Overview

I'll add to what Carolyn posted. If audio recording isn't allowed (it's hard to get this accommodation in a 2-party state), allow the student to take photos of the board so they do not need to copy what the teacher has written. Teacher provided notes might be cloze notes. Writing by hand has been shown to help students remember things better than typing the same notes. Allow for homework (any/every assignment) to be typed rather than handwritten. Software & a device that works with the math being taught so math assignments are more easily able to be completed. Access to this for tests would be needed too. Use of a scribe - this might be a personal preference. I'm aware of a student with shoulder issues that resulted in arm & hand weakness. This person preferred extra time to the use of a scribe which is what was offered for taking the Bar Exam. This person had brachial plexus injury from shoulder dystocia at birth. I feel extra time is going to be key with this disability. As your grandson moves through high school, someone will need to makes sure that the school applies in advance so the accommodations provide by the school extends to SAT, PSAT, ACT, AP, state mandated testing, etc. Colleges will often look for a recent evaluation in order to provide accommodations. The high school he goes to can provide this so the family doesn't need to pay for this. (It tends to be very expensive if you need to pay out of pocket for this.)

1. Teacher provided notes and ability to record lectures so that he does not have to copy from the board or take notes. 2. If he does have to take notes, allow extra time. 3. Allow extra time for any handwritten assignment or test. 4. Allow the use of speech-to-text to help with getting his thoughts down on paper. It is usually easier for students with dysgraphia to verbalize their thoughts rather than physically writing or typing. 5. Do not count off on assignments or tests for poor handwriting or spelling. 6. Modify tests to reduce amount of handwriting or typing. Allow speech-to-text, provide oral exams, or use multiple choice to test mastery of subject. 7. Allow oral reports over written reports.

I have a 13 year old grandson with dysgraphia. What accommodations would be most helpful for him? Writing is physically painful for him, and he has great difficulty getting his thoughts on paper.

Hi. This website may be helpful as well as this Tech Wheel https://www.callscotland.org.uk/information/dyslexia/reading/ and this is the Ipad Apps for Learners with Dyslexia Reading/Writing difficulties (free download) https://www.callscotland.org.uk/downloads/posters-and-leaflets/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-dyslexia/

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and congratulations to your recent graduate. I do agree that he may not want to see his classmates view him differently. My son has worked so hard (and continuing) to get into all Gen Ed classes. Perhaps as my son approaches the end of high school he may be more inclined to embrace these tools. You do give me a thought to ask my IEP team if they ever model these tools to his co-teaching ELA class as a whole because dyslexic or dysgraphic kids aren't the only ones that use spell & grammar checks. I would love to send him to the Landmark summer camp program where he is around other kids with the same learning differences. Thanks so much!

I really don't have an answer for you. Just wanted to say my son had similar issues. His diagnosis is ADHD/dysgraphia. He never wanted to use the accommodations in his IEP. He saw himself as typical and saw the accommodations as cheating. He also didn't want his classmates to view him as different/disabled. I think he was afraid this could end up with him being teased/bullied/shunned. When he got closer to graduation and could see himself living a life after graduation, this is when he started to realize he needed to do better so he could graduate with his class. He graduated in 2022. I can see your child using their accommodations if they had peer models that had similar accommodations. He'd have this is he was attending a school where everyone had dyslexia...or a summer camp where they bring dyslexics together. At 15, he's not seeing the importance of being able to write well.

