School accommodations for dylsexia and dysgraphia

[Storygirl]

We have our appointment to get the results from DD10's NP evaluations on Wednesday, and I'm trying to make a list of questions ahead of time. We are also in the process of enrolling in school for the fall, so I'm interested particularly in what kind of accommodations are common in the classroom. There was a recent thread about dyslexia accommodations, but it was geared mainly toward what can be done while homeschooling.

 

I know the NP will give us suggestions, but I'd like to know some specific things that I can ask him about.

 

For example, what about taking notes from the board while the teacher is lecturing? My kids will be in 4th and 5th grades. Would a teacher provide them a copy of her own notes? Would an aide scribe for them? I know that they could request to be able to type in class, but they are not able to type yet (working on that), so classroom typing won't help in the short term. What is an age-appropriate way to address the note-taking issue?

 

I'm thinking that I can ask for them to be able to type using text-to-speech software for writing they do at home, but I don't see how that would work in the classroom. They can't sit at their desk talking to their device while they other children are writing quietly. Or can they?

 

Do children with diagnosed dyslexia have to take graded spelling tests? Can they do the spelling activities but not be graded?

 

We know that the school we are applying to has good intervention services, but I want to have a better idea about what to ask for (and yes, we will be requesting evaluations for IEPs, but they will start doing intervention before that is all finished).

[imagine.more]

In my experience schools love accommodations and hate remediation. Remediation is work, accommodation allows them and the student the appearance of progress without the need for actual progress necessarily. So while certain accommodations are sensible (i.e., my daughter needs an FM system in classroom situations to hear better and needs preferential seating) many others (multiple choice spelling tests with 2 choices, severely shortened assignments, etc) are often a cop-out so they can say "well, she's making B's and doing great in language arts!" ....nevermind the fact that the kid is still illiterate ;)

 

Anyway, for a dyslexic student what you want is consistent, measurable remediation in the dyslexia and possibly math. This means you should push for them to do one-on-one or small group Orton-Gillingham tutoring if your DD hasn't already had 3 years of it at home. 

 

And then in the classroom so they still have access to the content what you want is ideally the ability to tape record lectures/lessons, and notes typed/written for them by the teacher. Now, being handed notes does mean they will struggle to remember as much material vs if they wrote it themselves so I'd work with them to develop skills like highlighting vocab words in the notes and basically color-coding the heck out of it so they're engaged in the lecture but not distracted trying to just spell the stuff the teacher is saying. Also, ask about audio books especially for literature class, those can really help dyslexic kids keep up.

 

For spelling tests insist on a different spelling test based on their OG words, NOT the topic-based list the rest of the class gets. They should still be able to handle a 10-20 word list but it needs to be on their level and graded accurately.

 

An example of bad spelling accommodations: My DD was given the same topic-based list as everyone else except half the words (10) and multiple choice where one was correctly spelled and one was incorrectly spelled and she had to circle the correct one. She never remembered ANY of those words no matter how much we studied and she did all the assignments....they were just not phonetic so they were way above her head. Now with Barton I give her weekly 10 word spelling tests and she gets 90-100% every time and she is really retaining them. Accommodations should make it easier to learn, not just make it easier to sit in the class. 

 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

In my experience schools love accommodations and hate remediation. Remediation is work, accommodation allows them and the student the appearance of progress without the need for actual progress necessarily. So while certain accommodations are sensible (i.e., my daughter needs an FM system in classroom situations to hear better and needs preferential seating) many others (multiple choice spelling tests with 2 choices, severely shortened assignments, etc) are often a cop-out so they can say "well, she's making B's and doing great in language arts!" ....nevermind the fact that the kid is still illiterate ;)

 

Anyway, for a dyslexic student what you want is consistent, measurable remediation in the dyslexia and possibly math. This means you should push for them to do one-on-one or small group Orton-Gillingham tutoring if your DD hasn't already had 3 years of it at home. 

 

And then in the classroom so they still have access to the content what you want is ideally the ability to tape record lectures/lessons, and notes typed/written for them by the teacher. Now, being handed notes does mean they will struggle to remember as much material vs if they wrote it themselves so I'd work with them to develop skills like highlighting vocab words in the notes and basically color-coding the heck out of it so they're engaged in the lecture but not distracted trying to just spell the stuff the teacher is saying. Also, ask about audio books especially for literature class, those can really help dyslexic kids keep up.

 

For spelling tests insist on a different spelling test based on their OG words, NOT the topic-based list the rest of the class gets. They should still be able to handle a 10-20 word list but it needs to be on their level and graded accurately.

