Should dislexic people be allowed extra time in exams

Ah, but tests are not there to reflect real life applications, they are strictly there to get an overview of how much said student knows and how he applies his knowledge to a set of predefined problems in a given field. You're correct in the assumption that an employer will react differently to incoming employees that has a high test grade, but you must remember that along with the test scores the hiring firm will also get a full résumé describing the strengths, weaknesses and disabilities of the now grow up student. A firm will be made aware that the student has Dyslexia and if the firm is worth their value they will estimate how severe the handicap is and can make a valid decision based upon that. It is my honest opinion that the 25 minutes extra given to dyslexic students will remain within the education path of that student and won't impact his career to the extent that it gives them an unfair advantage. The employer gives them the same time limit as he would to everyone else, the time limit that his job requires and the employ promised as he signed his contract that he would be able to operate under. Remember that not all jobs require extensive paper reading. If the dyslexic person is reading a digital report he can either increase the font size until his handicap can cope with it or he might use the on screen narrator that is available on his computer to dictate it for him. Students work hard to fit everything a test requires into the time limit. Some unfortunately have it harder than others. Those with dyslexia are born with a limit that stops them from acquiring the same speed as others. You're correct, some have it better than others, a mild dyslexia isn't something to award extra time over, but what about those that do have a severe form of the disability? How are you going to tell who is riding the train and who is generally struggling to read a sentence as simple as “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog”? We can't, we will never be able to tell who are trying and still failing and who are not trying and thus won't succeed by their own choice. Penalizing the good to unveil the evil just doesn't work.I know that dyslexia is not a permanent handicap, but that is in no way connected to the statement “Dyslexia is simple to overcome.” Some just cannot for their little life fight the dancing letters that swirl around their paper and cannot make them stop in the correct places no matter how hard they try. We can and will help them, we will give them the opportunities that they deserve in life, but we cannot sacrifice them or put too much pressure on their shoulders just so that we can force those that DO have the capability to improve enough to skip their extra minutes to actually improve. To conclude this round:These extra 20-30 minutes won't do anyone harm, neither will they do anyone good. As unfair as it may seem to reward someone for being born a certain way it is often the only method we have that works with minimal damage. I'd like my opponent to properly define a method that allows us to give everyone the same amount of time on a test, yet give everyone the same chance of success and that will not skew the final result at all. But until that method of teaching is found I still think that out of several ill possibilities that are possible, A few extra minutes won't hurt more than they help.