Processing Deficits and Accommodations County School System Departments of Exceptional Children’s Services and School Psychological Services Revised January 13, 2012 Page 1 of 13

Fayette County School System Departments of Exceptional Children’s Services and School Psychological Services

Revised January 13, 2012

Page 1 of 13

Processing Deficits, Specialized Instruction and Accommodations

PSYCHOLOGICAL

PROCESSING

DEFICITS

OBSERVABLE

BEHAVIORS

ASSOCIATED WITH

DEFICITS

SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL

STRATEGIES TO CONSIDER

ACCOMMODATIONS TO CONSIDER

Executive Functioning

o Working memory

Response Inhibition

o Forgets assignments or

parts of assignments

o Forgets to bring materials

to or from school

o Forgets to hand in

homework

o Loses or misplaces

belongings

o Forgets classroom

procedures

o Forgets to do chores

o Forgets part or all of

verbal directions for tasks

or chores

Talks without raising

hand

Interrupts

Talks back

Makes insensitive

comments

Has difficulty waiting

turn

Has physical contact with

peers or siblings

Can’t wait while a parent

is on the phone

o Direct instruction of strategies

Mnemonic devices

Visual imagery

Self-talk

Self-monitoring strategy

Teach social strategies

Teach replacement behaviors

Teach self-monitoring strategies

o Use of storage devices such as agenda,

calendars, electronic organizers,

recorders

o Use of cueing devices such as verbal

reminders, alarms on watches, visual

cues in classroom, sticky notes in

prominent location

Restrict access to settings in which the

student can get into trouble

Increase supervision (move closer to

adult in classroom)

Find ways to cue student to control

impulses (posting rules or verbal

reminders)



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□ Emotional Control

Sustained Attention

Task Initiation

□ Has frequent tantrums

□ Overreacts to small

problems

□ Has frequent mood

changes

□ Becomes overly anxious

□ Temper flares quickly

□ Is slow to recover from

disappointments

□ Shuts down

Fails to complete work or

chores on time

Stops before work is

finished

Switches frequently

between activities,

including play activities

Has difficulty listening to

stories read aloud

Is distracted by things

happening around

him/her when doing

seatwork/homework

Needs reminders to get

started on class work or

homework

When one task is

completed, slow to start

another one

Waits for someone else to

begin in group activities

□ Teach coping strategies

□ Teach positive self-statements and

model appropriate use

Teach the use of self-monitoring

strategies

Instruct and model through early

portions of tasks

□ Anticipate problem situations and

prepare the student for them

□ Structure the environment to avoid the

problem situations

□ Break tasks into smaller steps

Write start and stop times on assigned

tasks

Use incentive systems

Break tasks into subtasks

Give students short breaks

Set a timer to complete a task

Use a self-monitoring tape for students

to check their own progress

Make tasks interesting using various

instructional modalities

Provide praise when student is on task

Provide verbal cues to get started

Arrange for a visual cue to prompt start

Note start and stop times when tasks are

completed

Use timer



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0 Planning/Prioritization

Organization

Needs cues to begin over-

learned routines

0 Has difficulty carrying

out a long-term project,

deciding what needs to

happen first, second, etc.

0 Can’t make or follow a

timeline for project

completion

0 Doesn’t offer useful

suggestions for how to

complete a task when

working on a group

project

0 Can’t organize a group

game at recess or with

friends at home

0 Can’t complete tasks in

the order of priority or

importance

0 Can’t take notes in

lectures that focus on the

most important

information

Has messy desk

Has messy notebooks,

0 Teach students to use agendas or

planners, to create and use to-do

lists, and to break large tasks or

assignments into manageable parts

Teach organizational strategies for

belongings, notebooks, etc.

Teach strategies for organizing

0 Provide a plan or schedule for the

student to follow

0 Use scoring rubrics when giving

assignments

0 Break long-term projects into clearly

defined subtasks and attach deadlines to

each subtask

0 Create a project template

Provide examples of how to organize

notebooks, backpacks, etc.

