Accommodation Support Plan

Read An  ADHD case study and Teaching Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Create a fictional student in your classroom with either an emotional or behavioral disorder and create an accommodation/support plan.  Include the following in your plan:

a. An identification of the child’s name, grade, and disability.

b.  An analysis of the needs of the student, including the student’s areas of strength, areas of interest, areas of concern that might affect his or her ability to learn and interact, and the areas of organization that need to be a priority for this student. Be sure to include how you observed the different areas.

c. An explanation of at least two goals and specific accommodations he/she will need to be supported. Include a rationale for why each of the accommodations is the best fit.

The paper:

Must include a title page with the following:

• Title of paper
• Student’s name
• Course name and number
• Instructor’s name
• Date submitted
• Must document three scholarly sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Teaching Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Sara is an 11 year old girl in grade 5 who lives with her mother, father and younger brother. Her mother had history of AD/HD, inattentive type. Both father and mother are very supportive of the school, quite often volunteer for school functions. During her grade 4 year, Sara was referred for psycho educational assessment because her teacher observed that she may not be progressing according to her ability. In order to assess Sara’s achievement and ability, the school psychologist collected some information about her behavior using a norm-referenced behavior rating scale. Results showed that she was performing below her grade level in reading and writing expression skills while her overall ability was also found not satisfactory. As a result Sara is diagnosed with AD/HD and she is referred to the pediatrician or registered psychologist for further assessment. Before Sara was prepared to be sent for trial of medication her teacher observed the following in class:

1. Sometimes she found to be absent minded while sitting in class, without knowing what’s happening around. Just looking straight all the time. When the teacher asked “What’s the problem?” she replied, “I don’t know.”

2. At times she was more attentive in class.

3. Sara found to be spending more time in looking for her pencils, pens, books, etc. but, she rarely seems to know where she placed her jacket and her shoes.

4.  She found to be anxious when interacting with peers.

5.  Sara had no close friends.

6. Usually keeps to herself during recess or lunch break.

7. Her teacher also observed that she completed only one out of six assignments due this month. She submitted one assignment describing her favorite activities in first week.

8. Sara had excellent computer skills; she uses the word processor with ease.

Sara‘s case was forwarded to the school-based team for further work. Team coordinator called for Sara’s parents. They put forward the whole scenario in front of them and also told them the accommodation plan for Sara so that she may be able to develop her skills with support of teachers and parents. They suggested her parents to be supportive in all matters. They must keep on encouraging her to become successful in her skills.

Accommodation Plan for Sara:

Sara’s area of Strength:

1. Academics:

a) Mathematics, she can recall basic facts at grade level.

b) Conceptual Understanding of Mathematics at grade level

2. Personal:

a) Computer Skills

Sara’s area of Interest:

a. Computers and Television

b. Video games                       

c. Movies  

d. Sports   

e .Music                         

Sara’s area of Concerns that are significantly affecting her ability to learn and interact with others at school:

Academics:                                                                Behavior:

a) Reading and decoding                             a) Rarely initiates interaction with peers

b) Reading comprehension                         b) Usually wandering alone

c) Limited oral vocabulary

Concerns of School/Organization affecting Sara’s ability to interact:

a) Keeping track of necessary materials, such as, she forgets where she placed her jackets, shoes etc.

b) Completing tasks that she is not able to complete when they are due.

Strategies to help improve Sara’s abilities (academic and behavior) with the help of Teachers and Peers:

Academic Strategies:

1. Increase opportunities to let her understand and complete assignments

a) Reduce quantity of work for those areas she is having difficulty.

b) Enable Sara to use the word process for her work because she is excellent with it.

c) Provide her with options for demonstrating understanding, such as, using magazine picture collages, and illustrating understanding.

d) Use of testing formats like multiple choice questions that will enable her to write short answers.

2. Improve her Reading skills:

a) Ask Sara’s parents to read some particular books for her at home.

b) Pull out small reading exercises for her two or three times a week.

3. Improve Organizational Skills to help keep tracking material:

a) Attach a checklist of all her material to her bag so that she can remember things to keep with her.

Behavior Strategies:

1. Improve her ability to initiate interaction with peers

a) Provide Sara with opportunities to assist her peers to learn computer skills, allow her to work with peers in computer lab for 1 hour session twice a week.

b) Introduce specific social skills subject in class for all students.

c) Arrange group activities among students so that she may have more oral interaction with peers.

Rationale for each Accommodation/Strategy:

Through the implementation of all the above simple and straight forward accommodation strategies for classroom environment and teaching style can give slow, but obvious results. Small changes in how a teacher approaches the student with AD/HD can turn a losing year into a winning one for that child and teacher.

Moreover, while treating AD/HD students, teachers must keep in mind the key is, Anticipation. This means that teachers must be more mindful in their planning and managing children with AD/HD, particularly during phases of transitions across activities or classes, and to make sure that the disable student is cognizant of the shift in rules and consequences that are about to occur.  As noted later, by themselves such self-cognitive instructions might not be lasting, but when combined with contingency management procedures can be of considerable aide to the classroom management of AD/HD children.(Cooper, Robinson and Patall,2006)

References:

Cooper, H. Robinson, J.C & Patall, E.A. (2006). Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? Review of Educational Research, 1987-2003, 76, 1-62?