Accommodations may be buried in an IEP—usually listed after the specially designed instruction and service time—but they’re important. Accommodations are all about how a child with a disability accesses the general curriculum. When provided thoughtfully, accommodations make all the difference for students who need a different way of accessing information, making grade-level progress, and showing what they’ve learned.
Here’s our comprehensive list of IEP accommodations you can use to design each student’s plan. Use this list and what you know about the student to design a plan that works for them. There is no right number of accommodations, but each accommodation should help the student and not overwhelm them.
IEP Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities
This is a list of accommodations that could be helpful for most students with IEPs. Start here when planning accommodations for a student who has a learning disability, and use this list for additional accommodations for students with other disabilities depending on their profiles and needs.
- Provide instructions orally
- Provide text on audio tape
- Reduce the number of items per page
- Provide a designated reader
- Allow for verbal responses (could be talk-to-text or a scribe or a tape-recorded answer)
- Permit responses to be given via computer
- Frequent breaks during independent work (once every 5 minutes, for example)
- Present work in chunks (break a longer assignment into manageable chunks)
- Provide a way to block extraneous information on classwork (a blank sheet of paper to cover sections that the student is not working on, or a window to show one math problem at a time)
- Provide additional practice for core skills
- Provide a content area glossary or reading guide (for older students)
- Repeat directions
- Paraphrase directions
- Have student restate directions
- Provide frequent check-ins to ensure the student is on task
- Provide assignments with the most important aspects highlighted
- Provide assignments with problems ordered from least to most difficult
- Provide models of completed or exemplar assignments
- Provide extra time to complete in-class assignments
- Provide preferred seating (near the teacher, away from distraction)
- Provide visuals alongside verbal information (writing directions on the board and stating them, for example)
- Use of a calculator on math assignments
- Reduced homework assignments
- Provide textbooks and materials for at-home use
- Provide a study carrel
- Extra visual or verbal cues and prompts
IEP Accommodations for Testing
- Permit responses to be recorded in a test booklet
- Frequent breaks (every 10 minutes, for example)
- Extend allotted time (by 60 minutes or double the time permitted for the test)
- Untimed testing
- Test in a separate location
- Testing in small groups (less than 12 or less than 10 students)
- Testing in a one-on-one setting
- Administer the test in several sessions or across several days
- Allow students to take sub-tests in different orders
- Administer a test at a specific time of day
- Provide extra paper or space for writing
- Choice of test format where applicable
- Open-book or open-note tests
- Highlight key directions
- Provide study guide prior to the test
- Read test or read directions aloud to student
- Preview test procedures
- Rephrase or simplify test wording and/or directions
IEP Accommodations for Students With Dyslexia
In addition to the accommodations for learning disabilities, these accommodations are also good for students with dyslexia.
- Provide audiobooks
- Clarify or simplify written directions
- Highlight written directions on worksheets and assignments
- Provide guided notes
- Provide printed notes before the lesson
- Highlight essential information in a reading or textbook
- Provide study sheets
- Provide teacher notes
- Post visuals in the classroom
- Use large print on handouts and in texts
- Provide text-to-speech software
- Pre-teach new concepts and vocabulary
- Provide advance organizers to support following along with the lesson
- Read instructions out loud
- Read instructions step-by-step
- Check in frequently to monitor work progression
- Arrange work from simplest to most complex
- Do not include reading fluency in grading
IEP Accommodations for Students With Dysgraphia
- Provide guided or pre-copied notes
- Provide a graphic organizer to support note-taking and organization
- Provide choices for how the student presents information (selecting from options, underlining answers)
- Provide extra space for writing responses
- Allow student to write on a whiteboard or tablet writing app
- Provide a specific type of writing paper to support handwriting
- Allow student to complete writing assignments early
- Allow student to type assignments rather than handwrite
- Remove “neatness” or “handwriting” from grading criteria for writing assignments
- Provide worksheets with all problems provided so the student doesn’t have to copy any work to their worksheet
- Provide a model or reference sheet for letter formation
- Permission to use a spellchecker
- Do not grade spelling for handwritten assignments
- Permit student to turn paper sideways for math assignments
- Provide pencil grips
- Permit student to write in different colors
IEP Accommodations for Autistic Students
- Provide visual supports (schedules, first-then strips, checklists, directives)
- Limit oral language when presenting directions
- Use reinforcement (token board)
- Pair verbal directions with visuals
- Provide social stories
- Provide social supports
- Provide an organization system
- Limit distractions in classroom (limit posters on walls)
- Provide assistive technology (low- to high-tech)
- Allow use of fidgets
- Allow flexible seating (wobble stool, standing, rocker)
- Provide access to a calming corner or sensory room
- Provide extra breaks and movement
- Schedule movement breaks
- Allow extended processing time
- Provide sentence or paragraph starters
- Provide a self-editing checklist
- Provide lists to support writing or math work (transition word list, math operations word list)
- Provide access to noise-canceling headphones
IEP Accommodations for Students With Emotional Disabilities
- Break tasks into smaller chunks
- Provide frequent breaks
- Allow opportunities to use a pass to have a break from work
- Offer choice in how students access and present material
- Frequent check-ins with teacher
- Use a nonverbal cue to communicate negative behavior
- Provide immediate feedback on behavior and work
- Provide seating near a positive role model
- Provide a seating assignment for classes and lunch
- Provide visual of the daily routine
- Provide a quiet corner in the room to calm down
IEP Accommodations for Students With ADHD
- Provide use of assignment book or calendar for organization
- Flexible deadlines for assignments
- Provide checklist to stay organized
- Provide a table or desk divider to support focus
- Allow submissions of revisions or corrections
- Provide extra processing time or additional wait time to process information
- Provide support in desk organization
- Support time management (provide reminders and cues)
- Provide immediate feedback
- Provide peer models (seat student near peer models)
- Limit repetitive tasks when a student has demonstrated mastery of a skill
- Break tasks into smaller segments
- Provide a visual timer during work time
- Provide frequent breaks
- Provide movement breaks
- Provide tools to help with organization (e.g., colored folders)
- Provide clear, positive feedback for expected behavior
IEP Accommodations for Students With Visual Impairments
- Provide text in large print (their assessment will determine the size of the text)
- Provide notes and text in braille
- Provide verbal descriptions of visual aids
- Provide computer with optical character reader and voice output
- Provide magnification devices
- Provide screen reader software
- Preferred seating (near instruction or with access to materials)
IEP Accommodations for Deaf Students or Students With Hearing Impairments
- Provide special acoustics (like an audio amplifier)
- Provide sign language interpreter
- Provide notetaker
- Provide scribe to record responses
- Provide teacher-created notes
- Provide speech-to-text
- Provide an assistive listening system
- Provide preferential seating
- Provide captioning and captioned media
