Accommodations "Level the Playing Field"
Link to Free Graphic Handout Below to Give to Your Favorite Teacher!

Measure Knowledge, 
​Not the Disability

When people with disabilities do not receive accommodations on tests, the tests often measure the impact of their disabilities, not what they know.

If the purpose of the test is to determine what you know, giving you more time to complete the test is a reasonable accommodation.

The same goes for people who have language learning disabilities like dyslexia.

From: Do We Over Accommodate? Teachers Debate Accommodations & Modifications. Retrieved May 16, 2017, from http://wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/accom.teach.debate.htm

​Support Weak Areas

Here's just a few of the very basics of assistive technology (AT) to consider when needed.  
​
Learning Ally membership for audio textbooks and all fiction and nonfiction books.  Our students with dyslexia can participate just like their classmates, only by listening; i.e., by ear reading the text.
  • Siri on the iPad works great for speech-to-text.
  • Voice Dream Reader or Claro Speak US for text-to-speech.
Finally, Is your student keyboarding yet?  Learning to keyboard is a great summer project.  It's not easy when you have dyslexia, but step-by-step works.

Good Teachers Already Use Accommodations

Formal accommodations go one step beyond what a good teacher does every day in the classroom...respond/accommodate/differentiate

Every day in the classroom, good teachers look at each student as a unique learner.  They see student's strengths and weaknesses.  

They use multiple ways to present a lesson with Smart board technology or other videos and pictures, plan hands-on projects, create mystery writing questions and more.  They might also change a student's seat, pre-teach vocabulary, model how to expand a sentence, and give visual cues.

Formal accommodations are specifically set-up as part of a 504 plan or IEP plan to help establish a level playing field for a student and help the student achieve specific learning goals.

Free 8-1/2 x 11 Graphic Handout
"What do I want My Teacher to Know"