Furious Seasons brings us this advice column where a concerned parent is asking about her daughter’s desire to be diagnosed with ADHD to help her get into college:
[… Y]ou can imagine my surprise when she asked that I take her to the doctor to get a prescription for ADHD medication. I was blown away.
She says many “smart” parents have their children tested and diagnosed with attention deficit disorders so the students have the advantage of prescription medicine and un-timed standardized tests.
Is this really a trend in education?
Dr. Yvonne Fournier, who writes the advice column for the Scripps Howard News Service, notes that it is a growing trend amongst high school students looking for an “edge” to get into competitive colleges. A high or even perfect GPA is no longer enough. The competition is fierce and students are looking for ways to try and circumvent the system a little by claiming “disability” where none exists.
But the gains that are achieved from stimulant medications often prescribed in ADHD (and other possible allowances, such as untimed test) are not automatic. This article describes how disclosing a disability may actually be a liability, as colleges could potentially see such students as requiring more work and attention (even if, by law, they are not allowed to consider such disabilities in their application process; they still do).
Once a student has an ADHD label, they may be surprised at how much it follows them throughout school, and even life too. It may even follow them to graduate school, if they choose to go that route, and what was once something used to the student’s advantage may end up becoming a liability on the student’s academic record.
Dr. Fournier’s advice is good, too:
Talk to your daughter and explain to her that this scenario is no different from a student-athlete taking steroids to increase physical performance.
Just like steroids, ADHD drugs will not magically provide the skills needed for success in school and life. Any perceived benefits from these drugs are fleeting, and long-term success is rooted in hard work and dedication.
Like with steroids, there can be serious side effects from these medications, and these attention-deficit drugs can sometimes cause results very opposite from those intended. Potential side effects include hyper-focusing, headaches and stomachaches. Even worse, some students become psychologically dependent on the medication, believing it is a solution for all difficult situations. This “quick solution” could turn into a long-term addiction.
Ask your daughter about her willingness to jeopardize her health to gain a perceived advantage of immediate results. It amazes me that some of the best students are lured by this siren song. It is evident by her grade-point average that your daughter is a bright, successful student. She possesses the ability to succeed on her own, but the stress and demands of our society tell her that is not enough.
Explain to your daughter that she can gain an advantage in life with good decision-making skills, a positive attitude and a well-rounded perspective. These advantages will take her further in life with a lasting impact more than any medication could ever afford.
Of course, at the end of the day, once a teen turns 18, they’re a legal adult and can make their own decisions about medications and such. The risks of taking stimulant medications are fairly low and many students are seeing these kinds of medications as giving them a much-needed edge in academic work.
I’m not sure it’s so easy for a teen to see the larger picture, or health concerns, when the pressure for them to get into a good college and perform while there can be so intense in some families…
19 comments
I have read Dr. Fournier’s column for a while and she gives really sound advice. Much of the things I’ve read she is spot on about. I appreciate this article. My junior in high school has been approached by friends about this subject. This is good info for parents. Thanks for posting it.
Great Advice from Dr. Fournier.
I am in law school. Most, but not all, of the top five percent of my class are students with disabilities (e.g., ADD, ADHD, etc.). They take their exam in a separate room without the time constraints of every other law student. The alleged point of law exams is to evaluate student’s ability to think quickly and cogently to develop persuasive arguments. These students are not subject to the time standard (which is inherent in law practice, statute of limitations). As a result of these preferential standards, these students get the best jobs with the most responsibility. So, if you want good grades without the educational experience take drugs and get extra time. Courts do not care about your personal problems and neither do clients.
I actually have ADHD and it infuriates me that others would do this. I take medication, but turned down other accommodations flat out. Instead, I learned/studied techniques to help me in school and life. I am also researching intensive exercise, so I can stop taking meds. Accommodations only happen in school and you will be discriminated against. Having a disability is not a positive thing, and “faking it” mocks those of us who are working hard to overcome it.
This also infuriates me. My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was four years old. We taught him from that early age that it was not a handicap, but rather a difference that set him apart from others in a positive way. He was given NO accomodations, was admitted to college without accomodation and completed his engineering degree without accomodation. We also learned that other students in his engineering classes were given extra time, less work etc for their “ADHD”. What are these pampered students going to do when they enter the real world? Take drugs to complete a work assignment when there is nothing wrong with them? Expect to get a pass from the boss? I think not. Shame,Shame,Shame on these parents. How proud can these students be of their accomplishments knowing they could not compete on a level playing field. My son has pride in his accomplishments and as do we, his parents.
