Accommodations

In this chapter, you will learn the definition of accommodations. The knowledge of how to make accommodations to a lesson, activity, or assessment is a pivotal component of establishing appropriate support to meet the unique needs of students who have disabilities in the general education setting. The availability of accommodations allows students who have disabilities to participate in the same activities as their typically developing peers. The definition of accommodations will be presented in this chapter, along with Anna’s own discussion about how Sabrina’s team has made an effort to include Sabrina in the general education classroom and not separate her from her peers by making appropriate accommodations. Finally, two video examples of Sabrina’s educational team discussing the accommodations they have made for Sabrina will be presented.

Things to Consider:

1. What are the benefits of making accommodations for a student who has special needs?
2. How can parents be involved in the planning of classroom activities/lessons that require making accommodations to meet the student’s unique needs?
3. When watching the video of Sabrina’s educational team, what do you think about some of the strategies that are discussed?

Student Empowerment - What Research Says

Accommodations are the actual supports that provide students with equal access to instruction. There are four major categories of accommodations, these are: (1) Presentation of the instruction material (e.g., orally present classroom material); (2) Student response to classroom instruction (e.g., use of word processor); (3) Instruction timing (e.g., extended time on activities); and (4) Instructional setting (e.g., study carrel).

Accommodations - Video Example

Please observe the following video example of Sabrina’s general education teacher discussing an accommodation she uses with Sabrina in the general education classroom.

Accommodations - What Anna Says

A couple of days before first grade started, Sabrina and I went over to school to see her classroom. I had an informal conversation with her special education teacher at that time and told her a story of how Sabrina made friends in a summer camp when she did not have an aide and didn’t make friends when she did have an aide. I asked that any paraprofessional’s assigned to Sabrina be taught that they worked for the classroom and not just for Sabrina. I love that Diane brings it up a year later as if it is perfectly normal that lots of adults help in the classroom and none are seen as Sabrina’s aide. It is a testament to the power of parent voices!

The second point that is so clear in these clips is how well general education teachers and special education teachers and specialists collaborate in the general education setting. There are no 'us and them' lines between them; it is clearly a team.

Educational Support for Sabrina - Video Example

Please observe the following video example of Sabrina’s special education teacher discussing the use of a self-directed notebook for Sabrina to use as an educational support in the classroom.