Accommodations and Why They Are Important
- Katie Gillespie
- Nov 9, 2021
- 2 min read
Many students with disabilities use accommodations to benefit their learning and the accommodations attempt to prevent the disability from impairing learning. Disabilities can create barriers to learning and accommodations help make learning more accessible. Barriers include: the way information is presented, the way students are expected to respond, the setting or the timing or schedule of instruction. Accommodations change environments or practices to overcome these barriers. Instructional accommodations change the methods in which students learn but do not change the content. For example, students with visual impairments may use audiobooks or braille text. Testing accommodations change the method used to test students but not what they are tested on. For example, smaller testing rooms to avoid distractions. Accommodations do not change learning content or expectations, they attempt to level the playing field so students with and without disabilities have the same opportunities. Many educational systems were put into place by able-bodied people and did not include people with IDDs in the conversation, therefore creating many educational barriers. Accommodations attempt to fix this inequity.
Accommodations are required under three important laws: IDEA, Section 504 and ADA. IDEA or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires public schools (K-12) to provide services to children with disabilities. It also requires IEPs or Individualized Education Programs. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is a civil rights law that prohibits schools from discriminating against students with disabilities. This law provides 504 plans. Finally, the ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination towards people with disabilities in schools, workplaces and any other places providing services to the public. To learn more about what each of these laws provide, click here and read the full chart: https://www.understood.org/articles/en/at-a-glance-which-laws-do-what
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