Accommodations, Modifications and Assistive Technology for Students with Dyslexia

In addition to intervention instruction to improve literacy skills, students with dyslexia benefit from supports that help them learn independently. While they typically have the ability to grasp grade-level content, their literacy difficulties often hinder their progress, as much subject matter knowledge is accessed through reading and writing. The terms "accommodations" and "modifications" both refer to ways educators support students with dyslexia, but they serve distinct purposes and have different implications for teaching and learning.
Joan Sedita | July 8, 2025 | 0 Comments
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You May Be Right, I May Be Crazy: MTSS and Tier I Instruction

This is a guest re-post of a blog recently written by Stephanie Stollar, founder of Stephanie Stollar Consulting and creator of The Reading Science Academy. Stephanie's message caught our eye -- she shares some important insights about issues related to implementing core literacy instruction for schools using a multi-tiered system of supports framework.
Stephanie Stollar | March 20, 2024 | 1 Comment
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Providing Reading Interventions Grades 4-9

A new research guide titled Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9 was released recently from the Institute of Education Sciences that summarizes research-based instructional interventions for older students who struggle with reading. The report was written by a panel of reading researchers and practitioners, chaired by Dr. Sharon Vaughn after reviewing the research related to intervention instruction for older students.
Joan Sedita | May 5, 2022 | 1 Comment
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Multisensory Teaching by Emily Gibbons

This post was written by Emily Gibbons, a dyslexia instructor. Emily provides suggestions for using multiple senses when teaching foundational reading skills.  Multisensory teaching is not just crucial for kids with dyslexia, it is good solid teaching for ALL students. Using a variety of senses helps with memory and retrieval and allows students to support their areas of weakness with their areas of strength.  Incorporating multisensory learning tools into your classroom lessons will not replace intervention services, but it will make classroom lessons more accessible to students with learning differences.
Joan Sedita | November 26, 2018 | 0 Comments
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The Writing Revolution

I’ve long been a fan of Judith Hochman’s work related to teaching basic writing skills to older students who struggle with writing. In 2012, the Atlantic published a riveting article titled “The Writing Revolution” that chronicled the experience of a New York City high school as they sought to understand why so many of their students could not write. They determined that Judith’s sentence instruction practices were a big part of the solution. Now Judith has written a book with Natalie Wexler (with a forward by Doug Lemov) titled “The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in all Subjects and Grades.”
Joan Sedita | July 17, 2017 | 6 Comments
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Resource: Adaptive Technology for Literacy

I’m devoting this blog post to highlight Bridges, a Canadian company that specializes in adaptive technology. I had the wonderful opportunity several years back to collaborate with some folks at Bridges on a professional development project that combined Keys to Literacy’s expertise around teaching literacy, and Bridges’ expertise around how to use adaptive technology to support literacy teaching and learning. They have recently launched several online professional development courses that I want to recommend.
Joan Sedita | May 4, 2017 | 0 Comments
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What is MTSS?

Over the past few years, a number of state-level departments of education have developed requirements for adoption of MTSS by school districts, as well as resources to help schools implement MTSS. As I work with districts to develop literacy plans, I am often asked to explain MTSS and how Keys to Literacy professional development support an MTSS literacy instruction model.
Joan Sedita | November 16, 2016 | 1 Comment
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Resource for Parent Advocates of Struggling Readers

I recently learned that a long-time colleague, Lorna Kaufman, has written a book and launched a related project designed to support parents of children who struggle with reading. Lorna and her co-authors Sandra Doran and Leigh Leveen have worked for over 30 years helping struggling readers and providing advice for how their parents can advocate for their children. Based on this experience, they wrote the book Smart Kid, Can’t Read: 5 Steps Any Parent Can Take to Get Help which can be ordered through Amazon. The 200+ pages of the book are organized into sections corresponding to these five recommended steps...
Joan Sedita | June 7, 2016 | 0 Comments
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Great Apps for Struggling Readers/Writers

