Iowa City Community School District
List of Potential 504 Accomodations
The following examples are intended to be a starting point, and not all inclusive. Accommodations should be individualized to meet the needs of the student, and supported by data. No accommodation should automatically be added only due to the type of impairment. You also may need to create additional accommodations that are not on this list.
Areas of Accomodation
- Adaptability
- Allergies
- Attention Deficiency
- Chronic Infectious Diseases
- Classwork/Homework
- Deaf-Hearing Impairment
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy (other seizure disorder)
- Lesson Presentation
- Mental Health Impairments
- Noncompliance/Disruption
- Organization
- Orthopedically Impaired
- Physical Limitations
- Significant Medical Concerns
- Socialization and Social Skills
- Testing
Adaptability
- Maintain predictable daily routines
- Schedule changes addressed ahead of time
- Consistent and clear expectations/procedures/boundaries set for classroom behavior
- Alternate short, concentrated periods of study with short breaks
- Provide a Visual daily schedule for the classroom
- Small group instruction
- Team teaching
- Review Expectations prior to transitions
- Preferential seating (near teacher, near study buddy, front of classroom, etc.)
- Allow personal space around desk
- Offer additional processing time, opportunity to ask questions 1-1 for clarity
Allergies
- Avoid allergy–causing substances: soap, weeds, pollen, food
- In-service necessary persons: dietary staff, peers, coaches, etc.
- Allow time for shots clinic appointments
- Use of air purifiers
- Adapt physical education curriculum during high pollen time
- Develop health care and/or emergency plans
- Restrict identified allergens from being brought into the classroom (animals, peanut butter, etc)
- Involve school nurse in development of a health plan
- Train for proper dispensing, monitoring, and distribution of medications and monitoring for side effects
Attention Deficiency
- Provide frequent positive feedback for attending to tasks
- Provide short-term and/or long-term reinforcement for staying on task (smiley face or star on student’s paper as he/she works, star chart, accumulated points to exchange for positive reinforcement at school or home)
- Plan academic instruction for student’s peak attention time
- Allow student to stand at times during seatwork
- Require active responses in instruction (e.g. talking, moving, organizing, work at whiteboard or slate, interacting with computer, etc.)
- Provide short break between assignments
- Give child substitute verbal or motor responses to make while waiting
- Provide fidget object for manual activity (eg. Koosh ball, clay, worry beads, etc.)
- Teacher proximity
- Preferential seating
- Positive feedback/reward for short periods of waiting
- Increase novelty to gain/sustain attention
- Alternate high and low interest tasks
- Increase choice of tasks
- Place student first in line or avoid lines altogether
- Build in opportunities for movement
- Teach strategies for organization
- Provide increased supervision during unstructured times (e.g. recess, transitions, field trips, etc.)
- Increase home-school communication (communication notebook, send home daily point sheet, email)
- Non-verbal cues between teacher/student for behavior monitoring • Highlight important or required information
- Visual prompts on student desk (teacher can cue nonverbally)
- Adapt student’s work area to help screen out distractions
- Grade for content, not neatness, spelling, mechanics
- Avoid withholding physical activity times from student
- Tactile or sensory options for desk seat (wedge, stool, ball)
Chronic Infectious Diseases
- In-service staff (and students as appropriate) regarding the disease, how it is transmitted, how it is treated (consult appropriate district policies)
- In-service staff regarding confidentiality issues
- Train for proper dispensing, monitoring, and distribution of medications, monitor for side effects
- Adjust schedule
- Provide rest periods
- Adapt Physical Education curriculum
- Establish routine communication with health professionals, school nurse, and home
- Develop health care and emergency plan
- Train appropriate school staff on medical / emergency protocol
- Provide 2-way audio/video link between home and classroom via computer
- Adapt assignments and tests
- Provide an extra set of textbooks for home
- Tape books or provide a personal reader
- Stream classroom lessons
Classwork/Homework
- Work breaks every x minutes
- Allow use of computer or technology to complete assignments
- Allow projects / written assignments to be presented orally or on tape
- Allow projects to be presented through demonstration pictures and/or models
- Extended time to complete assigned work (include specifics, i.e. 1.5 time)
- Shorten or chunk assignments/work periods
- Simplify complex directions
- Break long assignments into manageable chunks
- Assist student in setting short-term goals
- Pair written instructions with oral instructions
- Develop private signal so that student can let teacher know if repetition of instruction is needed
- Check homework daily
- Reduce amount of homework
- Limit homework to specified # of minutes/night
- Permit re-submitted assignments
- Grade written work on content, not spelling, handwriting, or mechanics
- Adapt assignments to minimize writing (e.g. circle, cross out, etc.)
- Provide study skills training/learning strategies
- Reduce the reading level of assignments
- Use self-monitoring devices (checklists, visual aids, etc.)
