Accommodations at school

You need to be proactive in understanding your child’s needs and work with educators to select and implement appropriate accommodations. Knowing about the various types of accommodations can help you figure out what will work best for your child.

Accommodations for reading

Listening helps students with dyslexia access text that they might struggle to read independently, and it helps students who read slower than their peers. As reading assignments get longer in upper grades, this accommodation becomes particularly useful to help manage the workload of students with dyslexia.

Tools and options include recorded audiobooks, text-to-speech technology such as a screen reader or a scanning pen, or a teacher or educational assistant reading the text aloud to the student. If your child will be using a computer or device to listen to text, it is important that they are provided training on how to use the tool. We often hear that kids aren’t using their technology, and sometimes this is because they haven’t been taught how to use it and find it frustrating.

Accommodations for writing

Students with dyslexia may struggle with handwriting, spelling, and written composition. Accommodations for writing can help them get their ideas onto paper and produce text they feel good about.

Students use a computer and type, or use voice dictation to record their thoughts and ideas. They can use spelling and grammar tools to edit their writing. For younger students, using a computer may be frustrating: voice typing can be inaccurate with children’s voices, and typing might take even longer than writing by hand. In such cases, scribing maybe a better accommodation for writing. Scribing means having an adult write down the child’s words for them.

Access to computers

In some provinces or territories, schools have funding to give students with dyslexia or learning disabilities their own laptop for school use. In others, schools may not have this funding and can only provide shared computers. If your child requires assistive technology as an accommodation, having their own computer is important so that they can use it whenever they need to. If your school can’t provide a dedicated computer and buying one is too expensive, there are programs that offer free or discounted computers to students with learning disabilities. Reach out to our support team for more information.

Time accommodations

Students with dyslexia often read and write more slowly than other students. Giving them extra time to complete exams, quizzes and homework allows them to process information and fully demonstrate their understanding.

Typically, students are not provided unlimited time; rather they are provided with “time and a half” or “double time,” meaning they have one and a half or twice as much time as the other students to complete a test or assignment. The needs of the student should guide how much extra time they are provided.

Instructional accommodations

Instructional accommodations are changes that teachers can make to present information or structure practice in ways that support your child’s learning. Here are examples of accommodations, which include descriptions of why they’re helpful and how they work.