Melissa Mehre

Educ 351
Section 1
3/31/12

Simple Accommodations, Enormous Results
As a teacher in a general education setting, I will have students with exceptionalities in my
classroom. Learning how to make the general education setting a successful and rewarding experience
for all of my students is part of my job description. For this class, Education 351-Teaching Children with
Exceptional Needs, we were required to pick a book about a child with an exceptionality and then write
a paper about our inclusion strategy for that particular student. I chose to read The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. In the following paper, I have identified Nicks strengths
in the classroom, as well as weaknesses, and made ten accommodations that you would see if Nick was
in my classroom.
I teach 10
th
grade Biology at Swindon Academy. Each day my class is run a little bit differently,
some days I need to lecture on the material and other days the students are expected to run labs in
order to gain hands-on experience with the concepts we have learned. I expect all of my students to be
fully mentally engaged in my lectures and participate in class discussion. I expect my students to stay on
task when they are working individually or in small groups. I also expect the utmost care and
responsibility when we are working in the lab, as some of the materials we use are potentially
dangerous. In addition to my personal guidelines, I obviously hold my students to the district guidelines
on attendance, tardiness, and late work. My students are expected to arrive on time to my class with
the appropriate materials for that day (i.e.: a pen or pencil, notebook paper, any assignments due that
day, etc.). Finally, I expect my students to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner while in my
classroom by following the classroom guidelines including respect, responsibility, etc.
Nick is a student in my classroom who has been identified as having Aspergers Syndrome, which
is high on the autism spectrum. This means that Nick is high-functioning as well as high-achieving in my
classroom. Nick comes from a single-parent family. His mother left Nick and Nicks father, Everett, two
years ago. Nick, however, is under the impression that his mother has died. Everett wanted the
transition to be as painless as possible with as little blame being placed on Nick, so he made the decision
to tell Nick that his mother died. This decision was made so that Nick did not feel as though his mother
left because he has Aspergers Syndrome. Nick still has a hard time coping with his mother dying
because he did not get to say goodbye and there was obviously no funeral. Everett does his best in
raising Nick while also working full time. Having a child with autism can be very stressful for a family,
especially when the family is a single-parent household. Nick and Everett do not have any family
nearby, which means there is not much support outside the household for either of them. Because of
that, Ms. Rue, Nicks special education teacher, has become a close family friend and a support for the
family.
As I said above, Nick is very high functioning. He has many academic strengths including his
passion for math and science. Nick is more interested in Physics and Astronomy than he is interested in
Biology, but he still puts forth a great deal of effort in my classroom. Nick is extremely interested in
becoming an astronaut, and also very interested in the deep sea. I believe he is interested in these
subjects because there are no people in either location. Nick is a very independent boy, he would rather
work on his own than in a group. In addition, Nick will take the AP exams for both Physics and Calculus
at the end of this school year. He does not let Aspergers get in the way of his education. Nick is very
driven and has expressed interest in attending a university after he graduates from high-school.
Although Nick works very diligently in my classroom, there are some concerns. Nick is not a very
social boy; he would almost always prefer to work independently rather than with the help of fellow
classmates. This is a concern to me, because I believe that collaboration can help students retain more
information. Because of this, Nick needs special attention when working in groups. Nick becomes very
uncomfortable in large groups and is very likely to become over stimulated. When working in groups,
Nick needs special attention and supervision in order to monitor how well the group session is going and
to mediate if a problem arises. In addition, Nick has a difficult time staying on task. His mind is likely to
wander to a math problem if he becomes agitated or bored. Finally, schedules need also be very rigid
for Nick to be comfortable.
The following are some small accommodations that I have made in my classroom in order for
Nick to be more successful.
Schedule:
Nick must have a specific order of events in order to feel comfortable. He must know exactly
when something is going to happen, and change is very hard for him to deal with. Because of
the way I run my classroom, with certain days being lecture days and other days being lab days,
there is the potential for Nick to become very upset if he does not know ahead of time. Since I
know Nick needs to know ahead of time what we will be doing, I write down each day on the
whiteboard what we are doing today and what we will be doing for tomorrow. For example, if
we are lecturing today and have lab tomorrow I would write:
Today:
Section 32.4 Structure of DNA
HW- p.524 q.3-6 due Thursday (4/15)
Tomorrow:
Make your own DNA lab

This helps Nick, and even the other students in my class, to know what to expect when they
come to class tomorrow. Nick knows what is expected of him, what homework is due, and also
what we are doing for the day because of this simple accommodation. I would also like to point
out that it does not say specific times on the board. If I included specific times and we ran over
on time, Nick would likely become very agitated and upset.

Fidget Box:
Often times Nick will become stressed out because of social interactions or just because he has
become over stimulated. When this happens, Nick has the option to take out his fidget. Nicks
fidget is silly putty. A fidget is an object specific to a student that helps them focus on one thing.
For example, if Nick becomes over stimulated because I am talking and another student sitting
behind him is talking to her friend about the dance on Saturday, Nick will likely become over
stimulated. By using a fidget, Nick focuses on the methodical motion involved in it rolling out
the silly putty in order to only focus on me talking at the front of the classroom.
Quiet Area:
Sometimes a simple fidget will not help Nick to control his emotions and behaviors. Certain
social situations really set Nick off, especially if anyone touches him. In the instances when a
fidget does not work, Nick has a special quiet area in my classroom. In the back of the
classroom there is a giant bean-bag chair that I have purchased. There is also a headset with
soothing sounds (ocean waves, rainstorms, etc.) that is available for Nick. This is an area where
Nick can go to tune out the rest of the class when he cannot control himself at his desk. I have
found that allowing Nick to remove himself from the situation for five to ten minutes has
provided better results than trying to keep him included in the rest of the classroom where he
just becomes more frustrated. By taking a small time out to adjust his frame of mind, he can
come back to the class calmer and more able to learn.

