Lori Sjokheim is a 7-year-old girl in first grade (Hayden,
1981). She was adopted along with her twin sister, Libby (Hayden, 1981). Before
adoption, the sisters live with their birth father that beat Lori so badly that
she formed lesions on her brain (Hayden, 1981). These lesions have caused Lori
to suffer with focusing, as well as successfully identifying numbers and
letters (Hayden, 1981). By failing to recognize these symbols, Lori has trouble
reading and writing (Hayden, 1981).
Helping
Lori to become successful would be my goal for her. In a hypothetical
situation, Lori would be my student entering high school Biology class. She
would require accommodations in order for her to become successful in the
classroom. Unlike in the book, Somebody Else’s Kids, I would not try to make
Lori learn to read. Because of the brain lesions, she may never be able to
learn to read (Hayden, 1981). Instead, I would use presentation and response
accommodations.
Presentation accommodations are
those that change the way information is presented (The Understood Team, n.d.).
The information can be presented in other ways than having Lori read. There are
many books that have audio books as well, so instead of having Lori try to read
the text, she can listen to it. By doing so, Lori will be able to follow along
with the lessons that include students needing to use texts in order to
complete assignments. Drawback for audio books is that not every textbook comes
with an audio book. If the textbooks used in the classroom do not have
accommodating audio books, Lori and I would need to look for biology texts that
do, so that she can listen to the textbook and gain helpful insight into the
information.
Another alternative to Lori reading
texts is for her to watch informational videos. There are a multitude of videos
that go along with scientific reading, as well as interactive websites that
have audio recordings. By watching these videos or using these interactive
websites, Lori has other ways to learn information on scientific topics. Many
helpful websites that have informational videos can sometimes cost money. I
would have to do research on what subscriptions would be worth paying for in
order to help Lori be successful. Also, sometimes only oral videos can be
confusing. For a lesson plan that I had created for homework last week, it was
difficult to find a video that could explain osmosis and diffusion, while at
the same time having helpful videos. For interactive websites, I find that it
is hard to find ones that don’t require much reading. I did find one to teach
about the cell, but finding interactive websites that only use audio can be
challenging. Depending on the content being taught, there are often great
videos and interactive websites that can be helpful for teaching students such
as Lori.
Response accommodations are those
that allow students to complete assignments or tests in different ways (The
Understood Team, n.d.). One big accommodation that would be used for Lori is
oral communication. Lori could complete tests orally, as well as complete oral
presentations. To aid this accommodation, I would give Lori an aide to work
with during tests. I would allow the aide to read aloud the questions for tests
and have Lori tell the aide her answers. The aide would write her answers
word-for-word. By having an aide to help with tests, Lori can feel as if she is
doing the same work as all the other students. She will be taking the same
tests, but just doing her work orally. The only downfall to this accommodation
is that Lori would have to be separated from the rest of the class in order to
complete tests because it would become a distraction to the other students. I
would not want to make Lori feel as if she is different from others by
separating her from the class, but in order to complete tests, I see this as
being the only option for her. Even if Lori took an oral test, it would still
need to be in a separate environment.
Although aides can work with tests,
there are a few ways that Lori can use technology to help her “write” down
homework due dates or actually “write” down her homework. One website is called
Vocaroo (Charles & Dickens, 2012). Vocaroo allows for voice recording (Charles
& Dickens, 2012). The voice recording is usually only used for snippets of
information (Charles & Dickens, 2012). Lori can use Vocaroo for keeping
notes of homework due dates and test dates. I can also use this site for Lori’s
homework. Instead of Lori having to read homework sheets, I can record the
different questions Lori needs to answer. I can also give her complimenting
homework sheets if any pictures are needed to answer questions. Vocaroo does
not save the files; so downloading the files will allow Lori to save them on
her computer (Charles & Dickens, 2012). The only downside is that Vocaroo
is only used for small audio files, so I wouldn’t be able to use this to give
Lori notes or for Lori to record her own notes while in the classroom.
