Many parents will soon be meeting with school personnel to plan their child’s educational program for the next school year. If your child has an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan, he or she is eligible to receive classroom accommodations to help with the learning process. Now is the time to familiarize yourself with possible accommodations so that you can be prepared to discuss them with school personnel at your meeting.

What are accommodations? Accommodations are techniques and support systems that help students work around limitations resulting from a disability. Accommodations help students to access the general education curriculum and are provided by the teacher. An accommodation does not mean changing the curriculum; it may mean changing instructional methods and materials, changing assignments and assessments, changing time demands and scheduling, or changing the learning environment. Usually the same types of accommodations are provided for both instruction and assessment, although certain classroom accommodations are not allowed on state assessments.

Possible accommodations if your child has difficulty with reading comprehension:

• Provide student with list of important vocabulary before reading the text
• Have student read the summary of the text first
• Have student read the review questions first and then look for answers
• Provide student with a study guide of the text
• Use multi-sensory activities to help student understand abstract information
• Allow student to use sticky notes/highlighter tape/erasable highlighter to mark important information in the text
• Ask student to paraphrase information in their own words and discuss what is unclear

Possible accommodations if your child has difficulty decoding and reading the text:

• Provide student with an audio version of the text. Use books on tape/CD or have another student or assistant record the text.
• Use computer software to transfer printed text into speech.
• Provide a reading “buddy” to read aloud text
• Read written directions/key points aloud before beginning
• Allow student to input unknown words into an electronic spelling dictionary with voice output

Discussing appropriate accommodations is an important step in the planning of the IEP or 504 Plan. If your child is old enough, he or she should also give input regarding the accommodations. Working together, you and your educational planning team can help your child succeed!

Mrs. Spelman provides evaluations and remediation services for students with reading difficulties, and also provides speech/language therapy services. She can be reached at 407-792-9552 or at spelmanspeech@earthlink.net

References: Accommodations, Assisting Students with Disabilities; FL Dept of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services, 2003