 

An example of bad spelling accommodations: My DD was given the same topic-based list as everyone else except half the words (10) and multiple choice where one was correctly spelled and one was incorrectly spelled and she had to circle the correct one. She never remembered ANY of those words no matter how much we studied and she did all the assignments....they were just not phonetic so they were way above her head. Now with Barton I give her weekly 10 word spelling tests and she gets 90-100% every time and she is really retaining them. Accommodations should make it easier to learn, not just make it easier to sit in the class. 

This 1000 times over.  

 

At the school the kids were in, once we finally had a diagnosis, the teachers were sympathetic and wanted to be helpful (well most of them) but they still didn't really understand how to handle kids with learning challenges.  They wanted to accommodate but the accommodations were really more to make the class run smoothly.  The things they suggested and implemented really didn't always make it easier for DD to LEARN, so some things were actually just a total waste of time.  Yes, she survived in the classroom, but the classtime was a waste.  This wasn't always true.  There were some things that genuinely helped.  I didn't know any better and didn't argue about some of the things I should have, though.  

 

For instance, with the spelling tests, they shortened the list to 10 words but it was still the same list the rest of the kids were working off of.  For vocabulary, sure, we should be working off of the same list.  But for spelling?  The system they were using was not only not phonetically based, it was so confusing that even I was getting mucked up on how to spell words I had spelled correctly for decades.  Might as well not have her do ANY list since she wasn't actually LEARNING.  I do realize that running separate lists is very hard to do.  I get that.  But if the child is not learning AT ALL with that list, and is wasting valuable time and effort trying to learn it, and it is actually mucking up her remediation, it is a poor path to take.

 

As for copying words from the board, that is one of the reasons we pulled DS out.  The teacher, even after we suspected dyslexia and dysgraphia and discussed it with her, insisted that the only way he could learn the lists was to copy them off the board on his own.  Unfortunately he was supposed to copy from the board onto a tiny side area in his planner.  He just couldn't do it legibly, and he could never finish, especially in the short time she gave them to do it.  He got yelled at and belittled and punished over and over.

 

At our local elementary around the corner the kids with writing issues are frequently sent to the principal's office and punished if they cannot complete written assignments and copywork in a timely fashion, even if they do have an official diagnosis of dysgraphia (this is not through the grape vine it is actually happening).

 

Since you are going at this with a lot of knowledge, and the school has indicated that they are able to handle special learning challenges I assume you will not be facing that scenario.  

 

What sort of remediation will the kids be receiving?  If remediation is only happening with private tutors or at home, in other words outside of the school, you may have a harder time getting the accommodations to tie in with the remediation (such as with OG based spelling tests based on the remediation, not just accommodations to survive the standard spelling tests).

 

As for accommodations for dysgraphia specifically, I think you should have some short term goals and long term goals.  For the short term, yes, see if someone can copy the material for them or they can get a pre-printed list of spelling words or whatever, at least for now.  One local parent started having her child to take a cheap digital camera to school (school allowed it as long as the teacher kept the camera) and anything written on the board was photographed for study at home.  This made it easier for the child to function in the class and may be a short term option to consider.  

 

Long term, it would be better to find ways for the kids to create their own notes by typing, using a livescribe pen, etc.  That will take time and training for them to be successful.

[OneStepAtATime]

Oh, one thing that DD's science teacher allowed was a modification to the worksheets they had to fill in at home.  They did a lot of hands on activities in class so the reading and writing was mainly done at home.  The teacher would send home these science passages to read, then the students had to answer a lot of open ended questions.   Not only did it require a lot of reading and writing (which was hard for her not because of dysgraphia but because of her extreme issues with spelling and reading), she wasn't retaining ANYTHING from those worksheets.

 

 After our meeting, the science teacher suggested that she construct the creatures in play dough and do a presentation where she explained everything.  For DD it was perfect.  She is artistically inclined so she was able to create very elaborate play dough constructs with the parts color coded.  We would read through the material together, she would do a rough sketch of the parts, then construct it in clay (multiple layers).  Then she would label the parts and make a verbal presentation to the teacher using the clay model.  She retained so much more information that way.

[Storygirl]

Thank you. This is all very helpful, since this will be our first time experiencing a school classroom; we have always homeschooled.

 

Before officially inviting us to enroll, they will give the children some placement tests, and I think at that point we will find out more about what interventions they will be willing to begin working on right from the start. One of the reasons we selected this school is because they will start giving additional help right away, whereas the public school said they would do nothing extra until an IEP is place :glare: . So I want to know what to ask for when we have that placement meeting. They do have on staff an intervention specialist with OG training who previously has worked at the highly regarded local dyslexia school, so I will push hard to have DD10 work with her as much as possible.

