4 Questions About Accommodations for Dyslexia Answered!

Accommodations are such an important topic, not only for families but for educators as well. If you’re an educator, we know, you hear about accommodations all the time. You’re in the IEP meetings, you read about them in the IEPs, you know them, you’ve seen them, and you’ve probably even made suggestions for accommodations in your classroom or with your students. 

If you are a parent or caregiver and you have a child who has an IEP, the term accommodations might be new to you or, it may be something you’ve worked tirelessly for. Accommodations can be something that come with many emotions attached. 

At the heart of it all, we all care about the child and what is best for him or her. 

In this post, we’ll answer the most common questions we hear when it comes to accommodations for dyslexia!

Here are your most pressing questions about accommodations for dyslexia answered!

1. What are accommodations? 

Accommodations describe an alteration made to the environment, curriculum, or equipment used by the student in order to allow them access to the content or to successfully complete a task or assignment. Accommodations do not change the learning goals or expectations of a student. They do not alter what is being taught or change the curriculum - that is a modification, not an accommodation.

In the world of dyslexia, accommodations are essential. 

Accommodations have to carry meaning, not only for the child but also for the educator. We all need to know why they’re put in place and how they can be used.

The accommodations page of an IEP really is like a living, breathing document. It should be looked at and revisited to ensure that the accommodations are being put into action.

2. Why do we need accommodations? 

Accommodations are often needed to support our dyslexic students so that they can achieve the same instructional goals as their peers. Accommodations help to achieve efficiency in learning

You can think of accommodations like a bridge. They connect our students to their strengths and allow them to reach their full potential. In a way, they level the playing field for our dyslexic students. 

When it comes to accommodations, it doesn’t matter how many you have - if you don’t know how to use them, they’re meaningless.

3. What are the benefits of having accommodations?

Accommodations are not a crutch, there are many benefits to using them in your classroom with your dyslexic students. They are not a crutch, but a tool. And, even in our own homes, we use different tools to accomplish different tasks. Our students need to have accommodations (tools) in their toolbox so that they can use them when they need them. 

Accommodations ensure that our dyslexic students are able to access the curriculum. They change how students are able to access the information and how they demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Additionally, accommodations can help to empower our students to self-advocate. As they become more aware of what works for them, they can self-advocate for the assistive technologies that are more useful for them. 

4. What are some of the most common accommodations used for dyslexia?

Some of the most common and useful accommodations that we see for dyslexia are: 

• Audiobooks and text-to-speech tools
• Providing extended time and/or not using timed tests 
• Providing a quiet space
• Provide notes
• Provide checklists for organization
• Not marking off for spelling 
• Speech-to-text software

For even more on accommodations for dyslexia, check out our latest episode of the Together in Literacy podcast. If you like what you hear, don’t forget to rate, leave a positive review, and subscribe!