Use color codes or other meaningful



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Time management

□ Goal-directed

persistence

backpacks, etc.

Can’t find belongings

when asked

Can’t produce an

organized piece of

writing

Doesn’t turn in

assignments he/she says

are completed

Has difficulty

completing tasks on time

Misses deadlines for

assignments

Has difficulty estimating

how long it takes to do

something

Can’t adjust schedule to

fit in new tasks, special

events

Can’t complete routines

consistently on time

□ Doesn’t stick with

challenging tasks

□ Can’t sustain attention

well to tasks that aren’t

intrinsically interesting

writing – mapping, structured

paragraph/essay shells, etc.

Model use of graphic organizers and

methods of taking ideas from

graphic organizers and translating

them into organized text/sentences

Teach the use of schedules and

timers or strategies for managing

time

□ Teach student to backward plan and

break tasks into parts

items to help students logical organize

and separate their work

Provide a shell for students to practice

organization of their writing

Give students a schedule to follow and

prompt them at each step

Be consistent in your own time

management

Impose time limits and provide

reminders for how much time is left

Use cuing devices such as clocks, bells,

or alarms

□ Provide students with realistic and

concrete goals for lessons and chapters

□ Include goals in your lessons and

remind students of their progress toward

these goals

□ Employ many of the same time

management strategies listed previously

o Reduce novelty by advance

familiarization with places, schedules,



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o Flexibility

Metacognition

o Easily upset by changes

in plans, disruptions in

routines

o Struggles with open-

ended tasks

o Doesn’t try multiple

approaches to solving

problems

o Excessively ‘rule-bound’

Asks for help rather than

trying to solve a problem

on his or her own

Doesn’t notice how

others react to his or her

behavior

Doesn’t like tasks or

games that involve

problem solving

o Teach coping techniques

Use metacognitive modeling

strategies

Teach social/behavioral skills with

perspective taking activities

activities

o Pre-teach material

o Provide cues for transitions

o Decrease the speed, volume or

complexity of information presentation

o Break tasks into component parts

o Adapting open-ended tasks to make

them more closed

o Provide students with templates and/or

rubrics

o Increase the level of support around a

task by offering reassurance, step-by-

step assistance, close contact during

transitions, or cuing coping strategies

Prompt student to use analytical skills

by embedding questions designed to

elicit metacognition (i.e. – how did you

solve that problem)

Build error monitoring into tasks (have

students show that they have checked

their work)

Use scoring rubrics to define what a

quality product or assignment will

include

Auditory Processing

o Auditory

o Inability to recognize

differences in phonemes

o Use manipulatives to represent

phonemes, syllables

o Pair visual and auditory cues

o Use visuals, graphic organizers, outlines,



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Discrimination

Auditory Sequencing

(sounds), including the

ability to identify words

and sounds that are

similar and those which

are different

o Inaccurate pronunciation

of new vocabulary words

o Confusion between

similar sounding words

o Spelling difficulties

o Difficulty learning

foreign languages

Difficulty remembering

or reconstructing the

order of items in a list or

the order of sounds in a

word or syllables

May not appear to pay

attention to lecture

Difficulty following

multi-step oral directions

Spelling difficulties

o Use multisensory approaches to

teach decoding, spelling

o Teach student to use assistive

technology devices for spelling,

notetaking

o Preview new vocabulary

Use manipulatives to represent

phonemes, syllables, items

Use multisensory approaches to

teach decoding, spelling

Model use of graphic organizers

Model highlighting of key concepts

Teach the use of self-monitoring

checklists

Teach student to use strategies and

assistive technology devices for

spelling, notetaking

Teach student to backward plan/

cloze notes with lecture

o Minimize distractions

o Provide preferential seating where

distractions are minimal (not necessarily

near teacher)

