Thank you for addressing this issue. It's not always as easy to get accomodations once in college as it was in K-12, but it is often possible, and worth the effort. You're right that it is up to you to ask for the accomodations.

I have a son in college and he's still learning that he has to be the one to ask. In K-12 I always made sure all the paperwork was documented and all needed/potentially needed accomodations were outlined. However, once he started college things changed. Although my son wasn't 18 yet, the college recongnized him as an adult and therefore would only talk and work with him to evaluate and grant any accomodations. It took him (with several reminders from me) almost the entire first semester to get motivated to complete all the paperwork. Once done, he was granted permission to request additional time on exams. He was give an official letter from their Disabled Student Services Department to present to his Professor's stating his need. The letter is valid for the duration of his college attendance at the University. The key is, he has to first show the Professor the letter and ask for the accomodation. He has to give the Professor suffient notice so that a Proctor can be set up to administer the Exam at a pre-arranged time and place. He can even request the Exam be given in a private room with no distractions. One of the best accomodations he's received was early registration for classes for his entire college years. This is especially great since only Freshman typically get early registration. After the freshman year it becomes extremely difficult to get classes close together or hours that work best for him. Many don't understand why ADHD/ADD students should have any extra advantages for registration. He has to explain that the medication he takes, to help him concentrate, doesn't last all day. Even though he takes extended release medication, it does not have the same effect on him for the entire time. So if he has classes spread throughout the day and evening, managing his medication and optimizing it's effectiveness is extremely difficult. His classes need to be grouped together to benefit from it. For instance: if he takes his medication at 8:30am it reaches it's most effectiveness approximately 30 minutes later and lasts for about 4 hours. So he should take classes from 9 - 12. But, if he has class from 9-10:30 then 11 - 12:30 it will have worn off part way through the class. For that to happen once or twice in a semester might be fine. If this was a regular problem over the entire semester he would have missed an aweful lot of course material. If he had to have classes throughout the day, the problem is compounded. He can't be popping pills all day, every day. Therefore, the accomodation is justified and invaluable.