The Story: Antipathy leads to resistance
Danny feels his heart rate rising as he walks through the door to his Biology class. He enjoys Biology and has learned a lot about cells during the recent unit of study. But, today is test day, and he’s really not looking forward to that moment…that moment after Mr. Smith finishes providing a quick review and explaining the parts of the test…that moment when his classmates get real quiet and start the test…that moment where he feels the eyes of the entire class burn a hole through his back as he walks out the door…that moment when he has to get up to leave the room to have his test read to him. That moment has caused antipathy toward the accommodation that makes it possible for him to perform well on tests. The anxiety of that moment caused him to refuse to leave before, which resulted in his parents being angry because he failed the test. Danny knows he needs help reading, so his reluctance to stand up becomes slowly defeated by the knowledge that he needs the support. Making himself as small as he can, Danny slowly stands and walks out the door.
The Context: IEP teams should consider student strengths
It is well documented in Danny’s Reevaluation Report and other sources that he is a very social child. He has a peer group and regularly interacts with them both in and out of school. However, Danny struggles with the fact that he’s a poor reader, so, as a typical adolescent trying to fit in socially, he does his best to hide this struggle from his peers. In this case, a negative match exists between Danny’s personality and the accommodation his IEP team has chosen.
To work past this negative match and improve the effectiveness of his accommodations, Danny’s teachers should connect his accommodations to his strengths! Strengths naturally empower all of us, so by connecting his strengths to the solutions his teachers use to overcome his learning disability, Danny’s resistance will fade.
The Point: Resistance can be overcome with a focus on strengths
A learner’s resistance to an accommodation can be overcome by ensuring the accommodations are connected to strengths. This same practice – connecting strengths to accommodations – dramatically enhances the effectiveness of all accommodations, even if the child isn’t demonstrating resistance. Connecting accommodations and modifications to student strengths is a practice that will significantly enhance the effectiveness of efforts to support children around their needs through the use of “just-right” accommodations!
The Story Revisited: Strengths are leverage
As Danny exits the classroom, his learning support teacher, Mr. Johnson, is waiting in the hall. “What’s with the stressed-out look, Danny?” “I hate walking out of class; everyone looks at me, and I feel stupid,” Danny replies. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you felt that way, Danny! Let’s see what we can do about that!”
The team talks about the problem as they walk down the hall. Mr. Johnson asks Danny what he does at home when he wants to read something like an Instagram post or a text message from a friend. Danny informs him that he either works through it or uses Siri to read to him and that he often replies using voice-to-text. He finds both of these services to be helpful. Mr. Johnson recalls that Danny reported at his last IEP that he enjoys using technology. This recollection gets him thinking. “Hey Danny, what if I could find a way to make it possible for you to use something like Siri to read your tests to you?” “Could I use it on my own in class?” Danny asks. “I don’t see why not,” Mr. Johnson replies. Danny’s demeanor changes almost immediately. “Thank you, Mr. Johnson,” Danny replies with a smile as the team enters the learning support room to complete the test.
Be Action Driven: Things To Do
- Think about your students. Can you identify a situation where a student‘s accommodation may negatively align with their strengths or personality?
- Brainstorm with a colleague ways you might implement an accommodation to align it with a student’s strength.
- Jump into Accomods’ Builder and think carefully about the strengths you check. Consider how those strengths might align with the accommodations you see, especially the ones at the top of the list.