When NOT To Use Your #Dyslexia Accommodations

Did you know that you can pick and choose when to use your accommodations for dyslexia in school? Why would you ever want to not use them? Stay tuned for our thoughts.

Hey everyone, we're Nick and Sonja and this is Dyslexia Journey. And this is a part two to a video where we talked about how accommodations aren't always as glamorous as you think, just kind of talking about some of the trade-offs that can happen when, you know, you do have accommodations because there are downsides to them, even though they are very important. And in this video, we wanted to just kind of have a little talk about when you might consider not using an accommodation, even though they're so important.

Yeah, and that might sound ridiculous. Like, why wouldn't you want to use your accommodations? And so, one, to jump in with a specific example, in our previous episode where we talked about accommodations not being as glamorous as you might think, we talked about how extra time on tests can actually, it can sometimes be really hard for dyslexic kids to concentrate for that amount of time. And so, if it's a test that's not particularly time pressured, if it's a subject that your kid is maybe better at than another subject, and it's also not a time pressured test for anyone, you know, maybe you would consider not using extra time on that test.

And it is a tricky one, though, because that extra time can be one of the most important. So, in this video, we wanted to have a discussion, a little discussion about, I guess, things to keep in mind, what to consider, what to consider for whether or not you should use a particular accommodation. Yeah, and the first point really is that you can pick and choose. So, I think a lot of people don't realize that.

They kind of think it's all or nothing. And so, if you have extra time on a test, you get to choose for each test, do you need the extra time or not? Right, right. And sometimes, you may have heard someone have sort of a use it or lose it mentality around it, like, often for 504 plans and IEPs, I think, in particular, you know, at the end of every year, at the beginning of every year, you know, there will be a discussion about, should the plan be changed at all?

That can mean adding things, but it could mean, are you using the thing, too? And so, I think that, though, I think it's important to realize that that's, there could be exceptions, but I've never heard of someone actually having something taken away because of that. And I think it's important to note that this is a little bit different because what we're saying is you'd have it on your plan as a possibility, but perhaps for a particular project or test or whatever it is or class, you wouldn't use it.

So, you wouldn't necessarily have to take it off of your overall plan just because you decided in a particular case or a particular class not to use it. Exactly. And I think also the guidance you sometimes hear is that, oh, you have to be using it in order to get it on standardized tests. So, if you want extra time on standardized tests, you have to be getting extra time on tests in school kind of on a regular basis.

Right. But in our experience, that has meant more like that you have it in your plan rather than, you know, that you, how exactly consistently you're using it. And I, you know, I don't want to say this is true in every case. There could be some schools that it's, you know, or, or there can be some colleges because they look at also like what you've been using before. There could be some exceptions where they are stricter about it, but in our experience, nothing is usually taken away.

I mean, don't come reminding us if your child does not get qualified for extra time on a standardized test. But like, I really don't think the college board is going to be going and interviewing your kids' teachers to see if they're actually using their extra time. Right. Well, and it's going to be really how your school submits that. So, that would be something to talk through and make sure is really clear with your students' guidance counselor.

Yes. And so, so another, so kind of that just idea of like, well, what if I don't use it sometimes is our first thing to consider. And like I, like we just said, you want to make sure with your particular school and the particular kinds of tests or path you're going to be taking, what the specifics are. But in general, I would say, yeah, just realizing that you can do it. There can be some picking and choosing as needed.

And the second thing to consider is, is a little more philosophical almost, but which is just simply like the importance of accommodations and the importance of using them. And, you know, they're often somewhat hard won, not always, but often somewhat hard won. And so, in principle, like you should be getting the accommodation, right? And so, it can feel, you know, like you don't, like it's, like it's almost not fighting for your equity, right?

Maybe to not use it in the given circumstance. Yeah. And just be careful if you or your child is arguing or is deciding not to use an accommodation, I guess. Be careful to think about really the reason why you're making that decision. Is it because you really don't think that accommodation is valuable or is it because you don't want to deal with the hassle of talking to your teacher and reminding them about it?

Right. And this can get into those downsides that we were just talking about. But a lot of those downsides, whether it's because you're having some pushback from your teacher, whether it's just really difficult to schedule, like those are real downsides. But they are definitely something that you, that, you know, you should be getting and should be easier for you. So, you know, you may want to decide to fight harder for them.

