Parents/Principals:
A United Vision for Success

Edition 3:

Accommodations

For our next topic, we return to the basics of special education. Almost every Individualized Education Program specifies accommodations as one tool for implementing a student’s specially designed instruction, yet this subject continues to generate endless frustration on the part of parents who see a huge gap between the words of an IEP and the reality of its implementation.

 There are innumerable wonderful examples of how sensible accommodations can allow a student to access the curriculum. Writes one parent: “My son (with ADHD and dysgraphia) uses a voice recorder to record homework because many teachers don't talk about homework until just before the bell rings, or they will add something just as the bell rings. My son cannot write fast enough to get it. I have found that the best way to deal with note taking is to have "copies of notes" as a classroom accommodation (write it in under other). Many high school teachers use power points for their lessons. He can get a copy of the power point ahead of time and highlight or add some details during the lecture. Many of the kids think it is cool that my son has the Neo. They ask him why he gets to carry a "laptop". He has no problem letting them know why he uses it. As a senior, he understands that this is the only way he can get the grades that he wants in his classes! It levels the playing field for him.”

 Often, however, implementation of accommodations does not happen as smoothly as it should. Some of the problems may arise right from the start when the IEP is written: it is easy to put marks on a check list, but those vaguely worded items may not really get at the root of what a child needs for success. IEP teams need to carefully consider exactly what would be helpful and then spell it out. An extremely common example is the need to specify in the IEP the way in which homework assignments will be collected. Parents report over and over that their children get “zeroes” on assignments even though the whole family had their evening ruined the night before as they sweated through the work, only to have the student forget to turn it in the next day. How serious the consequence to morale and to the class grade that zero is, and how easily avoided it would be if the teacher would only murmur a reminder in the student’s ear!

 Even more concerning are reports, almost universal among parents of children in special education, that accommodations which are clearly agreed upon by the IEP team are not being consistently applied in class. The reasons parents are given are varied and include the following unfortunate explanations from staff members:

 The student never asked for the accommodation for which he/she was entitled: Teaching self advocacy should be part of the daily routine, but punishing a student for being embarrassed or oblivious is at least as common. It does little good to check off “extended time on assignments” and then announce in class that homework will be marked down by one grade for every day it is turned in late. What student will have the nerve to challenge that in public? How many decide after a couple days that the situation is hopeless and they might as well not even bother finishing the assignment? Do we want to encourage students to learn the material, even if tardily, or to give up altogether?

 One parent writes about high school: “In my mind, the big problem was my figuring out which accommodations weren't being implemented.  My son never told me (unless I thought to ask), and I would often not know until it was too late i.e. he flunked a test, etc.”

 Teachers do not have enough time to accommodate one student; time spent there is time taken away from the rest. The parental knee jerk reaction to this is simply, “Not my problem,” and “The IEP is a legal contract, so figure it out.”  Perhaps more productive might be the suggestion that differentiated instruction benefits everyone in a classroom; it is not only children with IEPs who may need to see material presented in more than one way. Organizational aids such as keeping a card for each child with successful strategies to pass on to subsequent teachers, or making a chart of which students need which accommodations, may be useful.

 Teachers should get to know students and form their own impressions without being prejudiced by what other people have written in an IEP.  This brings us back to our original newsletter article on distributing IEPs. An IEP is worthless unless every teacher is thoroughly familiar with its contents. “I would attend back to school nights and introduce myself to the SpEd teacher to be told that he/she didn't know if my child was one of their students or not because he/she preferred to not know ahead of time which students had an IEP so he/she could figure it out on their own.  It's impossible to implement accommodations or reach the appropriate goals with that mindset.  This was a recurring problem.”

 General education teachers are not trained in all the special education techniques they need. This is undoubtedly true, which is why it is imperative for principals to assess the training needs of their schools and organize classes, team discussions, mentoring programs or whatever it takes. A commitment to the process is needed to avoid situations such as this: “The other part of my son’s accommodations was that the teachers would have training on autism so that they would be able to help him better.  There was never any training done whatsoever.  When they were asked, they would say, ‘I am working on it.’”

 Pampering children fails to prepare them for the “Real world.”  This oft heard message probably causes more teeth grinding on the part of parents than any other. It reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the impact of disabilities, particularly invisible disabilities, on school performance, and of the role of special services in ameliorating this impact. Parents already ask themselves daily if their child “Can’t” or “Won’t” and if their help constitutes encouraging or coddling; they need the professionals to interpret their child’s needs correctly and to help them chart the correct course. Required viewings of Mel Levine’s Misunderstood Minds might be useful here.

 Granting accommodations affords some students an unfair advantage. Occasionally articulated, often a subtext, this reason reflects not only a misunderstanding of disabilities but also of the purpose of education, which is valuable by itself and not only as a means to gain a competitive advantage.

 The law only requires schools to provide an adequate education, not one that helps everyone reach full potential. Federal law guarantees every child with a disability a 'free and appropriate education' (FAPE).  Any accommodation agreed upon by an IEP team is one that has been determined necessary for a particular child's FAPE.  But in addition, the School Board's strategic governance states a belief that, 'Each child is important and entitled to the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential.'  While parents and teachers may disagree in general terms over what constitutes 'appropriate', our Board has set a goal that aims at achieving an even higher standard for all student, including those with disabilities.  It sounds strange to hear comments from staff that are contrary to this essential commitment to individual levels of achievement.  Such misguided statements cause parents concern that educators - in the face of the fundamental changes being advocated to NCLB - are seeking less, not more achievement for students with disabilities.  The parents of these students don't want their children to be the ones left behind.

 On a final cautionary note: “One other thing I would include in your newsletter is the need for teachers to help older kids (who are more acutely aware of their peers' attention) not feel that their accommodations make them different in a negative way.  Keeping positive about an accommodation for a disability is important so that, for instance, other kids see their classmate's Neo as something "cool" and not as a scarlet letter for sped.  As an example, last year my daughter's teacher loudly and repeatedly broadcast that she had reduced homework in front of her entire class whenever giving out assignments--like that she had to do only the even math problems while everyone had to do both even and odd.  Because the accommodation for "reduced assignments" was not handled sensitively and discreetly, she was repeatedly embarrassed before her peers.  Since she does not self advocate, this contributed to increasing the anxiety associated with her disability and led to some otherwise preventable negative behaviors.”

 But when done well, accommodations can make all the difference to a child. A parent from Newington Forest writes, “I am so impressed with the accommodations my son's school has made for him. In August, I requested a meeting to initiate an IEP as my son does not yet have one. The meeting was held in a timely matter and many useful ideas came about and were put into action on day one of school.

Even without an IEP, the special ed teachers and classroom teacher as well as the school counselor were ready with a list of interventions. They had an action plan in place as well as numerous ways to handle his anxiety at many stages. They set up a weekly group meeting for him with the counselor and other kids like him, provided a place for him to 'time out' when he got overwhelmed and have basically done everything humanly possible to ensure he is successful.

So far, so good. He is doing better this year than ever before!”

 Parents know that teachers have a tremendously hard job with endless demands on their time, and that the excuses mentioned above pop out mostly as a result of stress or insecurity.  We trust you to give your teachers the supports they need to plan and implement every accommodation every time.