Hi! I have a 15yr boy/freshman with a complex learning profile including dyslexia, ADHD and written expression issues. One of the goals we’ve been working on for years is his written expression and the different components of writing. This year we’re focused on organization, style, & conventions (based on PA writing rubric). He has been resistant for years to embrace his AT (Google read/write, Grammarly) to utilize the spell and grammar check. And I’ve tried to explain that these things can be easily corrected with tools and help paint the picture to the reader what he’s writing about etc… I think due to his ADHD he can’t be bothered to fix the misspelling and just wants to get the assignment turned in as quickly as possible. I’m looking for any ideas, suggestions, different tools he would be more inclined to use. PA Writing Rubric https://pa01000176.schoolwires.net/cms/lib/PA01000176/Centricity/Domain/1009/PA writing assessment rubric.doc

His civil rights are being violated given he is not being accommodated. In addition, IDEA is being violated given the IEP isn't being followed. You might want to file a state complaint if going up the chain of command hasn't helped. In college, they take these things seriously. Schools lose funding when they don't accommodate at the college level so there is no need to 'prepare for a world w/o accommodations'. There is scan to text software. Once it's text, there is text to talk software. If he is going to be using this at school, it should be written into the IEP so it's not viewed as cheating. Do verify that the IEP doesn't say 'when student requests'. It shouldn't. He needs this for every lecture & assignment. In college, they pay a classmate for their notes so this is an accommodation for the future too. (My daughter's friend got paid for making a copy of his notes and providing them to the disability office to forward to a classmate.)

First, you need to insist that the IEP be followed in terms of your student getting the teacher notes. I don't know how it reads, but unless it states "upon request of the student," they should be provided automatically. It doesn't matter that he's in high school now - not an excuse for not following the IEP. Reach out to the case manager about this. If it does state "upon request of the student," try to get the language changed, which may require data that he is not able to self-advocate yet. But I understand that from a practical standpoint, it may not happen. In that case, in most high school now, teacher notes are provided on Canvas or some other platform shared with students. (I do realize there would still be the problem of reading those notes, which I will get into in the next paragraph.) As far as tools for note-taking, if notes are on the whiteboard, ask for the accommodation of taking a picture of the notes. If they are lectures, as for the accommodation of recording the lecture. I don't know of any tool that will determine the important information from notes. Does your student have access to text-to-speech? That accommodation reads text to students and is very widely used by not only special education students, but all students. You definitely need to ask for that accommodation, as well as training for your student on how to use it and how to use it without embarrassment (earbuds?). You didn't mention this, but another common accommodation for dyslexic students is speech-to-text to help them with their writing. There are tools (such as a C-pen) that will read a paper document back to a student. Ask for such a tool to be included in his IEP accommodations. But those would not have the ability to take notes and determine important information. Maybe there is an AI program out there that could do this? You may need to ask for an IEP meeting to discuss your concerns. A dyslexic student should not be expected to take notes if the note-taking process is so difficult that it keeps him from accessing all the information that is being presented. The IEP needs to be followed. Tell the team what he is struggling with and ask what can be done.

Hello! I am wondering if there are tools that you have used that can help my dyslexic student. The IEP specifies that the student gets teacher notes and audio for reading assignments but, that doesn't happen unless the student asks every time. The student is a HS freshman so we are at a point where we can't depend on the school to do the right thing anymore. We need to prepare for a world without accommodations. So my question is, are there tools that will scan and read a paper document, take notes (not every word but can determine the important info) and be able to read the notes back? If you have experience with tools that have worked for you or someone you've worked with, I'd love to hear more. Thanks!

IMO, a verbal assessment when it comes to lists of things would make a great accommodation. The ability to use talk to text AAC would be another way to show mastery of information w/o testing her spelling ability which tends to be poor with this disability. Measurable IEP goals could measure accuracy, fluency and comprehension. You might need to advocate for different, measurable goals so you can figure out what sort of progress is going on.

