Reading Accommodations

Description of Reading Accommodations

Reading accommodations are specific adjustments or supports put in place to help students who find reading challenging. These could involve using audio books, text-to-speech software, extra time for reading assignments or tests, and visual aids like colored overlays or large print texts.

How Reading Accommodations Can Help

 By implementing these tools, educators can help students access the same educational content as their peers in a way that suits their learning needs. These accommodations enable struggling readers to improve focus, comprehension, and overall academic performance, fostering a more inclusive and supportive learning environment.

 💡 Advocacy Tip 💡

A student does not need to be diagnosed with dyslexia to receive reading accommodations or services in school. If your child is consistently struggling to read and is lagging behind peers of the same age, that is sufficient reason to request an evaluation.

Parent Story:

Our son is in 8th grade and is currently reading at a 2nd-grade level. This is not due to a lack of instruction; he simply learns at a slower pace than others, and THAT IS OKAY. He has dyslexia and processing challenges. 

Many parents experience 'parent guilt,' thinking that if they had the money for tutoring, their child would have made more progress, or if various circumstances were different, things would be better. 

The reality is that our kids don't fit into a one-size-fits-all model. Not all children learn at the same pace or in the same manner, nor do they necessarily benefit from the standard reading curriculum and instruction provided in most schools. 

As parents, it can be easier on us and our children if we avoid holding them to rigid school standards and instead support them in the unique ways that best meet their individual needs. - LeAnn

Suggestions for Reading Instruction

1. Phonological awareness: the sounds of language, including phonemic awareness (for example, recognizing the three distinct sound in the word cat).

2. Sounds-symbol association: sounds matched to letters.

3. Syllable structure: predictable pattern is that support word decoding and spelling.

4. Morphology: meaningful word parts such as prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

5. Syntax: sentence structure

6. Semantics: word and phrase meanings

Accommodations

1. Audiobooks

2. Text to speech technology

3. Oral testing or prompting

4. Extended time on assignments involving reading and writing

5. Extended time on assessments

6. Writing options: print or word processing

7. Grading assignments for content without penalizing for spelling errors.

8. Avoid reading or spelling allowed in front of peers.

9. You spelling words that it says specific features (i.e. syllable types).

10. Provide copies of teacher’s or peer’s notes

11. Use a graphic organizers

12. Pre-teach new, essential vocabulary words when introducing content

Created by: Kathy Denious, M. Ed. , C-SLCT