How autistic kids take tests in school

In the State of California, when your child is in third grade, they begin to take a California State mandated exam that helps to determine the “quality” of education in the state.

For most of the reminder of their time in grades under twelve, our kids have to take these tests.

My child took the exams in elementary school and excelled in the mathematics portion. 

To our surprise, he scored well in the language portion.

How do autistic kids take tests in school?

The most common way is they get accommodations written into their IEP (Individualized Education Program).

We knew this going well in advance.

Before third grade, we had certain accommodations written into my child’s IEP.

What were our guidelines?

1. Our child is allowed to take the state exams in the RSP room. The RSP room (the Resource Specialist Person’s room) is a much quieter environment.

There are supposed to be a very minimal amount of children in the room at one time.

They theory is that the small amount of kids and the quieter space allows a child to concentrate better.

2. Our child was allowed to have gummy bears (or gum) on hand to assist with his oral issues. Oral needs often occur in children with autism.

3. Our child was allowed “high engine breaks.” If his body was unregulated (his “engine was running high”), then he was allowed a break.

His aide takes him to the yard to do a few exercises to regulate his body.

4. Our child did not have to finish his exams within the scheduled time. Only the upper grades had time limits, however, they did not apply to our child.

Our child was allowed as much time as he needed to complete the state exams.

What else did we establish?

Because the state tests are administered every day over a two week period, the test taking can be stressful (even for typical kids). We felt these accommodations would allow our child a fair chance to demonstrate his abilities without the stress of test taking that can occur with autistic children. 

For elementary school, these accommodations were only utilized when our child took his state exams.

We didn’t expect these accommodations to be enacted for every spelling test in elementary school.

One more important note:

Once these guidelines were written into my child’s IEP, they had to be followed.

The IEP is a legal document.

If your child’s school does not allow an IEP accommodation, they are in violation of that IEP.

Learn more about IEPs here: http://www.education.com/reference/article/individualized-education-program-iep1/