Specific Examples:
I liked to provide specific, real-life examples of biology to my classroom before Nick was a part
of my class. Now that he is a part of my class, I strive to find real-life examples that Nick is
interested in, in order to keep him engaged in the material. For example, if I can relate biology
to astronomy or physics, it will keep Nick interested in what I am teaching about. Another topic
he really enjoys is murder mysteries, so when I am covering DNA I will relate our information to
crime-scene investigation. In addition, Nick has a pet rat named Toby, and any time I can
related the topic to animals I try and make my example animal a rat to keep Nick engaged. By
tailoring certain real-life examples to Nicks interests, I can keep him fascinated in the material.
Literal Language:
Nick has a very difficult time with figures of speech, jokes, and metaphors. A symptom of
Aspergers is having an extremely literal mindwhich is what draws Nick into the hard sciences.
Because of that, I have to be extremely careful when using figures of speech or metaphors. Nick
also has a hard time understanding jokes, so I try not to use them in lecture so Nick does not
feel left out when he is the only one not laughing. Finally, Nick also does not understand
sarcasm. Before Nick was in my class, I often used sarcasm. Now I try to avoid it as much as
possible because Nick takes what Im saying for its literal value.
Small Groups:
Often times I break my students up into small groups to work on labs, facilitate group
discussion, and also to work on homework sets. This was a problem when Nick first came into
my classroom because as I mentioned earlier he does not work well with other students. I truly
believe that students learn more by collaborating with their peers, so I did not want to write off
small groups altogether. Instead, I decided that Nicks groups would consist of 1-2 other
students who are compassionate individuals. I used to hand-pick the groups anyways, so that
nobody was left without a group. Now I am very careful in selecting Nicks group because I
make sure that Nick gets along with his group-mates.
Orderedness:
As I mentioned earlier, Nick has a very logical mind. He really enjoys math because of the strict
rules that you have to follow when you are in math class. He also really believes in order and
reasoning. For example, he counts the number of red and yellow cars on the way to school to
decide if it will be a good day or a bad day. Four red cars in a row is a Good Day, while five red
cars in a row is a Super Good Day, but four yellow cars in a row is a Black Day. Because he likes
order so much, I try to emphasize examples when biology is very ordered. For example, when
we discuss DNA I talk about how the cell methodically goes about the steps in mitosis and
meiosis. This is another way in which I try and retain Nicks attention in my classroom.
Remove Triggers:
I have discussed some strategies for how to deal with Nick when he is having an outburst, but
one of the easiest ways to reduce the number of outbursts he has is to eliminate some of his
triggers. Some things that trigger Nick are the colors yellow and brown, moving the furniture
around in the room, changes in class seating, and changes in routine. I have removed all of my
posters that were a large part yellow or brown, in order to reduce his anxiety in relation to
color. Also, I rarely move the desks into a new arrangement; instead I keep the desks in rows
facing the front of the classroom. There have been a couple times when I needed to move other
students into new seats because of conflict, and even that bothers Nick. Therefore, when I do
change up seating I discuss with Nick beforehand that Susan and Tom are going to be switching
seats for the remainder of the year. Preparing Nick usually helps minimize his anxiety, but it
does not completely resolve it, in which case Nick uses another method to control his anxieties.
Peer Discussion:
With Everetts permission, at the beginning of the school year, I sat down with the rest of my
class (not including Nick) in order to discuss how my expectations for them and my expectations
for Nick would be a little different. I talked to the class about Nicks outbursts, groaning, and
lack of social skills. It was an open discussion where the other children could ask questions and
become more comfortable with the idea of Nick being in the classroom. Including Nick in my
classroom was not just about making Nick comfortable, it was also about making my other
students comfortable as well. In addition to just discussion, I provided my students with some
coping mechanisms for when Nick is having an outburst. I told the students that they should
ignore Nick when he is groaning or having an outburst instead of calling attention to the fact
that he is different. I also told them not to treat him any differently in any other regards.

Verbalize Emotions:
My last accommodation was to verbalize my emotions for Nick. Another symptom of Aspergers
is an inability to read others emotions. A stern gaze is lost on Nick. He does not understand
that my brow furrowed, lips pursed, eyes squinting means that I am angry with his actions
whereas any other student would understand that they need to stop doing whatever they are
doing to get that reaction. Instead of giving non-verbal emotional feedback to Nick, I make sure
I give him verbal feedback. For example, I would not give him a stern look if he talks out of turn.
Instead, I would ask him to stop talking out of turn.
The adaptations and accommodations that I have listed above are all simple and inexpensive
ways to help Nick in the classroom. I have seen a significant improvement with these ten
accommodations and I cant imagine how much better things can get by just making small changes
throughout the rest of the school year.
This paper has taught me that there are many small changes we can make in our classrooms to
accommodate all different types of students. Some of these accommodations were made specifically
with Nick in mind, but can be helpful to all of my students. Often times the other students might not
need the accommodation, but it can make them more successful as well.