[nabs-l] Extended Time

Wed Feb 6 04:12:11 UTC 2013

Hi Arielle and all,

I agree that extended time is not always necessary for us.  I was
always given it in high school for tests even though I may not have
needed it.  In college it has become more of a hinderance than a help
because some professors expect me to take tests in our testing center,
when it would be easier for all of us if I took them in class.  Most
of us have our screenreaders reading at a speed faster than most
people talk, and I agree with Arielle that we should not be expected
to read braille slower just because it is braille.  That doesn't make
much sense.

I think the problem is that there are situations when we actually do
need extended time.  When we use readers is a good example.  I think
besides that I only asked for extended time on my music history tests
because my professor would put matching on the tests.  Matching is a
little annoying to do with jaws and takes longer if you can't simply
skim what the choices are.  But I only needed an extra 10 minutes or
so.  My point is that it's hard to take extended time on a case by
case basis.  Either we get it for everything, or we get it for
nothing.  I doubt there is any other way to deal with extended time.

On 2/5/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
> The last post about using extra time on quizzes got me thinking about
> why we automatically get extra time to take tests and whether or not
> this is a good idea. I think the extra time is intended to correct for
> any issues with our accommodations or technology that make test-taking
> slower; for example, it might make sense to use extra time if we have
> to have a scribe write an essay for us or if we are using a reader and
> asking them to repeat things or read answer choices a few times. Extra
> time also seems appropriate if we have a problem with technology
> breaking, files not downloading correctly, etc. But I question whether
> extra time is really appropriate for online quizzes, for example, or
> for Braille or large print tests.
> As a Braille reader I used extended time only on a few occasions and I
> found that I only "needed" it when, deep down, I didn't fully
> understand the material I was being tested on. This happened a lot
> when I had tactile diagrams to interpret since I have always been bad
> with spatial mapping and understanding tactile images. So I would use
> the extra time to agonize over test questions I didn't understand and
> then eventually guess an answer. I really don't think the extra time
> was helpful for either my test performance or my learning and I feel
> it only acted as a Band-Aid covering up the real issue which was that
> I didn't know how to interpret tactile images. Had I not been granted
> extended time this might have become a more pressing issue for me to
> deal with back in high school. Similarly, I worry that when Braille
> readers are automatically granted double time across the board, it
> allows teachers to grow complacent with slower Braille-reading speeds
> than is desirable and almost sets up the expectation that Braille
> reading is inherently slow. It might be appropriate to *temporarily*
> grant an individual student extended time while they are still in the
> process of building Braille fluency, but granting it to everybody who
> reads Braille is something that bothers me. I also question the
> implication that blind students just do things slower and that nothing
> can or should be done about it so just let them take extra time. I
> don't need to tell you that extended time is not granted in the job
> world and this is becoming more real for me as I approach graduation
> and employment myself.
> I'm not trying to belittle anybody who uses extended time. I am just
> proposing that we reflect a little on what the extra time is
> specifically meant to accomplish, why we use it and whether or not it
> is actually helpful. I would propose that we make mindful decisions
> about when to accept extended time and that we aim to use it only when
> it is truly necessary and beneficial. In order to grow as students
> progressing toward employment, I think we should also be aware of why
> we are finding ourselves needing extra time and see if there are skill
> issues we might be able to address so that we need it less in the
> future. In my own case my weakness with tactile diagrams probably
> won't impact me much on the job, but a weakness in Braille reading
> speed or Web navigation is something that can be addressed with
> training and practice and addressing it can make a person much more
> competitive on the job, and able to get the job done as efficiently as
> sightedd colleagues.
> Best,
> Arielle
>
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-- 
Julie McG
National Association of Guide dog Users board member,  National
Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary,
Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President,
and Guiding Eyes for the Blind graduate 2008
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life."
John 3:16