o Provide note taking assistance or notes

o Simplify oral directions

o Reduce penalty for spelling on in-class

assignments

o Gain student’s attention prior to delivery

of information

o Speak clearly without over

exaggerating; adjust rate as needed

o Emphasize critical information

o Monitor student’s attending skills;

provide breaks if necessary

o Allow manipulatives

o Reduce language level or reading level

of assignments, as appropriate

Pair visual and auditory cues

Use visuals/graphic organizers, outlines,

cloze notes with lecture

Minimize distractions

Provide preferential seating where

distractions are minimal (not necessarily

near teacher)

Provide note taking assistance or notes

Simplify oral directions

Break tasks into sequential steps

Reduce penalty for spelling on in-class

assignments



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break tasks into parts

Teach memory strategies

Use mnemonic aids and teach

students to use them

Gain student’s attention prior to delivery

of information

Speak clearly without over

exaggerating; adjust rate as needed

Emphasize critical information

Monitor student’s attending skills;

provide breaks if necessary

Allow manipulatives

Reduce language level or reading level

of assignments, as appropriate

Visual Processing

Visual

Discrimination

Difficulty interpreting

what is seen

Difficulty visually

distinguishing one object

from another

Difficulty in noting

similarity between letters

and words

Difficulty organizing the

position and shape of

what is seen

Difficulty distinguishing

between look-alike words

Reversal of letters,

numbers, or words

Problem distinguishing

color, size, shape, and

directions

Inaccurate copying

Inaccurate identification

of symbols

Trouble interpreting

Teach strategies for self-questioning

and self-monitoring, verbalizing

each step

Use active verbalization for best

memorization

Implement parts-to-whole verbal

teaching approach

Teach the use of checklists for math

processes

Teach students how to highlight key

points

Provide note taking assistance for

accuracy

Reduce penalty for spelling on in-class

assignments

Color code information presented

visually

Provide index card or reading guide to

follow print

Increase white space on handouts/

worksheets/tests



Page 8 of 13

o Visual Sequencing

maps, charts, and graphs

o Problems sequencing

plots of stories

o Skips words, reads part of

sentence out of order, or

rereads parts of the same

sentence

o Difficulty copying –

reversals, omissions

o Spelling problems

o Difficulty following an

equation

o Loses place while

reading, skips words, read

words out of order, re-

reads parts of the same

sentence or selection

o Teach strategies for self-questioning

and self-monitoring, verbalizing

each step

o Use active verbalization for best

memorization

o Implement parts-to-whole verbal

teaching approach

o Teach the use of checklists for math

processes

o Teach students how to highlight key

points

o Provide note taking assistance for

accuracy

o Reduce penalty for spelling on in-class

assignments

o Color code information presented

visually

o Provide index card or reading guide to

follow print

o Increase white space on handouts/

worksheets/tests

Visual-Motor Integration/

Spatial Ability Problems coordinating

and relaying information

from visual input to

involved sensory motor

areas

Impaired ability to orient

body in space, especially

in relation to other people

and objects

Problems with

directionality, which can

Use highlighters, bumped lines to

create stronger visual of line location

Use of special paper to accentuate

location of letters, letter parts on line

(house paper, Theo Bear paper, etc.)

Model use of graphic organizers and

methods of taking ideas from

graphic organizers and translating

them into organized text/sentences

Teach, model, and practice color

coding text for organization

Provide organizational assistance

Allow/recommend use of word

processor/assistive technology

Suggest use of graph paper or paper

with vertical lines for alignment of

problems

Provide note taking assistance

Allow recorder for lectures

Incorporate the use of graphic

organizers, visual schedules, timelines

Provide extended time for writing



Page 9 of 13

impair ability to track

when reading and follow

math equations

Appears clumsy

Illegible handwriting

Inaccurate copying

Difficulty organizing

information on paper,

including aligning

problems and spacing

correctly

Trouble transitioning

between 2 sources of

information (keyboard &

worksheet)

