DD took the PSAT on Saturday (with tons of other 8th graders hoping to get into this STEM program). We put her EpiPens, inhaler, and phone in a Ziploc bag labeled with her name. She handed it to the proctor when she arrived, and the proctor quipped something along the lines of "hope we don't make you have to use these." I think it was likely in jest. All went well.  We'll find out scores in December and in January will find out if she makes it to the next round.

She thought the test was easy. Regardless of the outcome, this was good practice for the PSAT, SAT, etc. when they really count.  Our application for accommodations with the College Board is still being processed. The staff member, who's shepherding it for us said that once in place, that they'll be in place until a year after high school graduation; so there'll be no need to go through the process again in the future.

Thanks for the guidance, help, and support.

DD is taking PSAT next weekend.  She is one year early to take it.  I contacted the guidance dept. at the school where the test is being given.  She is allowed to bring her purse with her meds and phone but the phone must be turned off.  All proctors are faculty who are trained to give epinephrine.  When she is assigned an actual classroom, that proctor will be alerted to her needs.

I could not have asked for more.

Our first experience is a good one.

Well, there is a process for getting accommodations. But Maeve wasn't given enough notice to go through it, and I sid not have the time.

Really, DS is without someone to administer other than him (or friends who can work the Auvi) a lot.  In a way, for us, this won't be very different. DS is older, as are  most kids who will be taking these tests. They are off by themselves and with friends a lot.

Maeve's situation is unique in that her dd is having to take it at a  younger age for something unrelated to what they are normally used for. And of course Sky was also quite young when she took the PSAT.


But I don't know how this set up would be practically difderent for DS than sitting in classrooms during a speech round. He has at least five of those every Saturday at a different high school each week.

DS appreciated having accommodations for the ACT, but he's not worried about not having them for the SAT or PSAT--both of which will be at a differrnt school I relaized this morning.

Yea, the College Board needs to get on board, lol. But there is a means of getting accommodation. If they were more like the ACT protocol for getting them, DS would have them.

It sounds to me like there needs to be a concerted effort to get the Nat'l org to get it WRT anaphylaxis and LTFA accommodations during testing.

I know this is not helpful in the immediate for maeve's situation . . .

There needs to be some change on national level here . . .

(I know, in our copious free time, right?!)

Quote from: Macabre on October 05, 2014, 06:44:50 PM
Frankly DS use to keep two epis in pants pockets. If she could find keeping one of them and a phone in pockets comfortable, she could have control in case she needed them.

I only have two pairs of pants that can fit anything larger than a small smartphone in them.... and that's because I buy boys' cargo pants.  Girls' pants don't have pockets anymore.   

That is what DD did for the ACT, incidentally-- I stayed just outside the testing room, and just sat there with my knitting the entire 4h.  The proctor knew I was there.

Frankly DS use to keep two epis in pants pockets. If she could find keeping one of them and a phone in pockets comfortable, she could have control in case she needed them.

What ticks me off is that she could have added anxiety about this (I hope not).

We are going into both SAT and PSAT without accommodations, but dS is not feeling anxiety. During the PSAT the school nurse will be there. Probably not during the SAT, though.

That's what I would do. She has epis not Auvis?  If she she has Auvis I would just have her keep one in her pocket, a cell phone that is turned off  in another pocket and her bag with an inhaler to the proctor. And a wet one packet if she needs to wipe her desk down.

Then you can have epis in the car outside.

Otherwise doing what you suggested and hoping the proctor will take it.


Also, not allowing the parents at a testing site is ludicrous. How would they kick any parent out of a public school?

OK. so College Board had suggested speaking directly with the school. The admissions director took a week to get back to me (and only have I put a deadline with threats to escalate in my second email). She was not accommodating (pun intended), so we had already signed DD up for the PSAT and paid for the test. They will not grant accommodations. Parents are not allowed in the testing site. The other option offered to us was for DD to take the SAT in December as an alternate admission test. This would not be fair because she's just started taking algebra. The SAT would be beyond her capabilities now at age 13.

So can I send her into the test with her inhaler, phone, and EpiPens in a plastic bag and have her hand them to the proctor? The test is next Saturday at 8 am.

Quote from: Macabre on September 04, 2014, 08:37:03 PM
Carefulmom,  at our school they are not taken at separate desks. Neither was son's AP test. The lecture hall consists of ten rows of tables.  Now, kids are seated far apart from each other. But they are tables.

Food is ubiquitous at our school unfortunately. :/

But DS didn't have trouble during his ap test. He doesn't have trouble going from class to class or sitting at desks in five different classrooms every Saturday at speech tournaments. So I'm not too worried that he needs to wipe things down. Though that was one accommodation for his ACT.

We'll see how it goes. Missing the deadlines for the SAT and the PSAT (he'll take the SAT before the PSAT, lol) were not what  I had planned, but I think will work out.

