Tests, Classroom Assignments and Organization

 

Test accommodations. A child with sensory challenges may need to take tests in a separate room with fewer children around (to reduce distractions), be given extended time (if she processes information slowly), and be allowed to record answers in any manner (for example, answers may be typed or dictated to someone else).

 

Accommodations for instructions. A child may need instructions or the day’s schedule to be provided verbally and visually, either written on the board or provided on paper. This is particularly true for students with auditory and visual processing difficulties.

 

Organizational help. Children with poor sensory processing are often disorganized in terms of time, space, and objects. Providing accommodations to help him stay organized is not “enabling” him any more than giving a nearsighted child prescription eyeglasses. Over time, the child can be taught, step-by-step, how to become better organized. In the meantime, he may need more help than the average child to stay organized so he can get his schoolwork done on time, according to the directions.

 

Here are some practical tips for helping kids with organizational issues:

 

• Backpack and homework check. The teacher or aide helps your child to check his backpack at the end of the day to be sure no items are left behind. He’s given an assignment notebook, which is broken down by subject matter and has room for short notes between teacher and parent. Both teacher and parent sign off on the assignment notebook daily.

• Back up materials and assignment information. Your child is able to keep a second set of books at home. If the teacher has an online class page, she can upload the directions for multipart assignments with multiple deadlines. At the beginning of the year, obtain phone numbers and email addresses of other parents who may be able to lend books or provide assignment directions in a pinch.

• Concentration accommodations. Your child may sit at a desk by himself instead of a table when working on multi-step, complex assignments, for better concentration.

• Visual accommodations. Your child may wear any prescribed eyewear, including colored lenses and sunglasses indoors, that has been determined necessary. He is to be provided with written directions, in a form he can easily read (for example, black on white paper rather than colored markers on a white board).

 

BUY Raising a Sensory Smart Child and learn more about sensory smarts at school.