[nabs-l] Extended Time

Wed Feb 6 04:43:17 UTC 2013

Hi all,

Granted, I'm only a freshman, but I totally agree with this 100%.  I
tend to use a little extra time on things like Theory tests because
entering music into Lime takes a little longer, and I expect to use a
little extra time on stats to allow for making graphs and verbally
instructing the person who will act as my hands on the graphing
calculator, but for everything else like English, History, or Psych
tests I'm always able to take them in class and finish around the same
time as everyone else if not before.  I think the key is to take it on
a case by case basis if at all possible.  The way things work at my
university is that if you want your testing accomodations in the
testing center you have to schedule it via an online form.  Otherwise
it's assumed that you will communicate arrangements with your
professor and the responsibility falls on you.  I'm fortunate that my
theory teacher will allow me to do as much as I can in the same time
frame as everyone else and then still grant me my extra time if I need
it; he stayed an extra hour and a half with me last semester when I
took my final exam.  My stats prof is understanding too.  There was an
issue with my braille from the disability office and he extended my
due date the same number of days that I didn't have access to the
material and was unable to do any work on the assignment.  On the flip
side, last semester I scheduled my history midterm in the testing
center since I thought it would be more in depth than a typical quiz.
Out of the 70 minutes my sighted classmates had to complete the test
and the 140 I had at my disposal I only used 35 and wondered why I had
gone through the extra trouble of making sure my test was scheduled
and my professor had got the file to the testing office if she could
have just emailed it to me like she usually did.  It really is
important to use discression when possible to make the most time for
yourself in addition to all the other reasons Arielle and Julie listed
earlier.

On 2/5/13, Julie McGinnity <kaybaycar at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
>
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-- 
Kaiti