Accommodations

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*Accommodations are unique to the individual. This menu aims to give
recommendations that are a general overview for each special need

Contents
Intellectual Disabilities

Specific Learning Disabilities

Emotional Disturbance

Orthopedic Impairment

Visual Impairments

Autism
 Intellectual
Disabilities
Definition: Significantly sub-average general intellectual
functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior
and manifested during the developmental period that adversely
affects a child’s educational performance. The term “intellectual
disability” was formerly termed “mental retardation.

Characteristics:
 An IQ below 70 to 75
 Difficulty making generalizations
 Difficulty with attention
 Slow language development (children learn to talk later, if at
all)
 Slow development of pre-academic skills
 Difficulties in academic learning (reading, writing,
mathematics)
 Difficulty understanding concepts of time and money
 Problems with abstract thinking (concrete approach to problem
solving)
 Difficulties in executive function (i.e., planning, strategizing,
priority setting, cognitive flexibility)
 Problems with short-term memory
 Difficulties with functional use of academic skills such as money
management and time management
 Communication challenges with:
o Comprehension
o Expressing what has been learned
o Describing individual needs
 Limitations in language and communication skills
o More concrete and less complex spoken language (if used),
compared with peers
o Limited vocabulary and grammatical skills
o Receptive language that may be limited to comprehension of
simple speech and gestures
o Communication that may occur through non-spoken means
only—such as gestures, signs, facial expressions, and other forms
of augmentative and alternative communication
 Challenges with social and behavior
 o Immature social judgment and decision making
o Difficulty understanding peer social cues and social rules
o Emotional and behavioral regulation difficulties that may
adversely affect social interactions
 Requiring different levels of support for daily life activities such
as
o Personal care
o Complex tasks (e.g., shopping, transportation, care
organization, meals, money management)
o Employment
o Health care and legal decisions
o Household tasks
o Recreational skills

Accommodations:
 In a general education classroom:
o Increase students sense of belonging
o Partial participation
o Using routines to ensure safety
o Peer support and peer tutoring
o Cooperative learning
 Provide an outline of what will be taught - highlight key
concepts and provide opportunities to practice new skills and
concepts
 Provide reading lists early
 Tailor reading lists and provide guidance to key texts
 When introducing activity ensure stages are clear and explained
in verbal and written form
 Use assistive technology.
 Use verbal descriptions often
 Use clear, straightforward language
 Reinforce learning by using real-life examples and environments
 Present info in many formats – handouts, worksheets,
overheads, videos
 Use variety of teaching methods (Ex. present material
diagrammatically - in lists, flow charts, concept maps)
 Keep diagrams uncluttered
 Use color/highlight
 Record lessons
 Ensure that key statements/ instructions repeated/ highlighted
 One-to-one tutoring/ peer tutoring.
 Oral feedback on assignments
 Specific Learning
Disabilities
Definition: A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or
written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen,
think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations,
including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury,
minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Does
not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual,
hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional
disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Characteristics:
 Unexpected difficulty or low performance in one or more
academic areas
 Ineffective or inefficient information processing
 Difficulty with attention, so cases of hyperactivity
 Has trouble understanding and following directions
 Overactive and impulsive
 Difficulty with handwriting and fine motor activities
 Difficulty with visual or auditory sequential memory
 Difficulty memorizing words or basic math facts
 Difficulty allocating time and organizing work
 Difficulty segmenting words into sounds and blending sounds
 Confuses similar letters and words
 Listens and speaks well, but decodes poorly when reading
 Difficulty with tasks that require rapid naming of pictures,
words, and numbers
 Not efficient or effective in using learning strategies
 Persistent difficulties in reading, writing, arithmetic, or
mathematical reasoning
 Inaccurate or slow and effortful reading or writing
 Poor written expression that lacks clarity
 Difficulties remembering number facts
 Inaccurate mathematical reasoning

Accommodations:
  Controlling task difficulty
 Teaching student in small interactive groups of six or less
 Graphic organizers and visual displays
 Using combination of direct instruction and cognitive strategy
instruction
 Modeling and “think- alouds” to demonstrate
 Teaching students to self regulate and self- monitor
 Provide opportunities for extended feedback
 Using assistive technology:
o Abbreviation expanders
o Alternative keyboards
o Audio books
o Electronic worksheets and learning activities
o Optical character recognition
o Portable word processors
o Proofreading programs
o Speech synthesizers and recognition programs
o Talking calculators
o Word-prediction programs
 Teach students memorization strategies
 Adjusting workload and time requirements
 Presenting information and having demonstrate learning in
multiple ways