The last comment from Proud Mom is just out of line. As we all know, there are different levels and problems associated with the ADHD. Where you were able to assist your son & he was capable of progressing in this manner – some cannot function as your child did and need the extra help, time and focus. Their doctors say they cannot function on life’s terms as you are stating, then need the medication and help to learn how. Just as there are different levels of retardation, autism, etc … same for ADHD. No other family should sit on their “high horse” because their situation was not the same.
This article does not address the fact that many students, especially high school ones, ask to be diagnosed with ADHD for extra time on school tests — but do not actually take the drugs.
I found this article while researching how people with ADHD make it through college because I am currently struggling. ADHD is a lifelong struggle with a number of mental and psychological issues. Now it seems that people who have been blessed w/ normal minds are claiming it to get ahead when they are already ahead compared to those who actually suffer from it. This is shameful! Next, they’ll be claiming cancer so they can benefit from the Make a Wish Foundation!
I agree with Lea, while extra-time is certainly an advantage on an exam, exams aren’t the best particularly good predictors of success in the real world – how often are lawyers, as per dre, required to prepare a document or brief without precedents? Most programs have taken this into account and now require work outside of the exam context, so while unneeded accommodation provides a clear advantage when unneeded, it doesn’t necessarily hamstring the performance of individuals who truly need the help later on. Hence, the discussion is best still focused on the use of performance enhancing medication, as opposed to a general discussion of cheating.
The current system angers me to no end. I’ve seen kids with blatant autism refused from the help they need while others get away with a IEP or 504 from the slightest symptons of ADHD. It really isn’t fair to the students who actually need help. Cutthroat views on the college admissions process only make this problem worse.
As a current high school senior, I completely agree that this situation is ridiculous. I recently took the ACT, and was very proud of my score, a 35 composite. Now, as good as this was, the only section I missed points on (science) was the one that I did not finish. I didn’t mind at first, but then in talking to some kids at school I found out that they can take the ACT with NO time limitations. This infuriated me, because not only could these kids avoid the only flaw in my performance, but they could also out perform thousands, heck millions of other kids out there who may or may not have problems just as they may or may not have problems. The real world does not allow people with ADHD or similar disabilities extra time to do certain tasks (take trauma care in the ER, for example) so they should not be granted such drastic bonuses.
Also, aren’t the medications that they receive supposed to alleviate their problems such that they are on a level playing field anyways? Where does the extra time factor in there?
I realize this is a difficult issue, as we are in a time now where we want things to all be equal and fair, but this is simply too far. Perhaps if there were tighter regulations on diagnosis of ADHD (at this time one of the top 2 most overdiagnoses illnesses, along with depression) so as to allow students who truly have issues with it to get the help they need without so many cheaters this issue would disappear. Regardless, something must be done.
I’m despised by people who fake having ADHD or any other disability to gain an upper hand. It jeopardizes the accommodations that I legitimately need in order to get through college.
I struggled all through public school and am only finally reaching college at the age of 28. Living with an undiagnosed case of ADHD was absolute hell growing up. Having access to medication AND accommodations allows me to have an even footing with my classmates, not an overt advantage.
