Accommodating students with learning disabilities

Accommodations are alterations in the way tasks are presented that allow children with learning disabilities to complete the same assignments as other students. Accommodations do not alter the content of assignments, give students an unfair advantage or in the case of assessments, change what a test measures. They do make it possible for students with LD to show what they know without being impeded by their disability. Once a child has been formally identified with a learning disability, the child or parent may request accommodations for that child's specific needs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act states that a child's IEP Individualized Education Program team — which both parent and child are a part of — must decide which accommodations are appropriate for him or her. Any appropriate accommodations should be written into a student's IEP.

Kids with learning and thinking differences often face barriers to learning. For instance, if your child has ADHD , she may not be able to sit still long enough to do math problems. If she has reading issues, she may struggle to learn history from a traditional textbook. Fortunately, there are changes in the classroom—called accommodations —that can remove these barriers. Accommodations are changes that remove barriers and provide your child with equal access to learning. Rather, they change how your child is learning. As an accommodation, the teacher lets her listen to an audiobook version of the textbook.

For many students with disabilities—and for many without— the key to success in the classroom lies in having appropriate adaptations, accommodations, and modifications made to the instruction and other classroom activities. Some adaptations are as simple as moving a distractible student to the front of the class or away from the pencil sharpener or the window. Other modifications may involve changing the way that material is presented or the way that students respond to show their learning.

What classroom accommodations help kids who learn and think differently thrive in the classroom? Here are ways students can get the work done—but with slight changes for specific needs. Many of them learn and think differently, or have kids who do. Kristen L.