Emotional Disturbance
Definition: A condition exhibiting one or more of the following
characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that
adversely affects a child’s educational performance:
 An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual,
sensory, or health factors.
 An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal
relationships with peers and teachers.
 Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal
circumstances.
 A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. A
tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with
personal or school problems.
Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia. The term does not
apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined
that they have an emotional disturbance under paragraph (c)(4)(i)

Characteristics:
 Anxiety disorder:
o Reclusive, prefer solitary actives
o Timid or bashful around others
o Avoid participation
o General anxiety- reoccurring fears about everyday situations
o Obsessive- compulsive disorder- persistent thoughts about
worrisome subjects that result in ritual routines
o Panic disorder- sudden onset of intense fear resulting in extreme
mental and physical reactions
o Posttraumatic stress disorder- persistent anxiety resulting form
a traumatic experience such as a death of a family member,
natural disaster, or life- threatening experience
o Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)- exaggerated fear of
social situations and anticipations of non-acceptance and
ridicule from others
 Mood disorders:
o Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD)- persistent
irritability and or anger
o Bipolar disorder- extreme mood swings, can include mania,
excessive happiness, and depressive symptoms, anxiety,
irritability and thoughts of death and suicide
o Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)- frequent temper
tantrums, excessive arguing, excessive questions of rules,
deliberately annoying or upsetting people, blaming others for
their mistakes, being spiteful and revenge seeking
o Depression- prolonged and persistent feelings of dejection that
interfere with life functioning
 Acting sad, lonely and apathetic
 Low self-esteem or hopelessness
 Decrease interest in activities
 Chronic complaints about physical ailments
 Frequently absent from school
 Talk of suicide or self-destructive behaviors
 Boredom or low energy
 Poor school performance
 Increase irritability, anger, hostility
 Insomnia
 Conduction and aggression
o Conduct disorder-
 Aggression toward people and / or animals, including bullying,
threatening, fighting, and cruelty
 Destruction of property
 Deception, lying, and stealing
o Socialized aggression-
 Bullying
 Thievery
 Gang behavior
o Schizophrenia-
 Hallucinations (hearing voices that others don’t hear)
 Delusions
 Often do not make sense when talking
 Lose touch with the reality of setting
Accommodations:
 Creating an appropriate emotional environment
 Promoting desirable behaviors and decreasing undesirable ones
 Promoting self-control by teaching self-monitoring and self-
management skills
 Teaching social skills
 Using social learning strategies- observing and modeling or
imitating the behavior of others
 Implementing school-based wraparound
 Use different groupings
 Use materials that will generate high interest
 Provide alternative ways for students to complete tasks and
demonstrate learning

Orthopedic
Impairment
Definition: A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely
affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes
impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by
disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from
other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns
that cause contractures).

Characteristics:
 Asthma
o Difficulty breathing due to allergies or non-allergies (stress,
viruses, smoke, exercise)
 Cerebral palsy
o Speech disorders
o Motor problems
o Extreme weakness
 Spinal bifida
o Paralysis in part of the body
 Epilepsy
 o Seizures
 Muscular dystrophy
o Weakness and wasting of the body’s muscles
o Fatigue easily
 HIV and AIDS
o Loss of stamina
o Developmental delays
o Motor problems
o Progressive neurological defects
o Repeated bacterial infections
 Traumatic brain injury
o Memory, attention, and executive function difficulties
o Slow processing of information and faulty reasoning
o Pre-injury skills may be preserved but are not predictive of new
learning abilities
o Lowered social inhibition and judgment, lowered impulse
control, depression and overestimation of abilities
o Less initiative and motivation, general fatigue

Accommodations:
 Making environmental modification
o Change location of materials and equipment (so students in
wheel chairs may reach them)
o Work surface modifications (raise desk so wheelchair fits
under)
o Object modification (attaching clips to a student’s desk to
secure papers)
o Manipulation aids (using a page turner to reduce dependency on
others)
 Providing instruction for motor skills
 Promoting literacy development
o Positioning- so they may see pictures
o Siblings and peers- inclusion during literacy instruction
o Print in the environment- have print everywhere
o Accessing literacy- books on tapes, podcasts, switching access to
a computer
 Educating classmates
o Use literature to better educate classmates

Visual Impairments
Definition: An impairment in vision that even with correction,
adversely affects a child’s educational performance. This term
includes both partial sight and blindness.