This is ridiculous. ADHD is the worst! Your brain is constantly squirming in your skull, your spirit is constantly squirming in your body. Thinking without adderall is like the difference between swimming in the ocean and swimming in a nice calm pool. That’s why accomadations exist… because life is hard! I am really smart but everything takes me twice as long so stop your whining
Also, I got into a very prestigious institution without any accommodations… but it was at a terrible cost to my health in a lot of ways. A lot more so than it would be for your average perfectionist… because, once again, everything takes twice as long
I love the last two comments…so many of the other comments show a lack of knowledge, and compassion. My whole family has ADHD…this is why I married my hyperfocused, brillient, absent-minded professor type husband. His ADHD makes him excel in his work as a scientist and he is one of the quickest thinkers I know. This creates impatience as his mind races ahead with so many great ideas. He definitely does not need extra time on tests, yet he works the details so strongly that given extra time, he would probably improve whatever he was working on. While he is an excellent scientist. His work is awesome, yet his personal communication is very lacking. This is a man know for his ability to act, teach and present material to children and congressmen. I also have ADHD, inattentive, hyperactive type, getting bored easily, living in my own world as a child, and an extremely slow processor of information….I must take in all the information to make a correct decision…there is no filter and I get lost in the details, but I am analytical and given time will arrive at the correct conclusion. I have learned ways to compensate and arrive early to set up anything new, as I need more time. I work with those like my husband to help pace myself. Pressure me and my brain does go into a freeze and the simplest information disappears. Support and encourage me and I can do much. As a note to all the skeptics who believe that accommadations are handicapping the child who needs them, I have seen the reverse. These kids are usually working so much harder to keep up with there peers in some way, if not academically then probably socially or organizationally, that help serves as a relief valve or encouragement that someone cares and even with this help they will still preform below their ability. Most with ADHD will not pull the ADHD disability card to get ahead, they just want to be with their peers and fit in. My oldest daughter enters college next year, and is much like her dad. Academics are easy for her, but her grades have suffered due to her disorganization and her hyperfocus. She is definitely learning to compensate and will do well in life. She made a 31 on the ACT without studying, because these type of ADHDers usually learn they must study a bit later than their peers, but her grade point adverage is just below the magic 3.5 required for most full scholarships. Most of her friends have close or better than 4.0s, but none have as good of an ACT score. On the college application, this difference between grades and ACT do not serve her well…and truely the only explanation is the grades are a reflection of the chemistry of the brain that is improving each year, especially as the hormones settle. This is a different kind of mind, and those who have not struggled with it can often be so cruel. My family has its place in this world and it will probably be in a court room, or an emergency room, or perhaps a classroom, for those with ADHD respond to high stress, exciting professions and excel. I am an Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse, and I worked with many others with ADHD for Intensive Care Units and ERs are hotbeds for ADHD due the novel, exciting element that exists in these areas. The brain actually kicks into high gear in these situations! Strange…
I love the previous post! Specifically the format! –NO SARCASM INTENDED AT ALL! This is exactly how I write–because that is how I think! one thought after another after another after another. I have ADHD and even with medication and some accommodations it is frustrating how much of my life is affected by this. I can excel in so many things and so many others escape my grasp.
The real world may not give you tons of accommodations–but the real world is also not based on standarized exams. the real world also doesn’t tell you your success or value as a professional will be weighed by ONE FINAL exam (I am in law school and that is the way it is there). The first semester I kept my disability to myself and didn’t receive accommodations. The second semester I let my school know and received extra time for my exam and took it in a different room. Did I get an A? NO! I got a C+, an A-, and a D. However, throughout the whole semester I was working and developing my studying and finding what worked for me and not what the ‘institution’ said SHOULD and WOULD work (OUTLINE! OUTLINE!) they said!
So you see, it is a lot more than receiving accommodations or even medications. It is a life long battle. I am determined to accept my disability without using it as a crutch. No easy feat when you are competing with Smart, learning disability-ridden individuals.
I received a 5th grade reading comprehension score on a standarized test in 7th grade–yet I skipped a year in grammar school and another in high school. I am not an idiot and I deserve a chance just like any other person. My wheelchair ramp happens to be testing accommodations, but I ASSURE you I would much rather walk up the stairs if I could. It is a miserable feeling to always be behind the 8 ball. I have acheived much of my success through sheer determination and refusal to turn in the towel. I have a great friend who was going through a similar struggle as I and he would blow you away how smart he was and how well he knew the material–but couldn’t get it on paper on the exam. It isn’t about having additional time for kicks. Those who make assertions about ADHD have no understanding just how much more is involved in owning that little label. There are concurrent conditions that result, depression, anxiety–and not your every day blues. Imagine if you had to read the same sentence 8 times before the words actually popped out to you. Our minds race in a million different directions even when we need them to focus on one. But when the hyperfocus side of our disability kicks in–you would be surprised how much we are capable of accomplishing. We all have our path to walk and our battles to fight.
I wonder how many of those who criticize my accommodations and my stimulant prescriptions would be capable of acheiving half of what I have been able to even with my disability. The truth is who knows! There is perfection in my imperfection and so long as I am given an opportunity I will continue fighting to stay in the game.
We are not lazy, we are not stupid–we have a disability. We don’t just sit around all semester, take our little pills and then with the blessing of an extra hour ace an exam. That is unrealistic! This semester I am second to last in my class. However, I am working hard to move up a few notches this semester and a few the following. Who knows, I may actually graduate with honors. But it won’t be simply because I took a pill every day and received testing accommodations.