How specific an accommodation can be requested in a child’s IEP?

Accommodations in the classroom, used on a daily basis, can include:

• Taped textbooks available through Learning Ally
• Extended time on tests
• Tutoring
• Use of a note taker, for students who have trouble listening in class and taking notes
• Use of a scribe during test taking, for students who have trouble writing but who can express their answers verbally to the scribe, who writes down the responses
• Use of a reader during test taking, for students who have trouble reading test questions
• Tape recording of class lectures
• Testing in a quiet place, for students who are easily distracted

Here are some links that give more information and examples of accommodations and modifications:

• Making Accommodations for Students with LD

You can also find information on accommodations from Wrightslaw, a website that provides reliable information about special education law and advocacy for children with disabilities. This site defines accommodations for tests as “changes in how a test is administered that do not substantially alter what the test measures; includes changes in presentation format, response format, test setting or test timing. Appropriate accommodations are made to level the playing field, i.e., to provide equal opportunity to demonstrate knowledge.”

This gives teachers some flexibility in how they provide the accommodation, but requires them to gives students alternative ways of demonstrating content knowledge.