For college board tests, they can get in so much trouble for breaking the rules (sharing a table, having food out).  Food was ubiquitous at my high school as well.  Not for college board testing, though.  Too much to lose if they don`t comply.  I guess if no one knows to report it, then there are no consequences. 

Not sure who "Carefulmom" is....

Quote from: maeve on September 05, 2014, 11:28:46 AM
OK, I received word this morning from the Spec. Ed contact at DD's school that we can still apply for accommodations from the College Board. She is requesting individual testing.  I think I should also ask that her meds and phone be kept with the proctor; I'd even suggest that we can put them in a Ziploc so that it's obvious that nothing else was brought in.

I need to contact the director of the school she's applying to, which will be administering the test, to see what accommodations they can grant. 

Any other suggestions?

Honestly, you may have better luck with "clocks-stopped breaks, as needed" rather than "individual testing" per se.

Yes, they amount to the exact same thing-- the student alone with a proctor-- but the latter, they seemed to want a LOT more documentation than we provided them with.  And I basically laid out what we gave college board.  Recall, this also included reaction history and DD's is pretty spectacular w/r/t rapidity and bizarre symptoms from really, really trace amounts.  I'd think that if ANYONE could qualify for "individual" testing, it'd be DD, since that's how her school has always done her state testing-- that is, it was a long-standing provision in her 504 plan, even, and College Board was unconvinced-- after 11 weeks.  (Which I realize you don't have).

I vote for "Clocks stopped breaks, as needed," because that one, they seemed to 'get' the need for (as in, to evaluate symptoms or check on asthma, etc.).

Beach Girl,
Yes I did take the exams eons ago but the impetus to cheat was not less then, certainly not among the students I went to school with (who routinely cheated off me, were in the National Honor Society, and a few went on to service academies). Intense academic pressure existed then especially among highly competitive schools/classes. Difference in class rank in my class was a matter of hundreths of a point, much as it is now.

Also, being a bit older and in the world for a while has shown me that rules may be rules, but they are not always applied the same way. With the PSAT (according to the info my POC got from the College Board), there is a fair amount of latitude given to the schools.

I appreciate your input but as CMDeux and McC have also shown, the experience I had 28 years ago happens now.  Therefore, it's best to plan for the imperfect world we live in and make sure accommodations are in place.

OK, I received word this morning from the Spec. Ed contact at DD's school that we can still apply for accommodations from the College Board. She is requesting individual testing.  I think I should also ask that her meds and phone be kept with the proctor; I'd even suggest that we can put them in a Ziploc so that it's obvious that nothing else was brought in.

I need to contact the director of the school she's applying to, which will be administering the test, to see what accommodations they can grant. 

Any other suggestions?

Carefulmom,  at our school they are not taken at separate desks. Neither was son's AP test. The lecture hall consists of ten rows of tables.  Now, kids are seated far apart from each other. But they are tables.

Food is ubiquitous at our school unfortunately. :/

But DS didn't have trouble during his ap test. He doesn't have trouble going from class to class or sitting at desks in five different classrooms every Saturday at speech tournaments. So I'm not too worried that he needs to wipe things down. Though that was one accommodation for his ACT.

We'll see how it goes. Missing the deadlines for the SAT and the PSAT (he'll take the SAT before the PSAT, lol) were not what  I had planned, but I think will work out.

Current rules for the official testing are that kids cannot sit at the same table.  So, sure, I guess if your child is taking it alone, it could be in the cafeteria by himself/herself or an office or a computer lab.  But it also requires an area where people are not coming and going, and the cafeteria is high on traffic.  Maeve, the rules may have been different years ago when you were in high school (if you have a child taking it now, then you went to high school 15 - 20 years ago?), but it is a new world now.  Lots of pressure and kids who have no objection to cheating. 

If your concern is that your child will be in the cafeteria testing alone and you are worried about crumbs on the tables, I would suggest just bringing wipes.  Studies have shown that gets rid of the food protein (referring to allergies, not microbes).   You don`t need any special accomodations to bring in a couple of wipes, clean the area, and get rid of the wipes (hand to the proctor or put them in the trash).   I did that for each test I took just to feel more comfortable.   If you are worried about your child being exposed to food from another student, that won`t happen, because no food is allowed to be out.  They are extremely strict about that.

I also took these tests at several different locations (four different schools for all of these tests, two of which I had never been to before), and the rules are the same everywhere.  There can`t be a different standard for different schools.  They take this very seriously (much more so than even final exams in high school).

I also did an SAT prep class, and they said everything I said above.  No eating, no food can be out, you can bring a cell phone into the room, but have to hand it in to an area in the center, two students cannot be seated at the same table, so desks are used, etc.  Same rules thoughout the U.S.