Unfortunately, the myth that accommodations are cheating or offer unfair advantages is a persistent one.
But accommodations for students who need them are as essential to their educational experience as glasses are to a visually impaired student.
Glasses allow visually impaired learners to be able to read their reading and writing, see the board, and participate fully in class.
It’s a similar situation with assistive technology: students with learning differences that interfere with writing, like dysgraphia, often use specialized word prediction tools like Co:Writer to complete assignments.
Dysgraphia impacts not only handwriting, but processes in the brain that allow people to translate their thoughts into writing. Specialized word prediction technology helps connect their thoughts to the page.
For students who rely on accommodations in their daily life, it’s super important that they also have access to the same tools on their assessment.
For students with learning disabilities that impact reading like dyslexia, text-to-speech tools like Snap&Read allow them to access curriculum content. Data gathered from the accommodations screening tool uPAR shows that 60% of students reading below grade level can comprehend at or above grade level with an accommodation.