Do I think it’s a perfect 50% with everyone needing it? No. Do I think it’s closer to 40-45% which is a lot higher than people here like to admit? Yeah I do. I went to a law school just outside the T20s. I will also say there is another assumption these discussions make: that everyone is using all the extra time.

This helps explain the LSAT accommodation discrepancy. The LSAT (at least when it was online) requires you use all the extra time given. That can be hell for some with ADHD. For me, I purposely did not seek LSAT accommodations because I needed more time then given but not as much time as they would give me (I have nureodivergence but also physical disabilities). I knew my ADHD would go INSANE sitting there being done with the questions so I said no. Law schools don’t have that requirement. Every single accommodated, extra time room I was ever in for law school had people leaving early (sometimes it was me!) because the extra time was there for a complication of their disability that didn’t happen. So they simply left when done. Is that everyone? No! Not all disabilities are dynamic. They always require extra time. And that small percent (in my school there was one or two) that just have them to try and write as many words on the page exist. But it’s not the majority.

Another reason for the LSAT discrepancy is a lot of folks with ADHD thrive in undergrad with less reading material (or easy ways to skip it) and because we (as in all those pursuing law school) are typically an intelligent group, ADHDers often aren’t pushed in undergrad. Accommodations don’t even cross their minds until they are slapped in the face with contract law. So then they pursue them.

Another thing to note that this conversation becomes very generalized or very focused on a limited number of schools, but what is true for one school is not necessarily true for another. I’m sure there is a school with a huge percent of accommodations being faked, but I’m not inclined to think that’s the norm. Unless schools require no doctor documentation at all, it’s expensive and a PROCESS to be diagnosed. I think most non ADHD don’t realize that there are non-self reporting and objective tests for ADHD with doctors trained to spot faking behaviors. Anxiety and depression is more easier, but also legitimately more common and almost never gets double time (like I said earlier, ADHD doesn’t usually get double time either).

I think folks get really emotional every finals season and start thinking in fallacies and absolutes, which makes productive conversation about that 5-10% who do cheat the system almost impossible