Accommodations for a Student Who Needs Visual Enhancement

List of needs and solutions

Accommodations in Instructional Methods and Materials

Notataking

• Provide copies of transparencies, lecture outline, or graphic organizer to assist with notetaking.
• Provide oral or visual cues during lecture about what to include in notes.

Highlighting

• Highlight important points in text for student.
• Provide materials with key information in embossed format.
• Let student use sticky notes, erasable highlighter, or highlighter tape to mark key points in text.

Group Work

• Have learning buddy, volunteer, or teacher's assistant read material aloud.

Support

• Provide overview of learning outcomes and content at beginning of lesson.
• Provide assistive technology such as optical enhancer, magnifier, tape or digital recorder, stylus and slate, or braillewriter.
• Avoid extraneous stimuli, such as item numbers too close to math problems, hard-to-read font.

Technology

• Provide audio and large print versions of texts.
• Let student use text-to-speech software.
• Let student record lectures and discussions digitally or on tape.
• Use digitized text software that resizes, changes backgrund and text color, highlights specified text segments, reads aloud.

Monitoring

• Make student comfortable asking for help: "Tell me what you need," "How does this fit with what you know?"
• Communicate homework expectations to parents so they can help.

Accommodations in Assignments and Assessments

Instructions

• Read directions aloud before starting assignment.
• Alert student with signal, such as change in tone of voice, before giving directions and to sustain attention.
• Minimize copying from board.
• Give student copies of pictures and other visual materials.

Organizing

• Indicate sections for responses by drawing lines or folding paper.
• Use clear formatting for handouts, assignments, and tests.
• Arrange items on worksheets and tests so it's easy to know where to start and how to proceed.
• Avoid extraneous stimuli, such as item numbers too close to math problems, hard-to-read font.

Highlighting

• Use color coding to help identify tasks, meanings, or expectations.
• Color code or highlight key words in math word problems.

Support

• Provide paper with math or writing guides, raised or shaded lines, midlines, or graph paper for math computation.
• Let student use abacus for math calculations.
• Make sure worksheets have ample space for writing answers.
• Give student two copies of worksheet: draft and final copy.
• Provide tactile reference points or boundaries for paper used in art activities; for example, place tape on corner or secure paper in shallow tray.
• Incorporate texture into art materials, such as salt or sand in paint, screening under crayon drawings, or glue lines or yarn around stencil edges.
• Ensure high visual contrast between art materials use and work surface for art activities.

List of needs and solutions