Accommodations: are they good or bad?

When a student is experiencing challenges in the traditional school setting, teachers and staff often resort to special accommodations for that particular student in order that they might continue to learn without disrupting the rest of the class. In addition to these accommodations, additional assistance may be provided to help the student work towards overcoming their underlying challenges, but due to the limitations of working with a full class of students at once and the current emphasis on keeping students with their class rather than removing them to separate special education classes (which have their own issues), ultimately the emphasis tends to be more heavily placed on accommodations. But should we automatically transfer this approach to the homeschool setting? It depends.

Necessary accommodations.
In some instances, students face permanent challenges that will be with them for their entire lives and which they will never overcome. An example would be a student who is missing a limb, has been diagnosed with a progressive medical disease, or who has suffered a severe brain injury that causes permanent disability. In these cases, accommodations, or changes such as the use of special tools or devices, can help the student to function at his own highest level in his academic studies and lead a fulfilling and successful life in spite of his limitations. These accommodations are, in most cases, more or less required for the student.

Subjective accommodations.
In other instances, however, a student’s challenges may be less physical or fixed in nature and the student may be able to improve on their abilities and actually overcome many or all of the challenges they are facing. Examples might include a student who struggles with attention or handwriting, or one who suffered an injury that resulted in weakness of a limb or mild injury to the brain. In instances like these, when the potential exists for the student to regain or learn the skills they are lacking, overuse of accommodations may actually limit the student’s potential and hold them back in the long run.

Subjective accommodations in the homeschool.
What do subjective, or non-required, accommodations look like in the homeschool? Parents may make these types of accommodations by allowing their student to type or verbally complete assignments when handwriting may be challenging for them. Or they may allow a student who won’t pay attention during readings to watch videos of the same content instead.

Now it is important to note that these accommodations are not necessarily wrong. In both instances, the child is completing the academic assignment and learning the lesson. The issue, however, lies in whether the parent makes this accommodation permanent or whether it is a temporary solution with the ultimate goal of being phased out. And if the accommodation is too appealing or easy, the student may actually resist developing the skills necessary for phasing out use if the accommodation. Occupational therapists like to refer to this dilema as identifying the “just right challenge,” a situation that still challenges a student to learn and grow but without being overly difficult so as to cause frustration.

Should you make subjective accommodations for your students?
So what does this mean for you as a homeschool parent, and what approach should you take when it comes to making accommodations for your students? The answer is, once again, it depends. If you are finding yourself making subjective accommodations (not those required based on a physical or progressive medical problem, but those based on addressing diagnosed or undiagnosed challenges your student is facing), ask yourself what the plan is for reducing or eliminating those accommodations over time. In the example of handwriting, don’t let the student completely give up handwriting but instead first identify and address any underlying limitations that are causing the handwriting struggles with the help of an occupational therapist. Then give your student slightly longer writing assignments each day or week so their tolerance improves. Or in the example of attention during readings, first address the underlying attention deficit (again, with the help of an occupational therapist or other appropriate healthcare provider as needed) and then continue to read to your child in longer and longer chunks of time each day to improve tolerance, simultaneously reducing screen time substitutes. Force your student to build on and overcome their weaknesses, but in a tolerable way. Occupational therapists call this method of progressive challenging “grading.”

The decision on whether to make accommodations for your student and what the best accommodations might be isn’t easy, and in many cases it is prudent or even necessary to seek outside help. In addition to addressing underlying deficits your student might be facing, an occupational therapist can be an invaluable resource in determining both the just right challenge appropriate for your student as well as in grading that challenge appropriately to keep it relevant. You can learn more about occupational therapy and how to contact our occupational therapist here.