The short answer
Speech and language disorders can qualify for accommodations on the SAT, ACT, AP, graduate admissions tests and licensing exams. Which accommodations fit depends on which exam task the disorder affects: understanding questions, writing answers, dictating or speaking. College Board and ACT both have documentation guidelines for these disorders, and both want speech-language testing, not just a diagnosis.
Speech and language disorders are common. Nearly 1 in 12 U.S. children ages 3–17 has had a voice, speech, language or swallowing disorder in the past year (NIDCD). For most of them, the question for a standardized exam isn't speaking at all, since the SAT, ACT and most graduate exams are silent, written tests. It's how a language disorder affects reading and writing under time pressure, or how a speech disorder affects the ways a student would otherwise respond. This guide explains how testing organizations handle these requests.
Speech disorder or language disorder?
The distinction shapes the request. College Board's guidelines for communication disorders give examples that include language disorder, childhood-onset fluency disorder (stuttering), speech sound disorder and social (pragmatic) communication disorder (College Board).
A language disorder can support a request for extended time on a written exam if it affects how quickly the student understands questions or puts answers into words. A speech disorder such as stuttering can affect a timed speaking section or make it harder to use dictation to record answers. In either case, explain which exam task is affected and how the requested accommodation would help.
A diagnosis alone doesn't establish which accommodations a student needs. The request should show how the disorder affects the student on the specific exam.
How it can affect test day, and what may help
| How the difficulty affects the exam | What may help |
|---|---|
| The student needs more time to understand passages or questions and has difficulty finishing under standard time limits. | Extended time may help when the request shows how the language difficulty affects timed performance. |
| The student has difficulty formulating or organizing written answers within the time allowed. | Extra time on the writing section may help if the exam allows section-specific timing. If the difficulty is recording the answer, a response accommodation may help. |
| Speech-to-text frequently misses or misrecords the student's answers. | Typing, if the exam permits it, or another approved response method. A human scribe may help if the student can communicate answers reliably to a person. |
| A speech disability affects the student's ability to give timed spoken answers. | On the TOEFL iBT, ETS lists extended time for spoken responses or omission of the speaking section as accommodations that may be approved. |
These are examples, not a menu, and available options and approval requirements vary by exam. Each organization approves only what the documentation supports.
SAT, PSAT and AP (College Board)
Students with communication disorders must request accommodations from College Board's Services for Students with Disabilities even if they have an IEP or 504 plan (College Board). College Board usually approves school-submitted requests for accommodations a student already uses under a formal school plan without asking for documentation, and SSD Online shows when documentation is needed (College Board).
When College Board reviews documentation, its communication disorder guidelines ask for (College Board):
- A clearly stated diagnosis of the specific communication disorder.
- Current documentation. College Board doesn't set a fixed age; what's acceptable depends on the condition, the student's current status and the accommodations requested.
- Educational, developmental and medical history, plus the student's school accommodations and current use of them. Teacher observations help.
- The testing behind the diagnosis, such as a speech-language or neuropsychological evaluation covering expressive and receptive language, with the full report and all subtest scores.
- How the disorder currently affects academic functioning and the ability to take College Board exams.
- A rationale for each accommodation. For extended time, documentation of difficulty with timed tests and current scores on both timed and untimed or extended-time tests.
- Evaluator credentials: evaluators must be licensed in the state where they practice.
ACT
For speech and language disorders, ACT asks for recent diagnostic results from an evaluation by a qualified professional, including a specific diagnosis, developmental and educational history, results of speech and language assessments measuring expressive and receptive language, evidence of the disorder's current impact on reading, written expression or learning, and a description of functional limitations with a rationale for each accommodation (ACT). ACT's general criteria also ask the evaluator to explain how the recommended accommodations address the limitation on a timed standardized test. See our ACT guide for the request process.
Questions about your own request?
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Graduate exams and the TOEFL
Most graduate admissions and licensing exams are written. Check what documentation your exam requires; our exam guides cover each organization.
Exams with a speaking component are different. For the TOEFL iBT, ETS offers extended time for spoken responses to applicants with speech disabilities (ETS), and can omit the speaking section for applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have speech disabilities (ETS).
A note on dictation and speech-to-text
If speech-to-text regularly misses or misrecords your answers, describe what happens and explain which response method would work for you on that exam. For example, typing may work if the exam otherwise requires handwritten responses. A human scribe may help if you can communicate your answers reliably to a person even when the software misrecognizes your speech. College Board, for example, requires students to request each device or software separately (College Board). See our guide to assistive technology on standardized tests.
A checklist before you submit
- Explain which exam task the disorder affects, such as understanding questions, writing answers, dictating or speaking, and request accommodations that match.
- Ask the evaluator for a full speech-language report with expressive and receptive language measures and all subtest scores.
- Show how the disorder affects reading, writing or responding on the specific exam, not only in conversation or class.
- For extended time, include scores from timed and untimed or extended-time testing where possible.
- Include records of accommodations the student already uses, and teacher observations.
- Check the exam's recency rule and submit before the deadline.
If a request is denied
A common gap is documentation that describes the disorder in conversational terms without connecting it to reading, writing or responding on a timed exam. Read the stated reasons and answer each one with new evidence before the agency's deadline. See our guide to appeals.
Common questions
Does a speech or language disorder qualify for SAT or ACT accommodations?
It can. College Board and ACT both have documentation guidelines for these disorders. A diagnosis alone doesn't establish which accommodations a student needs; the documentation should show how the disorder affects the student on the exam.
Can a student with a language disorder get extended time?
Yes, when the evidence supports it. College Board asks for documentation of difficulty with timed tests and current scores on both timed and untimed or extended-time tests.
Does stuttering qualify for accommodations on a written test?
It depends on how it affects the student on that test. Stuttering can make it harder to use dictation to record answers, and it can affect a timed speaking section. On the TOEFL iBT, ETS lists extended time for spoken responses or omission of the speaking section as accommodations that may be approved.
What documentation does ACT want for a speech or language disorder?
Recent diagnostic results from a qualified professional, including expressive and receptive language measures, evidence of current impact on reading, written expression or learning, and a rationale for each accommodation.
How recent does a speech-language evaluation need to be for College Board?
College Board doesn't set a fixed age for communication disorders. What's acceptable depends on the condition, the student's current status and the accommodations requested.