11th Grade

As a junior, you should be well on your way to choosing colleges to which you’d like to apply and planning college visits. Your junior year is also the best time to take standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, that most colleges require for admission.

As a student with cochlear implants, you may be eligible for accommodations for standardized tests. Accommodations are important to reduce potential barriers that may lead to unfair testing. For example, some test items may presume students have experience with sound, such as a reading about music.

Some testing accommodations, such as additional time or a separate room for testing, are available to students for many reasons. Other accommodations are more specific to students who have hearing loss, such a sign language interpreter to translate the test directions, or in some cases, modifications to test directions themselves.

You should discuss testing accommodations and your eligibility with your counselor and if applicable your IEP or Section 504 team. You should try the testing accommodations during a practice test and then contrast your practice test results without an accommodation. Every student responds to accommodations differently, so trying accommodations ahead of time will help you determine what works best for you.

If you have an IEP or Section 504 plan, you should continue to participate in the meetings. Now is a good time to become more involved in the process of educational goal-setting and accommodation selection.