- Provide distributed review and drill
Deaf-Hearing Impairment
- Allow for written directions/instructions in addition to oral presentation
- Ensure delivery of instruction facing the student to allow lip reading
- Provide visual information as primary mode of instruction
- Seat in a location with minimal background noise
- Provide paper/pencil/slate/technology to write or draw responses or requests
- Facilitate acquisition of TDDs and related assistive technology
- Allow for extra time between classes
- Provide post-secondary or vocational transition planning
Diabetes
- Assistance with and privacy for blood glucose monitoring or insulin injections
- Snacks/meals when and wherever necessary
- Access to water and bathroom without verbal requests (visual card put on desk, nonverbal signal to teacher)
- Scheduling physical education around meal time
- Health care plan for management of condition in the school setting and in emergencies
- Educate staff to signs/symptoms of insulin reaction/hypoglycemia (e.g. hunger, shakiness, sweatiness, change in face color, disorientation, drowsiness, etc.)
- Provide assistance to walk to health office if the student is feeling poorly
- Create an emergency signal with office to alert health personnel when they need to come to the child
- Train for proper dispensing, monitoring, and distribution of medications, monitor for side effects
- Establish routine communication with health professionals, school nurse, and home
- Store equipment and documentation in a readily accessible location for student, family, and school nurse or health secretary
Epilepsy (other seizure disorder)
- Consistent school, home, medical personnel communication
- Documentation procedure to record and communicate characteristics of each seizure
- Train for proper dispensing, monitoring, and distribution of medications, monitor for side effects
- Train staff and peers as appropriate
- Develop health plan and emergency protocol
- Anticipate process should a seizure occur: Move seating / clear space during seizure, do not insert objects into student’s mouth during seizure, administer no fluids if student is unconscious, turn unconscious student on side to avoid aspiration, provide rest time, accommodate return to academic demands following seizure, etc.
- Arrange a buddy system or adult assistance, especially during field trips
- Alternative recess, adapt physical activities
- Accommodate for make-up work or class time missed
- Observe for consistent triggers of seizure activity (e.g. smells, bright light, perfume, hair spray, etc.)
- Provide post-secondary or vocational transition planning
Lesson Presentation
- Allow students to tape lessons or lectures for replay
- Break long presentations into short segments
- Emphasize multi-sensory teaching: auditory, visual, tactile-kinesthetic
- Pair students to check work
- Pre-teach vocabulary (front-load)
- Peer note-taker/ tutor
- Provide visual aides
- Provide written outline or other written material
- Written steps/checklist for multiple step directions
- Have student repeat directions to teacher or peer
- Provide key points in writing / visually / as well as in auditory format
- Use advanced organizers/study guides
- Computer-assisted instruction
Mental Health Impairments
- Break down assignments into manageable parts with clear, simple directions, given one at a time
- Plan advanced preparation for transition
- Monitor clarity of understanding and alertness
- Provide extra time on tests, class work, and homework if needed
- Strategies in place for unpredictable mood swings
- Provide appropriate staff training for mood swings
- Create awareness by staff of potential victimization from other students
- Allow most difficult subjects at times when student is most alert
- Implement a crisis intervention plan for extreme cases where student may do something impulsive or dangerous
- Reports any suicidal comments to counselor/psychologist/nurse/school social worker immediately
- Consider instructional accommodations for times when the student’s condition make it impossible for him/her to attend school for an extended period
- Adjusted passing time
Noncompliance/Disruption
- Allow for short breaks between assignments
- Allow student time out of seat to run errands, etc.
- Cue student to stay on task (non-verbal signal)
- Implement a behavior management system
- Post visuals of expected procedures
- Clear, simple, consistent classroom rules and procedures
- Point out positive behaviors
- Provide positive reinforcement
- Set defined limits
- Add student to appropriate SAIG group(s)
- Provide behavioral feedback frequently (thumbs-up, star on desk, etc)
- Ignore minor, inappropriate behavior and immediately recognize compliance following this
- Have a plan during transition times (leave early with a peer, front of line, back of line) • Call on only when student has followed classroom procedure (raising hand, waiting to be called on, etc.)
- Establish behavior contract with specified goals (2-3 at most), student input on goals as appropriate
- Prudent use of negative consequences
- Do not remove physical activity times in the day as a consequence
- Implement home-school communication system
- Remove attention when noncompliant
- Provide opportunities for student to show responsibility (e.g. straighten classroom shelves, water plants, etc.)
