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100 Powerful Learning Specialist and Educational Therapy Materials

This week I wanted to tell you about my online store, Good Sensory Learning. I’m Dr. Erica Warren, and I established this site so I could share all the materials that I have created over the last 20+ years as a learning specialist and educational therapist. When I first began my private practice, Learning to Learn, I had great difficulty finding fun and multisensory materials for my students that were effective and engaging. So back in 2005, I made it my mission to design and distribute high-end, remedial products as well as memorable, motivating lessons that bring delight to learning. If you would like to try a free sampling of my activities , CLICK HERE . How Are the Products Organized at Good Sensory Learning? You can download my Free Printable Catalog or you can browse the site using the grey “search all products” bar in the top right of any page with keywords such as dyslexia, working memory, and executive functioning. What’s more, drop down menus in the red banner allow you t...
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List of Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications for Students with Learning Disabilities

Getting the best reasonable accommodations for struggling learners with disabilities can be a challenge.  The list of possible options is rarely made available to parents, so many remain unaware of the diverse options.  The first step is the understand the difference between reasonable accommodations and modifications.  Accommodations vs. Modifications? The United States clumps accommodations and modifications under the term reasonable accommodations, but other countries, such as Canada make a distinction between the two. An accommodation describes an alteration of the environment, curriculum format, or equipment that allows an individual with a disability to gain access to content and/or complete assigned tasks. Since accommodations do not alter what is being taught, instructors should be able to implement the same grading scale. Some examples of accommodations include: preferential seating, audiobooks, and speech to text technology. A modification describes...
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Are Academic Accommodations Fair?

Many parents, teachers and administrators worry about whether academic accommodations offer an unfair advantage to some students. They are concerned that providing services such as extended time on tests, the use of a computer with a spell check, a reader or a copy of the teacher's notes provides an uneven playing field. Fair Shouldn't be About All Students Getting the Same Thing: If all students came to the classroom with the same brains and experiences, offering them equivalent expectations and an identical curriculum would make sense. However, that is not even close to the truth. In fact, each student offers diverse strengths and weaknesses, developmental levels, experiences and abilities. As a result, fair shouldn't be about all students getting the same things. Fair is that each student gets what he or she needs to learn. So How Can a Student Get an Accommodation if This is What They Need to Learn? The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Sect...
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Important Dyslexia Accommodations in the Classroom

Getting a school to recognize, test, and then accommodate your child with dyslexia can be an arduous and frustrating task. Although public school systems can accommodate the individual needs of our struggling students, many administrators don’t like to tap into the general education coffers for a single student. As a result, parents often have to rally and wrestle to obtain reasonable accommodations for their children with dyslexia and other disabilities that impact learning. The key to navigating this slippery slope is to understand the laws, the lingo as well as the menus of mandated accommodations and modifications. What are my Options? There are two options for acquiring accommodations: 504: A 504 is a formal plan that protects the rights of students with disabilities in school. Covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, this civil rights law gives students with disabilities access to services and supports in the general education classroom. There are no mandated...
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Finding the Best College for Students with Learning Disabilities

Finding the best college is tricky for any student, but for those with learning disabilities (LDs) it can be an even bigger feat. In fact, the perfect school is out there for practically anyone, but finding it, takes some time and persistence. There are a number of options for students with LDs from colleges that cater primarily to this population to larger universities that offer specialized programs. With the proper testing in hand, all schools are mandated to provide reasonable accommodations, but not all institutions make it an easy task. What Are My Options? Pre-colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities: These programs help to prepare students for the rigors of college and make sure they have the study skills, basic math, reading and writing capabilities needed to be a successful student. This might be a summer program or an additional year - commonly called a 13th year. For example, Thames at Mitchell College is a unique transition program on a college campus. ...
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How to Prepare for a 504 Meeting

Getting the needed accommodations for struggling students can be a long and arduous process.  Whether you pursue 504 or IEP accommodations , there are some things you can do to help assure that you will be pleased with the outcomes. In this blog post, I share a few tips and strategies. What do I know? Over the past 20 years, working as a learning specialist, educational therapist, and advocate, I have attended countless 504 and IEP meetings. Some meetings went amicably and resulted in the desired outcomes, while others became a toilsome battleground that left the participants egos scarred and scraped and the student pulled between opposing forces.  I have tried and tested different preparation and presentation approaches and have come up with some winning recommendations. Eight Strategies that can help you prepare for and present your case: As soon as the meeting is scheduled, call and then send a formal letter to the school letting them know tha...
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Processing Speed - 7 Powerful Strategies for Student Success

Dear Friends: This is my second post on processing speed. Last week, I addressed the definition, causes, assessment options, and revealed 5 ways that a slow processing speed can impact learning . This week, I will discuss 7 power strategies for student success as well as reasonable accommodations in the classroom. A Quick Review: Processing Speed: The speed at which one makes sense of incoming information from the senses and then generates a response. Tests such as the WISC intelligence test and the Woodcock-Johnson IV Test of Cognitive Ability and Test of Oral Language offer subtests that assess some types of processing speed. A slow processing speed can be caused by any of the following: difficulties receiving and perceiving information through the senses, problems making sense of that information in the brain, and/or challenges producing a response or action. A slow processing speed can impact the understanding of oral and written concepts, note taking skills, homework c...
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5 Reasons Why Dyslexics Should Avoid a Foreign Language

Foreign language courses are mandatory for graduation in many high schools and colleges, however, for some students with language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia, this requirement may feel insurmountable. Luckily, schools and even Ivy League colleges, such as Dartmouth, are now granting students with well-documented learning disabilities waivers of foreign language requirements. Laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 have now paved the way to reasonable accommodations and substitution courses that have widened the route to graduation. 5 Reasons Dyslexic Students Should Avoid Traditional Foreign Languages Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability , and learning a foreign language presents the same difficulties with decoding, spelling, and writing as with the English language. Foreign language teachers are not trained to identify and accommodate the diverse learning needs of students with learning disabilities. Most schools and colle...
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Self Advocacy - 5 Reasons this Skill Should be Taught

Self advocacy is one of the most important skills struggling students can learn. Whether it is communicating with a teacher about a best learning approach, a needed testing modification, or a classroom accommodation, self advocacy can assure that students get what they need to learn. What is Student Self-Advocacy? Student self-advocacy is when a learner communicates what he or she needs to a teacher or administrator in an academic environment. This skill should be taught in middle school so that students are knowledgeable about the process and procedures by high school. Although it sounds easy, it’s actually quite complex, because students must be savvy about: Individual needs: Students should have a comprehensive understanding of their strengths, weaknesses as well as their accommodations, so that they can monitor services and manage their own needs. Mandated rights: Students should know about the laws that protect students with disabilities, so they can evaluate whether th...
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