Somebody Else's Kids

            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