grad level testing

I myself just finished grad school (law school) but didnt get diagnosed with ADD until AFTER I graduated and failed the Bar exam! Right now I am in the process of studying to take the Bar a second time.

I assume you are talking about taking regular exams for a course, as opposed to admission tests (like LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) and as opposed to Board or licensing exams.
The obvious thing to do is get diagnosed which will lead to some sort of medication regime which will in turn eventually help control your problems of concentrating, distraction, remembering, etc. (if those are your problems).

I do hope you know that once a person is diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, and/or Learning Disorder (LD), you have constitutional rights under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act): you have the right to go to your teachers/school/appropriate department in the university and ask for “special accomodations”. There are usually guidelines and standards that THEY have a right to make you follow and meet before they grant you anything, so they are not getting swindled by non-AD/HD people who just want to procrastinate or have an “easy way out”. Once you meet the standards and requirements (which basically means showing them documentation of your diagnosis and what problems/issues your disorder causes you), here are some of the things you might be granted:
1) extra time on exams
2) a quiet, separate testing area
3) extra time to hand in papers
4) a “special helper” to take notes for you in class
5) getting textbooks on audio tape
6) being able to use a typewriter/laptop on your exams
7) being exempt from certain graduation requirements, depending on your specific disability

Unfortunately for me, since I didnt get diagnosed until AFTER I had already graduated, I didn’t get to benefit from any of these helpful advantages and rights. I’m still very sad and upset about that. But I am trying to make the best of things at the moment. I received some advice from someone about getting an “ADD coach”. If you haven’t heard of that before and the mere phrase “coach” sounds like something that isnt relevant, you should really visit these websites to learn a little about it or go to google.com to get some other websites:

http://www.personaladdcoach.com
http://www.workingorder.net/add-adhd.htm

Getting a coach is also a good idea if your issue is more about how to study for a test (as opposed to problems with actually taking tests)
.
One of the things my coach just suggested to me the other day was something that now seems so obvious I cant believe I didnt think of it on my own before! One of my main problems is being able to concentrate on reading and taking tests with ANY external noise or distractions. Besides getting some ear plugs (which I personally have never found super effective) she suggested getting some earmuffs (those headphone-like things people use when shooting guns at a range, working heavy machinery, and of course, studying!). Not only are they very awesome, but they reduce even MORE noise if you wear earplugs under them too! If you can get over looking a little “silly”, you should and can wear these during exams to block out noise and thus help you concentrate on the test.
Here are some good websites:

http://store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/gennoisprot1.html
(scroll to the very bottom for earmuffs. Earplugs are all at the top but it would cheaper to buy those at your local drug store).

http://www.abcsafetymart.com/earplugs/earplugs04.html#a

Hope this helps!
feel free to email me directly if I didnt answer your questions if you have more

-Dr. Drea

Subtle attention deficits are more likely to show up at the higher levels of education. In terms of an ADHD diagnosis, what that can lead to is trying the ADHD meds (the central nervous system stimulants/alerting agents) which do temporarily help a small minority of those with ADHD in quite remarkable ways vs the vast majority of those who try the ADHD meds with lesser benefits - and in some cases zero benefits - as the meds, for them, simply fail to work.

Please do not expect instant, miraculous results in relieving ADHD/relieving ADHD symptoms if this is the very first time in your whole life for you to approach your physician and discuss it. Finding the right doctor and finding something which regularly works often takes awhile and only very, very lucky people find the right answer the very first time they look for it.

Good luck.

Hi,
I was browsing through old messages when this caught the eye…it holds special meaning for me as I finished grad school recently. I did not have any trouble with entrance exams such as GRE - but the course exams were difficult - the qualifying exam was the killer - this is a timed exam but with open-ended questions - the main problem i had was to manage the time so that i could answer all the questions. after i failed the first time, luckily one of the faculty members suggested that i may have a learning disorder - only then did i get myself diagnosed when I found that I had ADD.

The posting from Dr.Drea is very relevant and you can get help in all the ways listed. Although, in my case, the LD center at the university was not used to handling ADD cases in graduate students and I could not get any direct help from them. Luckily, my department was very accomodative and they let me take an untimed exam - which I could clear easily.

It is good that you know about your condition before you are in the midst of graduate school. It can be especially distressing when you start failing exams - I guess people with ADD who enter graduate school have developed mechanisms to overcome their ADD early on in their studies - but as you enter grad school the intensity and pressure is high enough to reveal the ADD symptoms.

I’m sure you are more than capable of handling grad school and with good conseling and medication you can manage your ADD symptoms so that they don’t interfere with your performance.

Good Luck!