantage of whatever means you can.

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pancakes3

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Re: ADHD accommodations for exams a bad idea?

Post by pancakes3 » Sun Dec 03, 2017 8:54 pm

lots of ppl do this for LS exams but i've heard it's much tougher (impossible?) to get accommodations for bar exams.

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