And, of course, for any reason, though, you have to consider, and this is, this is, I guess, the other side of it. So, the flips. So, one side of it would be like really sort of fighting for your equity and fighting for the right to have them. The other side, though, is to go really practical and figure out, though, how is this actually affecting you? And again, in a very specific, for each specific potential accommodation or each potential class, each potential kind of test, because it is important to see how it's actually affecting you and how effective it really is because of the kinds of downsides that we talked about in the other part of that video, such as we mentioned for the length of time on the test.

If it's really, if it's really, if it's really, if it's really a downside that you feel like isn't actually allowing you to show as well you're in the balance, you're learning, then that would be definitely a good time to consider that maybe you don't use the accommodation on that, in that particular way. Yeah, and so, at this point, you might be wondering, you know, or you might be thinking, okay, like that, I understand it in theory, but like, when in practice would I not want to use an accommodation?

And so, maybe we could go through some concrete examples here. And it's kind of a way also to sort of organize or systematize, like, trying to consider it. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, we already talked about the extra time. Don't force yourself to concentrate for extra time if you don't actually need it. Like, or even if you ask for extra time on the test, and you have, you know you have an hour and a half.

If you're done in an hour, you're done. Don't force yourself to spend the extra hour focusing on it. Right. And for standardized tests, of course, you're not allowed to leave, so it's a little different. But we're talking about more like a classroom test. Yeah. Because you do, it does take that extra mental energy to focus on it. Yeah. So, one way to look at it can be sort of on a either project or test by test basis, like on the particular material that's being covered.

Another way to look at it could be a particular class or subject. So, maybe there's a particular subject and you just, for whatever reason, are faster at it. And so, that balance of the downside of it taking longer with the focus just doesn't weigh out to make sense for that class. You can pick it, you could pick and choose for a particular class not to use it. Yeah. Or, for example, our daughter who has dyslexia doesn't like to read aloud in front of other kids.

But interestingly, she's been more comfortable reading aloud in French class and has actually been willing to do that. And I think it's because everyone in French class struggles with reading aloud because the French pronunciation is so difficult.

And the spelling is difficult. And so, everyone struggles with that. And so, she doesn't feel maybe as different from the other kids in her ability to read French aloud as she does in her ability to read English aloud. And, you know, that's going to look different for everybody. So, this is very, I mean, underlying principle here, I think, is that it's very case-by-case, both in terms of the project or the class or the specific thing and in terms of who you are as a student.

Right. Right. Another really specific example is, say you have an accommodation for being able to type everything. There are some things that just doesn't make sense to use a device on. Like, if you're taking a math test, it's actually going to generally make it more difficult to try to use a computer or even an iPad to do that than if you're just writing it by hand. With the exception being that if you have dysgraphia such that your writing really is illegible, then you're probably going to want some sort of electronic solution there.

But if you only have dyslexia or if you have dyslexia and mild dysgraphia, you're generally going to be better off in kind of problem-solving-based tests like that to be doing it by hand. Right. Right. And so, I mean, you can probably see that in a way this is a little more work again. It's the planning kind of work that goes into accommodations that's not glamorous. Because, you know, what we're saying is that you should really look at this on a case-by-case basis and not just say, well, I got the type of accommodation, I should just do that for everything.

We're saying try to think about it all as you go. I mean, the advantage to this is it's, you know, like in general, I think with a lot of dyslexic kids, as long as they're getting proper support, it can be a good thing in the sense that, you know, you're so actively engaged with how you learn and understanding that, like understanding that that's important. So that can be an upside. But, of course, the downside is that you have to take the mental energy and figuring out and scheduling and all of that, like, you know, perhaps talking to the guidance counselor about it, too, or your teachers to figure it out.

But, yeah, well, and I guess to summarize, if you take one thing away from what we said today is you don't have to use your accommodations. Like, it's very important to have them on the books and be available to use, but you are allowed to pick and choose. Right. And just, you know, just be thinking about why. Just understand the why for why you might not use one. So I'd love to hear, actually, if there's any accommodations that you or your child have decided not to use.

That would be interesting to hear in the comments and also just any other points around all this that we might not have covered. Let us know in the comments.