Accommodations and Modifications

Accommodations are not one size fits all; rather, the impact of dyslexia on each individual student determines the necessary accommodation.

-TEA Dyslexia Handbook, 2024 

Accommodations are changes to materials, actions, or techniques, including the use of technology, that enable students with disabilities to participate meaningfully in grade-level or course instruction. The use of accommodations occurs primarily during classroom instruction as educators use various instructional strategies to meet the needs of each student. A student may need an accommodation only temporarily while learning a new skill, or a student might require the accommodation throughout the school year and over several years including beyond graduation. Decisions about which accommodations to use are very individualized and should be made for each student by that student’s ARD or Section 504 committee, as appropriate. 

-TEA Dyslexia Handbook, 2024

Listed below are examples of reasonable classroom accommodations:

• Copies of notes (e.g., teacher- or peer-provided) 

• Note-taking assistance 

• Additional time on class assignments and tests 

• Reduced/shortened assignments (e.g., chunking assignments into manageable units, fewer items given on a classroom test or homework assignment without eliminating concepts, or student planner to assist with assignments) 

• Alternative test location that provides a quiet environment and reduces distractions 

• Priority seating assignment

• Oral reading of directions or written material 

• Word banks 

• Audiobooks 

• Text to speech

• Speech to text 

• Electronic spellers 

• Electronic dictionaries 

• Formula charts

 • Adaptive learning tools and features in software programs