Characteristics:
 Delays in concept development, communication, motor skills
and mobility, self-help, and social skills
 Red-rimmed, swollen, or encrusted eyes
 Excessive blinking
 Itchy eyes
 Eyes that are tearing
 One or both eyes turn inward, outward, upward, or downward
 Extreme sensitivity to light
 Tilting or turning the head to one side to see an object
 Squinting
 Covering one eye to view and object
 Trusting the head forward to view an object
 Headaches, fatigue or dizziness after doing close work
 Tripping, bumping into objects, or appearing disoriented
 Recurring sties

Accommodations:
 Using auditory signs or cues
 Opportunities for students to touch or feel objected related to a
learning activity
 Making sure student is seated with unobstructed view
 Create print materials with appropriate font size
 Writing in large letters on board
 Using braille devices
 Have concrete examples for student to touch
 Consider light conditions
 Provide copies when writing on the board
 Allow peer to take notes for student
 Provide opportunity for student to work in groups
 Familiarize student with classroom materials
 Using optical, non-optical and instructional aids (lamps, reading
stands, crammer abacus, raised-line paper)
 Testing-
o Alternative assignment
o Orally reading sections
o Large print or braille answer sheet
 o Provide real object for pictures
o Allow extra time

Autism
Definition: A developmental disability significantly affecting
verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally
evident before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational
performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are
engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements,
resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and
unusual responses to sensory experiences.

Characteristics:
 Social impairments
 Cognitive impairments
 Communication difficulties
 Repetitive behaviors
 Not respond to their name (the child may appear deaf)
 Not point at objects or things of interest, or demonstrate
interest
 Not play “pretend” games
 Avoid eye contact
 Want to be alone
 Have difficulty understanding, or showing understanding, or
other people’s feelings or their own
 Have no speech or delayed speech
 Repeat words or phrases over and over (echolalia)
 Give unrelated answers to questions
 Get upset by minor changes
 Have obsessive interests
 Flap their hands, rock their body, or spin in circles
 Have unusual reactions (over or under-sensitivity) to the way
things sound, smell, taste, look, or feel
 Have low to no social skills
 Avoid or resist physical contact
 Demonstrate little safety or danger awareness
 Reverse pronouns (e.g., says “you” instead of “I”)
 Have unusual interests and behaviors
 Have extreme anxiety and phobias, as well as unusual phobias
  Line up toys or other objects
 Play with toys the same way every time
 Like parts of objects (e.g., wheels)
 Become upset by minor changes
 Have obsessive interests
 Hyperactivity (very active)
 Impulsivity (acting without thinking)
 Short attention span
 Aggression
 Causing self injury
 Meltdowns
 Unusual eating and sleeping habits
 Unusual mood or emotional reactions
 Lack of fear or more fear than expected
 Have unusual sleeping habits

Accommodations:
 Explicit instructional routines
 Graphic organizers
 Teaching strategy instruction
 Grouping practices such as cooperative learning and term
based learning
 Establishing routines early in school year
 Use picture and word schedules
 Use augmentative and alternative communication
 Establish collaborative relationship with family
 Be aware of classroom environment
 Using positive behavior supports
 Visual charts, Visual schedules, Visual cues in locker, lunch
box, or on desk
 Written schedules on locker, lunch box
 Visual cues in hallways to guide child to next classroom or
cafeteria
 Use of FM headsets to either have blocking out music, or FM
transmission of teacher speaking,
 Special sign or signal between teacher and student to notify
student of something
 Choice cards
 Emotion Cards
 Ear plugs or headphones
 Adaptive equipment such as pens, pencils, calculators, fidgety
toys, large print books, audio, etc.
 Watch videos of social stories/interactions and ask them to
explain
 Visual schedule on blackboard
 Alarms as reminders on phone, wristwatch, etc.
 Provide video/audio recordings
 Voice recognition software
 Remind student to wear glasses/hearing aids
 Pencil grips and slant boards
 High contrast materials, limited visual clutter
 Reward charts
 To-do lists
 Show example of completed projects