I ran across an interesting piece by Jamie Martin at the Forbes online site titled “Apple vs. Google: The Real Winners are Students with Dyslexia.” Martin makes the point that the competition between Apple and Google has resulted in great benefits for people who struggle with reading and writing skills. Both companies, in order to keep the competitive edge as they rolled out new devices (e.g., Apple’s Apple Watch and updated versions of iPhone and iPad; Google’s updates to Android and Chromeboook) have made a significant number of features, tools, and software applications available on their products related to assistive technology (AT)....
Joan Sedita | November 24, 2015 | 2 Comments
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Teaching ELLS with Learning Disabilities

It is hard to know why some English language learners struggle with literacy skills. Is it just due to their lack of English skills? Or might there also be a learning disability? As a recent post at the blog EdCentral points out, studies show that there is both an over- and under-representation of language learners in special education programs likely due to teachers’ misunderstanding of student needs and poorly designed language assessments...
Joan Sedita | November 3, 2015 | 0 Comments
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Writing Disabilities

The Reading Rockets website has long been a resource I recommend to educators and parents for any topic related to literacy instruction. For this blog post, I’m featuring several Reading Rockets resources related to writing disabilities.

Writing Disabilities: An Overview by Charles MacArthur offers an excellent summary of why some kids struggle with writing (especially those with learning disabilities), and how some instructional practices can help. MacArthur was part of the panel that wrote “Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers”, an Educator’s Practice Guide published by Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education....
Joan Sedita | September 22, 2015 | 0 Comments
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Dyslexia Handbook for Families

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) recently published a booklet for parents of students with dyslexia titled: IDA Dyslexia Handbook: What Every Family Should Know .

The booklet covers these topics:

  • Definition and characteristics of dyslexia
  • Assessments for dyslexia
  • Identifying effective teaching approaches
  • Managing the education of a student with dyslexia
  • Transitioning into college
  • Recommended resources...
Joan Sedita | March 10, 2015 | 0 Comments
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Sentence Combining

I have long been a fan of sentence combining activities as a meaningful and effective way of improving students’ writing skills. Since the 1960’s, research studies have shown that sentence combining is an effective way to teach grammar to students in elementary through college levels and improves student writing. This is especially so for students who struggle with writing. The Writing Next report (2007) based on Graham and Perin’s meta-analysis of writing instruction research, identified sentence combining as one of the eleven most effective instructional practices for improving the writing of students in grades 4-12....
Joan Sedita | January 8, 2015 | 2 Comments
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CCSS and Students with Reading Disabilities

A new fact sheet is available from the International Dyslexia Association titled “Common Core State Standards and Students with Disabilities”. Click here to download.

As the standards are implemented in states across the country, parents and teachers have expressed concern regarding the education and literacy skills of students with reading disabilities. Literacy trainers at Keys to Literacy are often asked questions such as:

  • What impact will these standards have on students with dyslexia or other disabilities if they cannot read or write at the expected grade level?
  • Do the new state assessments allow for accommodations?........
Joan Sedita | December 9, 2014 | 0 Comments
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Content Literacy Instruction for K-8 ELLs

Are you teaching and supporting English language learners (ELLs) as they acquire academic vocabulary, learn from increasingly complex informational texts, and tackle analytical writing?

If so, you will want to review the Institute of Education Science’s practice guide, Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (Baker et al, 2014).

The guide is IES’s first upgrade for ELLs since 2007 and it is aligned to the Common Core literacy standards. It expands the scope to middle school and shifts the focus away from “beginning reading” and early reading intervention to academic language and academic vocabulary......
Joan Sedita | November 25, 2014 | 0 Comments
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ACCESSING KEYS TO LITERACY PD DURING SCHOOL CLOSURES

We are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and the impact on our employees and the schools where we provide professional development.

During this time period when onsite, face-to-face training and coaching is not possible, we offer multiple options for accessing our literacy PD content and instructional practices.

If you are a current or new partner, explore our website or contact us to learn more about:

info@keystoliteracy.com
978-948-8511