Another website that would be
helpful for Lori is VozMe. VozMe is a way for Lori to write down answers to
homework questions, as well as writing essays (Charles & Dickens, 2012).
VozMe can turn her oral communication into actual words on the computer (Charles
& Dickens, 2012). After hearing the homework assignments or homework
questions, Lori would be able to use this program. She can feel as if she is
dong the work just like all her fellow classmates. The only downside to this
website is that if she needs to double-check her work, Lori will need an
assistant to do this for her. I know that when I use programs on my phone such
as Siri, sometimes the voice to text does not match up to what I have actually
said. Hopefully, Lori will have some support at home, so that she can
successfully use the speech-to-text application. Another downfall to this
program is when going on their website, I couldn’t figure out how to use it to
go from speech-to-text as was on the website that advertised VozMe. I only
found how to go from text-to-speech. However, this could be a good way for Lori
to copy down any written work and listen to what it says. She would have to
have an e-mailed version or have somebody help her copy it into the box, but it
is another tool that could potentially help her.
Another
great tool to help Lori, instead of speech-to-text, is the use of a recording
device. A recording device can help Lori when notes need to be written down, as
well as when she wants to answer homework questions. This can be used if Lori
is dissatisfied with one of the websites mentioned above. The recording device
gives Lori another tool that she can use, so that she doesn’t feel like her
options are limited. In college, a lot of my classmates used recording devices
when they felt they couldn’t write as fast as the professor spoke. It was a
great way for them to ensure that they were able to get all the notes from the
lesson of that day.
However, there can be downfalls to
using such a device. When using the recording device, Lori and I will have to
make sure that the device is close enough to me that she can record what I am
saying and when she plays it back, she can understand my words. Lori and I
would also have to make sure that there isn’t too much commotion in the
classroom or Lori may only be able to hear other students talking rather than
me teaching.
I’ve talked a lot about using
accommodations to help Lori combat her reading and writing inability, but it is
important to note that Lori will also need accommodations for her lack of a
large attention span. Although in the book it did not state that Lori had
A.D.D., her symptom of the inability to focus is one that is most commonly
known about people that suffer A.D.D. For Lori, I’d suggest using
accommodations that would coincide with people who may suffer from A.D.D.
The accommodations that Lori would
need to use in order to combat her inability to focus would be those under the
category of timing and scheduling. Timing and scheduling accommodations deal
with timing of assignments or tests, as well as the amount of breaks a student
is allowed (The Understood Team, n.d.). Lori can be given both of these types
of accommodations to help her keep her focus. I would allow Lori to receive
multiple breaks, as well as extended time in order to ensure that she has time
to finish her tasks. I believe by giving Lori multiple breaks, she can get up
and stretch before having to finish her work. The only downside to this accommodation
would be the timing. There is only a certain amount of time during a school
day, so Lori would not be able to take long and multiple breaks. To keep her
focused, we can experiment with short (about 5-10 minutes) breaks if she starts
to feel that she is losing focus. This can allow Lori to refresh and come back
to her work. The extended time would go hand-in-hand with the breaks. If Lori
needs more breaks, she would also need more time to complete an activity.
Again, it would have to be experimented how long Lori would need in order to
complete her activities.
There are many accommodations that
can help Lori succeed in school. Although she suffers from lesions on her brain
that have affected her focus, as well as her reading and writing skills, I
believe Lori can still succeed. There are many accommodations that can help
Lori combat her reading and writing inabilities and by getting extra time and
taking multiple breaks, Lori will be able to have an easier time focusing in
the classroom. These accommodations should help Lori feel as if she is just as
successful as anyone else in her class.
Works Cited
Charles, K.J., Dickens, V. (2012). Closing the Communication
Gap. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 45(2), 24-32.
Hayden, T.L. (1981). Somebody
Else’s Kids. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
The Understood Team. (n.d.). Accommodations: What They Are
and How They Work. Understood.
Retrieved from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/accommodations-what-they-are-and-how-they-work
