When accommodations become hindrances
Often, too little effort is made to help kids overcome their setbacks.
Originally published in the Moultrie News.
My son qualifies for an IEP because he has trouble focusing. But I’ve heard some parents say special education may not help him. Should I let them give him an IEP or just try to coach him through?
This is a big question you should discuss with as many trusted people as you can. As for me, under such circumstances, an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan, which prescribes the special education services and accommodations schools must deliver to kids with special diagnoses) would be a last resort.
Like many parents, I have concerns about the current state of special education. I believe in the adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” In education, fish are good grades. Learning to fish means acquiring the practices that earn them. Special education tends to focus too heavily on giving out fish, which can be counterproductive.
This is no indictment of special ed teachers. They love their students and work tirelessly to help them succeed. It is mostly the fault of parents and bureaucrats obsessed with accommodations — the special privileges that make it easier to acquire fish.
I should note that we’re talking about children with mild intellectual impairments that permit them to remain primarily mainstreamed — things like focusing disorders or learning deficiencies. They are managed differently than those who are physically or severely mentally handicapped; for these students, the system generally tries to teach them to become as independent as possible.
But the “give a man a fish” philosophy dominates those with less restrictive diagnoses. Often, little effort is made to help them overcome their setbacks. Energy is instead exerted on ensuring the school accommodates them. Consequently, the student may graduate with a good GPA while still carrying deficiencies that can be professionally and socially fatal. Interviewers aren’t interested in your 7th-grade science grade; they want to know if you have what it takes to succeed at their company.
In many cases, the system has not prepared the young adult for that. Consider some of the most common IEP accommodations:
One is that during lessons, students don’t take their own notes; they are given notes by the teacher. If a student has difficulty focusing, I suppose this might marginally help them by not having to split attention between listening and writing. But, as every teacher knows, it can also provide the student an incentive not to pay attention at all since he’ll get the notes anyway. So how does this accommodation help improve his focus? It might even make it worse.
Another common accommodation is extra time to complete assignments. This may make sense if the plan is to gradually shorten the extra time until the student has developed the skills necessary to complete tasks according to a schedule. But this accommodation usually appears year after year, with no discussion of how to improve the problem. So how does the child learn the techniques that allow him to process and perform within a reasonable timeframe? I’d rather my son learn that, even if it costs him style points.
Students who struggle with reading are often accommodated with audiobooks. Okay, but how does this improve their reading? The accommodation seems designed to sidestep the problem, not address it.
Accommodations should foster growth, learning, and independence, and many do. The one I would always want my child to have is special instruction from a teacher trained to help him overcome his deficiencies. If he has trouble focusing, I want him taught techniques to help him focus, not shielded from having to do so. If he has trouble reading, I want him to undergo remedial instruction, not have everyone say: “Okay, no more reading for you.”
In short, I would want my child to learn how to fish. And if that means having a few lean meals as he builds foundations, develops skills, stumbles, and stands, then so be it. Education isn’t just about moving from one grade to the next. As Bloom said, it is the movement from darkness to light.
Jody Stallings has been an award-winning teacher in Charleston since 1992 and is director of the Charleston Teacher Alliance. To submit a question, order his books, or follow him on social media, please visit JodyStallings.com.
The whole point of special education should be to help the child overcome difficulties, not help avoid them.
I wholeheartedly agree, as a teacher and a parent. Life is about problem solving. My son had an auditory processing disorder and as he got older, the class lecture format was a challenge. Instead of giving him an excuse, we gave him a tape recorder. He listened intently in class and taped each session. He then came home and listened again and took notes, rewinding as necessary. It gave him independence and ownership of his learning. Supporting kids’ learning is one thing, enabling a sense of helplessness is another. It can be a very fine line for parents and teachers.