 

If DD10 does not get a dyslexia diagnosis on Wednesday, I will be shocked (but I've been shocked before, so we'll see!). I figure if I can tell the school that the NP says DD10 needs XYZ, they may be more likely to consider it than if it is just my opinion. I know that once we have the IEPs in place we may be able to get some additional services that we won't have access to before that. But our neighbors' children have received so much help at this school that the parents thought that their pre-IEP interventions were just as thorough and helpful as the plans provided for by the IEP -- they have been very impressed by the lengths that the school is willing to go to help the students. I'm hoping that will prove true for us as well.

 

I'm also suspecting dyscalculia and probably dsygraphia for DD10. If someone had told me when DD10 was six that she may have dysgraphia, I would have laughed. Back then she had absolutely perfect letter formation (though she always had reversals and terrible spelling); I remember thinking that she could win a penmanship competition. But since then her handwriting has gotten worse and worse until it is now chicken scratch. I suspect she may have been drawing the letters back then -- it was mostly copywork -- - and that once she started writing words instead of copying that things changed.

 

DS11 does not have dyslexia but has dysgraphia and dyspraxia. In his case, he may or may not be able to copy things from the board. His issue is getting his own thoughts down on paper, so copying information may be okay for him. Then again, he's likely to struggle with it due to executive function issues and just falling behind because it takes longer. And taking notes while the teacher speaks verbally is iffy. I'm not sure how much note taking this school will expect at this age but will bring it up.

 

I have a whole list of recommended things for DS in his NP report, so I have a starting place for him. DD is a little trickier, because at the time that I have to start talking it over with the school, I won't have a written report for her yet.

 

Thank you for the ideas about remediation versus accommodation and for making sure that the interventions are primarily designed to help them learn and not just help them be in class. That is a good and important distinction.

[imagine.more]

OneStep, I love how your DD's science teacher gave her a different option for the take-home assignments, that's great! 

 

Storygirl, the school sounds excellent! I think you have a good chance of them really knowing how to help, and the important thing is that remediation is happening with OG and if that's happening then you can just focus on the basic appropriate accommodations are happening with the regular classroom teacher so things don't get overwhelming. 

 

A few things I'll add (earlier I was typing on my phone).

 

For writing shortened writing assignments are totally fine and appropriate. Just make sure they still hold them accountable for good writing. And maybe they can not count off points for spelling but still require punctuation. Basically so the kid isn't so overwhelmed with a million hard things to remember. Keep it to just one hard thing :) Later you can use remediation time at school or with a tutor to teach them how to use the Franklin Spelling Ace. Once they're good with that then they can allow them to use that but require proper spelling in written work. This way they're getting accommodations but gradually weaning down to less intensive accommodations over time as they build skills. You want to keep things doable but still challenging. 

 

They can instead of a whole page on a topic allow them to write 10 bullet point notes. Or an outline. Or they can answer a pre-set list of questions. Or they can simply write half a page, or be allowed to type it at home, etc. Anything that makes it easier, but again really focus on upping the requirements gradually over time as they improve. 

 

Oh and for math if the issue is more number sense vs ability to memorize facts then I definitely think shortened homework assignments are a good idea. Just focus on them understanding the concepts vs practicing tons of calculations. But if the issue is more memorization vs number sense then shortening assignments might backfire. At some point though a lot of people opt to give the child a crutch of a calculator or multiplication table to do assignments with so they can move on with understanding higher math and not get caught up with the fact that they can't remember 9 x 7. 

[Storygirl]

More great ideas! Thank you! I've got the Franklin speller on the list of things to ask the NP about, as well as a calculator. I don't want to abandon the idea of DD memorizing her math facts, but I have been allowing her to sometimes use a multiplication chart and a 100 chart at home, because the calculations take so long for her. I've always thought she is good at math concepts despite the calculation problems, but she has started to struggle more over this last year. I think maybe the memory problems are starting to impact her ability to move forward conceptually, because she gets bogged down trying to think about too many things at one time.

 

OneStep, whenever you write about your children's experiences in school, I just shudder. You are such a blessing to them in your willingness to homeschool them, because that school was terrible!

[Storygirl]

Update

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. DD was diagnosed with dyslexia today, along with dysgraphia. And possible ADHD inattentive (surprise!). The NP wants to come to meet with the instructors at the school right at the beginning of the year to explain to them DD's test results and diagnosis and go over his recommendations. No extra fee -- it's part of the service he provides :hurray: .

 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Wow that's great!!!