You would need something more recent, anyway. When was the most recent school evaluation? It may be time to ask for a new one (if it's been at least one year since the last one). Ask for one in the area of academics. If you don't like the results of the school evaluation, you can ask for an IEE (as referenced in my earlier response) in the area of academics. It's also quite easy to determine all three of these. (The school should be able to do this, but you might want to confirm it for yourself.) Whatever reading level you think she's at, go back one level and print off a passage from the Internet for that grade level (so if you think she's reading at a 6th grade level, just to be sure, make sure she's good at a 5th grade level first). For accuracy, have her read for 60 seconds, subtract the number of errors (do not count inserted words or the same word missed more than once) from words read, divide by the number of words read, and multiply by 100: RAR = (WR - E)/WR x 100 [RAR is reading accuracy rate; WR is total number of words read; E it total number of errors] As stated above, she should be reading at at least 95% accuracy to be considered reading at that grade level. Fluency is "words correct per minute" or wcpm. [Sometimes it may be written as just wpm (words per minute), but it is important to count errors and get the CORRECT words per minute. If the school insists on wpm, just make sure the accuracy is also calculated and is at least 95%.] To determine fluency, have her read the passage for 60 seconds and take the total number of words read minus the errors to get wcpm. Comprehension is determined by having her read the grade level passage and asking 5 comprehension questions about it. She should get 4 out of 5 before moving on to the next grade level. (That's actually 80%, but I think I stated 90% above.) A lot of times when you're searching the Internet for grade level passages, they will come with comprehension questions. But you can make up your own.

Carolyn, I don't know anything about my child's level of accuracy, fluency and comprehension. Where would i find this? she had an psychoeducational evaluation two years ago, but we didn't go over any of this, except that they said she was dyslexic. There were several other challenges that needed immediate attention and this fell by the wayside.

Carolyn, thank you so much for this information. I'm in California, by the way. Memorizing and a spelling the states and capitals is not in the standards and it's so frustrating how much they push for the kids to accomplish this.

Let me preface that these suggestions for goals and accommodations are without knowing what your child's evaluation/present levels show and without seeing a copy of her IEP. In other words, some may not be applicable and will need to be tweaked. I suggest that if you do not have a recent school evaluation, that you request one (to confirm that she is "doing well," as they state.) You can request a school evaluation once a year. If you do not agree with the school's evaluation (you don't think she's doing as well as their evaluation shows), request an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation). You do not have to give a reason other than "I do not agree with the school's evaluation," and the school must agree to the IEE at no expense to you or else must take you to due process. I will first address the specific issue regarding the states and capitals. You can ask for modifications to this assignment/assessment; for example, she is only responsible for 1/2 of the states (or more or less) and only the capital of the state she lives in (I would STRONGLY request she not be made to know the spelling of any other capitals - maybe just be given credit if she KNOWS it and can either state it in a verbal assessment or get close enough spelling-wise for it to be ascertained by the teacher). The states chosen could be based on those that follow spelling rules (which is a lot, because any vowel can make the schwa sound) - Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi (although in these last two the double consonants don't really follow a rule, so could be skipped), Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota (although the "k" is irregular), Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. (This is assuming she has been taught all the spelling rules.) The list should also include the state she lives in regardless of whether it follows the spelling rules. An accommodation you could ask for is that she be allowed to take multiple assessments; in other words, she is tested over 1/3 of the states one day, 1/3 another day, and the remaining states on a different day. (If they insist on capitals, as well, ask for the modification set forth earlier - either she be allowed to state the capitals verbally or get "close enough" on spelling.) As for goals, again, without knowing her specific present levels, it is difficult to help you with exact wording, but what you want addressed for her reading is accuracy, fluency, and comprehension - in that order. You need to start with the lowest grade level at which she is not yet at 95% accuracy (the recommended accuracy rate for an independent reading level). If she has 95% accuracy at a fifth grade reading level but not sixth grade yet, make sure her fluency is at a fifth grade level (download the Hasbrouck & Tindal chart to see what this is), as well as comprehension (should be at least 90%). If she has met all three for 5th grade, move on to a sixth grade level (if not, write goals for fluency and comprehension at a 5th grade level) - start with accuracy, then fluency, then comprehension - and then move on to 7th grade, etc. Suggested wording below: By the end of the IEP year, student will read a (5th grade?) passage at 95% accuracy on 4 out of 5 data collection days. By the end of the IEP year, student will read a (5th grade?) passage at 119 words correct per minute (*this is the 25 percentile for end of 5th grade in the chart referenced above - team will decide actual number) on 4 out of 5 data collection days. By the end of the IEP year, student will answer 4 out of 5 comprehension questions after reading a (5th grade?) passage on 4 out of 5 collection days. Common accommodations for dyslexia include: 1) Do not require student to read aloud in class unless volunteers or is given passage ahead of time; 2) Do not require student to take notes or copy from the board - provide teacher notes before and/or after class (or allow to tape record lectures); 3) Allow speech-to-text and text-to-speech for assessments and assignments; 4) Allow extended time on class and standardized assessments; 5) Allow extended time on assignments (two days is common); 6) Do not require student to spend more than 1 and 1/2 times on homework that her peers do (one way to reduce homework is to state "once mastery is shown" - in other words, don't have her do extra problems when she has shown that she understands a concept); 6) Do not penalize for grammar, spelling, or punctuation, unless that area is being assessed. Hope this helps! Carolyn

