There are many ways teachers can help children with learning and attention issues succeed in school. Here are some common accommodations and/or modifications to discuss with the school as possible options for your child. (Adapted from https://www.understood.org) Presentation Accommodations:
Listen to audio recordings instead of reading text
Learn content from audiobooks, movies, videos and digital media instead of reading print versions
Work with fewer items per page or line and/or materials in a larger print size
Have a designated reader
Hear instructions orally
Record a lesson, instead of taking notes
Have another student share class notes with him
Be given an outline of a lesson
Use visual presentations of verbal material, such as word webs and visual organizers
Be given a written list of instructions
Response Accommodations:
Give responses in a form (oral or written) that’s easier for him
Dictate answers to a scribe
Capture responses on an audio recorder
Use a spelling dictionary or electronic spell-checker
Use a word processor to type notes or give responses in class
Use a calculator or table of “math facts”
Setting Accommodations:
Work or take a test in a different setting, such as a quiet room with few distractions
Sit where he learns best (for example, near the teacher)
Use special lighting or acoustics
Take a test in small group setting
Use sensory tools such as an exercise band that can be looped around a chair’s legs (so fidgety kids can kick it and quietly get their energy out)
Timing Accommodations:
Take more time to complete a task or a test
Have extra time to process oral information and directions
Take frequent breaks, such as after completing a task
Scheduling Accommodations:
Take more time to complete a project
Take a test in several timed sessions or over several days
Take sections of a test in a different order
Take a test at a specific time of day
Organization Skills Accommodations:
Use an alarm to help with time management
Mark texts with a highlighter
Have help coordinating assignments in a book or planner
Receive study skills instruction
Assignment Modifications:
Complete fewer or different homework problems than peers
Write shorter papers
Answer fewer or different test questions
Create alternate projects or assignments
Curriculum Modifications:
Learn different material (such as continuing to work on multiplication while classmates move on to fractions)
Get graded or assessed using a different standard than the one for classmates