How to Set Up Special Education Accommodations

After a learning disability is diagnosed, it is time to set up special education accommodations and modifications or the Individual Education Plan (IEP). Although there are a lot of laws mandating this process, it is very important to take everyone's personal needs into consideration.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Special education forms
• Learning disability evaluation

1. Schedule an IEP meeting for everyone involved with the student, including the general education teachers, the special education teachers, the student's guidance counselor, the school psychologist, the nurse, the parents/guardians and the student, depending on his age.
2. Report the findings to everyone attending the meeting. Be clear about what the learning disabilities are and give examples of how these disabilities affect learning in the classroom.
3. Allow each person attending the meeting to present personal evaluations about the student, including concerns and suggested accommodations and modifications. This is a discussion period for everyone to share. Nothing is being decided yet, although notes need to be taken.
4. Consolidate the suggested accommodations and modifications into a concise list, present to the group and collect feedback and approval from everyone.
5. Fill out all required special education forms and have parents/guardian sign these forms.
6. Act as a liaison between the student and teachers to make sure that teachers have a copy of the IEP, understand the accommodations and modifications and meet the needs of the student daily. Also stay in contact with the parents to address their concerns throughout the school year.
7. Repeat this process yearly to meet federal standards, as well as to provide the best education for the student.

Tips & Warnings

• Distinguish between special education accommodations and modifications. Accommodations are steps taken to help a student complete the general education task, such as being read a test aloud or having a longer period of time to complete an assignment. Modifications are changes made to a task so that a student can complete it in the same circumstances as her peers, such as having fewer questions on a quiz or being asked to write three paragraphs instead of five.
• Non-academic based accommodations are just as important as academic accommodations. An example of this is a change in seating assignment.
• Maintain open communication between all adults involved in the student's education. This helps the student, parents and teachers become more comfortable if an issue arises.