Hello! This is my area of expertise! I have lots of ideas, but wanted to respond now to let you know you'll be hearing back from me. I need some time to pull some things together for you. In the meantime, can you let me know what state you are in? Thank you, Carolyn Rowlett

Hello, I need help with wording and suggestions for common dyslexia accommodations and goals, please. My child has an IEP already, but recently had been struggling with spelling tests and some reading. She is in 8th grade and has to memorize all 50 states and capitals and has to spell them correctly for full credit. We've asked for an emergency IEP meeting because my child can't do this assignment and it's causing incredible stress, but we don't have a dyslexia specific accommodation or goal. I feel that her dyslexia has not been addressed at all by the school, they keep saying she is doing well, but at home spelling is super hard, when she reads out loud she makes a lot of mistakes and reading comprehension is slow.

I would follow up and ask them how they can accommodate his disability when notes aren't available. It's not like he can turn off the disability to accommodate the availability of notes. Will they allow a recording device? (IMO, the school should record the class and then play it for software that does closed captioning so there is a written version of what was said. It can then be printed out or your child could be given a soft copy.)

Wow! That is great. Especially appreciate the study guide 3-5 days in advance. Our school would only agree to provide notes if the wording "when available" followed. Thanks for your reply.

Hi, Within my son's IEP (dyslexia, ADHD, Speech Sound Production (aka stutter) & he's 14/8th grade. We also have: Visual cues to highlight key words/phrases on assignments Provide student with skeletal (or guided notes) notes for lecture format lessons, textbook assignments, and science labx. Provide study guides at least 3-5 days in advance Thanks.

That's a tough one. Depends on if the team thinks that skill is needed and wants to develop that skill. Because in that scenario, he could take more time than trying to take notes from a board or lecture (where he definitely can't focus on both writing and content being presented). But then you run into not wanting him to spend an exorbitant amount of time on homework. Maybe see if he can just highlight text pages? Also, using speech-to-text for the notes would be an option so he doesn't have to write them out.

That is helpful. What would you add to that for wording when the student is being asked to take notes from reading pages of text also. The student can't focus on writing notes and absorb the content at the same time.

I'm seen (and drafted) many of these accommodations. It depends somewhat on what you are wanting because you can ask for fill-in-the-blank notes where the student just writes in key words so he/she doesn't look different from the rest of the class taking notes AND it helps them pay attention to the material being presented. But here is my suggested wording for a "generic" provision of notes: Student will be provided with notes from all material presented by teachers whether originally given in written form (i.e., on a white board) or verbally (i.e., during a lecture). Another accommodation you could ask for would be allowing the student to tape record class lectures.

Please help....Does anyone have a child/student who's IEP includes an accommodation for receiving teacher notes? If so, how is it worded?