Accommodations are essential for students with learning disabilities and executive functioning deficits like those you would see with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). When children and adults have a good understanding that fair does not mean equal it becomes easier to use accommodations to support student learning.

I’ve run into situations where students have such high expectations for themselves, and how they want others to view them, that they emotionally and mentally burn out because they refuse to be treated differently (fairly) through using accommodations. The opposite can be true as well. Some students don’t push themselves hard enough and take advantage by asking for too many accommodations. As parents and educators, knowing your child’s personality and learning needs are key when considering how to support their learning. When you’ve identified an area that your child struggles with ask yourself these questions.

1. “What is the end goal?”
2. “What baby steps (short term objectives) can we take to get there?”
3. “Are there extra steps we can get rid of that aren’t meaningful to the learning?”
4. “Is there anything we can do differently to make the journey smoother?”

There are many resources on accommodations for the classroom and home settings.  I will share a few many of them in the upcoming month.