Organization
- Extra set of texts at home
- Assign volunteer homework buddy
- Assignment notebook with home/school connection
- Staff person or teacher to review assignment notebook and materials before leaving for home
- Organizational aids such as outlines, graphic organizers, checklists
- Post visual aids that depict what desk, book bag, folders, etc. should like in an organized manner
- Color-coded folders for each subject or accordion file with labeled tabs for each class
Orthopedically Impaired
- Develop a health care and emergency plan
- Adaptive physical education program
- Provide extra time between class periods
- Supply a set of textbooks for home
- Provide a copy of class notes from peer
- Plan for and practice emergency exits from school building
- Ensure accessibility of facilities / pathways / programs / school events
- Assistance carrying materials, lunch trays, etc.
- Provide post-secondary or vocational transition planning
- Preferential seating
- Adaptations to physical environment (e.g. consistent room arrangement, removal of obstacles, etc.)
- Copies of text/reading materials for adaptation (e.g. enlarged type, etc.)
- Modified writing tools (e.g. dark felt tip pens, dark lined writing paper, desktop slantboard, etc.)
- Slate and stylus
- Braille accommodations (e.g. Perkins Brailler, textbooks, materials, tests, in Braille, etc.)
- Raised lines on writing paper
- Low vision devices including magnifiers, monocular glass, closed-circuit TV
- Books on tape
- Oral, instead of written tests
- Tactile maps
- Computer with enlarged print screen/adaptations
- Speech synthesizer for input and output
- Screen reading device
- Optical Character Recognition System Scanner
Physical Limitations
- Provide a rest period during the day
- Provide assistive devices for writing (e.g. pencil grips, non-skid surface, typewriter/computer, etc.)
- Adapt physical education
- Administer medication following health protocol
- Train staff to be aware of symptoms/concerns and what health plan protocol is when issues arise
- Arrange for assistance carrying materials and supplies (e.g. books, lunch tray, etc.)
- Implement movement plan to avoid stiffness
- Provide seating accommodations
- Allow extra time between classes
- Provide locker assistance
- Provide modified eating utensils
- Develop health and emergency plans
- Provide for accommodations for writing tasks: a note taker, copies of notes, computer or tape recorder, etc.)
- Make available access for wheelchairs
- Provide time for massage or exercise
- Adjust recess time and activities
- Provide peer support groups
- Record lectures/presentations
- Padded chairs / comfortable seating
- Altered school day when necessary
- Extra set of books for home
- Seating near heat source
- Allow student to respond orally for assignments, tests, etc.
- Awareness program for staff and students • Involve school nurse in health protocols and decision making
- Adapt activity level for recess, physical education, etc.
- Provide inhalant therapy assistance
- Train staff/student for proper dispensing, monitoring, and distribution of medication, monitor for side-effects
- Remove allergens (e.g. hairspray, lotions, perfumes, paint, latex, etc.)
- Accommodate medical absences (reduce homework, allow additional time to complete)
- Adapt curriculum expectations as appropriate (e.g. science, physical educations, etc.)
- Provide indoor space for before and/or after school activities
- Provide post-secondary or vocational transition planning
Significant Medical Concerns
- Adjust attendance policy expectations (involve district truancy staff: Student Services)
- Limit number of classes taken; accommodate scheduling needs
- Hospital-bound instruction (this is sometimes arranged through the hospital)
- Home-bound instruction
- Accommodate student involvement in extracurricular activities if they are otherwise qualified
- Adjust activity level and expectations in classes; don’t require physically taxing activities
- Provide appropriate assistive technology
- Provide a private rest area
- Adjusted school day
- Send additional sets of texts and assignments to hospital schools
- Adjust schedule to include rest breaks
- Tape lessons, adjust expectations for homework and assessment
- Provide counseling; peer support
- Adapt physical education
- Provide access to school health services
- Provide awareness training for staff and students as appropriate
- Develop health care emergency plan
- Peer tutor
- Student buddy for participation in sports
- Initiate a free pass system from the classroom
- Ongoing home/school communication plan
- Notify family of communicable diseases at school
- Designate a person in school to function as liaison with parents as a means of updating changing health status
- Adjusted passing time
Socialization and Social Skills
- Provide recess/lunch opportunities with friend in structure setting
- Provide lunch buddies
- Establish social behavior goals and reward program
- Establish social stories for areas that are difficult for the student
- Non-verbal prompts to remind of appropriate social behavior
- Avoid placing student in situations that have a pattern of being difficult for him/her
- Provide social skills training (school-related skills, friendship skills, dealing with feelings, alternatives to aggression, dealing with anxiety/stress, etc.)
Testing
- Allow extra time
- Allow open-book tests
- Give test orally
- Adjusted setting for test-taking (small group or individual)
- Provide written outline of main points prior to test
- Untimed
- Give extended time if necessary
- Break test into shorter chunks and testing periods
- Grade test for content, no deduction for handwriting, spelling, mechanics
- Give frequent short quizzes, rather than long exams
- Allow outlines or notes during quiz/test