Enabling Dreams for All Students

One of the most important parts of a lesson plan to help students with disabilities become active participants of the lesson are accommodations. A teacher should have training to be able to come up with alternative solutions for having these students complete their assignments like the rest of the class. I feel that it is the teacher’s responsibility to understand the needs of the students and to create ways in which to cater to these needs. For many students with disabilities—and for many without—the key to success in the classroom lies in having appropriate adaptations, accommodations, and modifications made to the instruction and other classroom activities (NICHCY 2010.)

            Accommodating to your students needs was definitely shown in this video. From the modified computers to help students type papers, to those handheld devices (which had personalization options for them as well), to the inverted musical instrument. All of these were excellent examples of being able to provide for the needs of different students. In this case, students with special education backgrounds.

            To help accommodate for students with disabilities in my class, I would first do some background research. I would maybe talk to the student to do a modified version of my student interest survey just to see how they are personally and what interests them socially and academically. I would also talk to their other or former teachers and of course, I would check the school CRT to get some information about the student and their disability to help me accommodate them better.

            In order to help me assess the appropriateness of my revisions, I would once again contact the CRT’s and even include my admin in the meeting, just so everyone can become familiar with the strategies I would plan to employ. I would also do some research to get ideas on teaching approaches. Teaching strategies would be based on student needs, formal exceptionalities determined by the Identification Placement and Review Committee, and diagnosed medical/psychological conditions (Ontario Teacher Foundation).

            Currently, I have two friends with children who are autistic. Both of their kids go to the same developmental school and are taught using videos and iPads quite often. One of them who I had asked about it, said that their child has developed in speech and cognitive skills. He is able to play the puzzle games and respond to the questions though his vocabulary is still limited. Even with his restricted vocabulary, he has developed significantly since using these applications.

NICHCY. Supports, Modifications, and Accommodations for Students. September 2010. Retrieved from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/accommodations/

Ontario Teacher Foundation. Teaching Strategies for Students with Special Needs. Retrieved from http://www.teachspeced.ca/teaching-strategies-students-special-needs