Test Anxiety & Americans with Disabilities Act

Statistics now show, more than any other time in our history, many students have begun to exhibit test anxiety characteristics because of increased emphasis on national wide high-stakes testing. A client recently phoned my private practice in hopes of seeking relief from his debilitating test-taking anxiety by receiving an extension of time with the approval of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. He was attending a community college with hopes of becoming a doctor in his field. During my assessment, it was discovered that he had been experiencing severe test-taking anxiety since the age of five where he would cry, scream and urinate on himself. However, when his concerned mother decided to home-school him in 1st grade, for a total of eight years, she had no idea that her son had been experiencing test anxiety. My client shared, "When I entered high school and in the 9th grade, I constantly felt like I had the flu and then recently I realized this severe anxiety happened right before test-taking and without fail." The client added, "This semester, at three o'clock in the morning, I was throwing up all night and for four hours straight before an exam." With my client having had no other anxieties associated with his personal or professional life, I had given him a mental health diagnosis of Specific Phobia, (300.29), Severe, Situational Type. Test anxiety is most often defined as a situation-specific anxiety trait with emotionality and worry as its major components. In the terminology of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), test anxiety is a specific phobia, situational type. In the case of my client, the situation was test-taking. So then, in lieu of my clients relevant history and diagnosis, it was clear that he possessed a test-taking disability where he was significantly limited in realizing his full potential within the realm of his formal education, a major life activity. Additionally, once test anxiety is determined, the remediation of its debilitating effects can begin. The treatment for test-taking anxiety in a traditional school setting includes the modification of time, test setting and test presentation and the teaching of test-taking and study skills. In the case of my client, whose study habits were exemplary, I requested on his behalf, a modification of time (double-time), a modified test setting environment and for the duration of his formal education. Traditionally, there is a higher percentage of test anxiety among females as apposed to males; however, regardless of gender, if you are dealing with test anxiety, you are not alone and help is available. Licensed professionals are available to assess, diagnose and treat this treatable condition with the possibility of the writing of a professional letter to better help for a more promising educational future!"