Accommodations & Advocacy
Actions to take in the classroom:
1. Create appropriate and effective classroom/assessment accommodations.
2. Put each accommodation into action.
Step 1 is important.
Step 2 is imperative.
Explicitly teaching our students, step-by-step, how to put their accommodations into action is often the biggest and most forgotten hurdle. It takes time and patience to discover:
What does each accommodation look like inside and outside of the classroom?
How will your student communicate their needs and challenges?
How will your student know what they need and when they need it?
Student advocacy is important at all ages - elementary school, middle school, high school, or college.
If you are in need of additional information and guidance, or are looking for a way to help your child ease the transition into making accommodations a normal, familiar, and helpful part of their world, I’m here to help! All questions are good questions. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.
FREE phone consultation.
Accommodations
Accommodations in the classroom level the playing field and provide equal access to the curriculum. Students using accommodations, such as extended time or assistive technology, are not engaging in cheating or seeking an unfair advantage. Essentially, these provisions enable students to access information through alternative means, accommodating diverse learning needs and empowering every student to excel.
Learning when and how to use the right accommodations takes experience, knowledge, and a little patience. Just like getting used to a new pair of glasses, or even a new piece of sports equipment, an accommodation doesn’t always create an instant aha! moment. In fact, adapting to an accommodation often involves a period of trial and error, patience, and persistence as individuals navigate the changes and find what works best for them.
Advocacy
Advocacy is the act of supporting a cause or a recommendation. It’s true, there are times when it can feel like an ugly word or a stressful concept, and yet it doesn’t have to be. Learning how to advocate for your child, and teaching your child how to advocate for themselves is a process. Every educator and administrator that you meet will have a different level of comfortability with your child’s learning needs. Approaching these topics, and communicating effectively with educators can feel unfamiliar, or even intimidating. A young child can learn age-appropriate advocacy skills, and we should be careful not assume an older student already has them. Advocacy is a learned skill.
