School accommodations are not shortcuts — they are access tools for students who would otherwise be locked out by time pressure.
Education is under attack — and I’m not talking about the drama at the federal Department of Education. I’m talking about something real, immediate, and personal: students with disabilities who require accommodations.
Imagine foot-racing someone who has far fewer physical assets than you; however, you have to run in water up to your chest, and they can maximize their God-given physical attributes. That’s what it’s like in a classroom for a bright person with a slower processing speed. They can see the finish line, but it just takes longer to get there.
Social media echo chambers, such as the Will Cain Show, have grouped alleged grifters—people looking for an edge—on standardized testing or universities, with those who have legitimate diagnoses such as ADHD, Autism (ASD), and learning disabilities. Conflating the legitimate with the illegitimate is wrong—I’ll get into that later. First, let’s get a few misconceptions out of the way.
What School Accommodations Are
A 504 Plan exists under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is not special education. It is not an IEP. It is designed for students who don’t need specialized instruction but do need accommodations to access general education. And it’s usually monitored by a guidance counselor, not a special education team.
The Myth That Accommodations Are “Easy”
There’s a myth that it’s “easy” to get special services or a 504 plan. Anyone who has actually worked in schools knows that’s absolute nonsense. In reality, a 504 Plan is often the consolation prize after parents are denied special education eligibility. And while a 504 isn’t nothing, it’s also not a golden ticket. At best, it can help students obtain extra time (typically 1.5x or 2x the allotted time) or other accommodations in college or on standardized testing — but that’s only part of the story.
Another misconception: that getting accommodations for college is easy. Maybe, decades ago, a doctor’s note could do the trick. Not anymore.
Why the College Board Gets It Wrong
Recently, one of my students was denied extra time for College Board testing because the reviewer didn’t thoroughly read the neuropsychological evaluation. The student had a diagnosis of ADHD and a 140 verbal IQ, but an average processing speed (98). The College Board decided that “average” processing speed meant no extra time was necessary.
That decision completely ignored the discrepancy model, which is well-established in research:
A student with sky-high verbal intelligence but average processing speed will appear significantly slower on timed academic tasks. Not “a little slower.” Functionally unable to keep up. It creates an artificial barrier that has nothing to do with knowledge or effort — just the limits of cognitive processing under a clock.
College Accommodations Favor the Affluent
Now let’s talk about college accommodations. If you look at the documentation requirements for many higher-level institutions, they’re not subtle. A high school 504 or IEP is no longer enough. Most colleges now want a recent private evaluation, which costs thousands of dollars. For families with resources, it’s a hassle. For families on scholarship or financial aid, it’s often completely out of reach.
This is why colleges like Harvard and other elite institutions report high percentages of students receiving accommodations. It’s not because students are “gaming the system.” It’s because wealthy families can actually afford the required documentation.
What Critics Don’t Understand
And here’s the part everyone gets wrong:
Kids who need school accommodations would give anything not to need them. They don’t want to stand out. They don’t like labels. They don’t want to explain themselves. They don’t want to feel different.
That misunderstanding is exactly why our executive function coaching focuses on helping students build the planning, time-management, and self-regulation skills that accommodations alone can’t replace.
Kids without disabilities don’t get it. They see accommodations as strategies — not lifelines. They don’t understand that for students with ADHD, learning differences, or slow processing speed, accommodations aren’t perks. They’re the only thing that makes the playing field remotely fair.
School Accommodations aren’t an advantage.
They level the playing field.