Eye-hand coordination

problems

Poor pencil grip

Difficulties keeping up

with materials

Difficulties with

geometry concepts

assignments and tests

Provide auditory prompts

Incorporate the use of color overlays

Allow desk copy for near point copying

Processing Speed Takes longer than

average time to complete

work

Responds slowly to

questions

Struggles to make rapid

comparisons between and

among bits of information

Has difficulty copying

Has difficulty completing

assignments within time

Teach time management strategies Emphasize quality over quantity

Allow additional time to complete in-

class assignments, tests

Allow additional time for verbal

response

Provide a cue before the student is

called upon to answer

Shorten repetitive tasks

Eliminate repetitious practice when



Page 10 of 13

limits

mastery is shown

Reduce volume of writing and copying

Consider using a cloze procedure on

tests

Adjust the length of take home work

Consider assistive technology solutions

Long Term Memory

Visual

Auditory

Difficulties storing and

retrieving previously

experienced visual and

auditory information

Difficulty visualizing

information

Difficulty sustaining

interest during visual or

auditory presentations

Difficulty memorizing

poems, speeches, or facts

Difficulties remembering

details

Problems with word

retrieval

Summarize information in multiple

modalities

Teach summarization strategies

Use mnemonic aid; teach student to

use mnemonic aids

Teach students how to use a graphic

organizer

Teach linking strategies

Teach color coding techniques

Teach student to use drawings to aid

memory

Model/think aloud procedural steps

Teach students to break large tasks

into steps – backward plan

Provide formula cards, checklists, lists

of steps

Create word banks on appropriate areas

of tests

Use repetition

Employ strategies to activate prior

knowledge

Use simple vocabulary in directions

Break tasks into manageable parts

Use graphic organizers

Short Term Memory

Visual

Auditory

Difficulty remembering

information just heard or

seen

Trouble taking accurate

notes

Difficulty following

multi-step oral and

written directions

Poor spelling

Poor test taking skills

Appearing to “tune out”

Summarize information in multiple

modalities (Think-Pair-Share)

Teach summarization strategie

Teach mnemonic aids

Teach students how to use graphic

organizers

Teach linking strategies

Teach color coding techniques

Teach the use of drawings to aid

memory

Model/think-aloud procedural steps


Reduce spelling penalty on in-class

assignments

Use of summarizing strategies

Use of tape recorder for lectures

Break down tasks into manageable parts

Allow use of checklist for step

processes

Allow color coding



Page 11 of 13



Teach note-taking strategies

Concentration/Attention

Difficulty remaining on

task

Difficulty focusing

attention in distracting

situations

Disruptive behaviors

Difficulty organizing

materials

Teach the use of:

Procedural checklists

To do lists Schedules Calendars Charts Various graphic organizers to

teach concepts Rubrics Visual study aids Self-monitoring charts Self-talk strategies



Teach note-taking strategies

Maintain a structured classroom with

defined procedures

Allow preferential seating or defined

space(s) in classroom


Create a structured classroom

Provide sequential instruction

Redirect as needed

Use repetition and check for

understanding


Allow use of formula cards, checklists,

lists of steps, graphic organizers, visual

study aids, self-monitoring charts,

schedules

Provide study guides

Use visual timer

Verbal Reasoning

Word finding problems

Poor organization

Limited vocabulary

Developmentally

inappropriate quality and

quantity of language

Limited verbal responses

Link to prior knowledge

Use summarizing strategies; teach

students to summarize

Pre-teach or preview vocabulary

Teach vocabulary strategies

Activate prior knowledge

Allow use of graphic organizers

Provide cues for summarization

Provide word banks

Provide a glossary of important terms



Page 12 of 13

Teach use of graphic organizers

Use semantic mapping

Nonverbal Reasoning

Appears awkward and

inadequate in fine and/or

gross motor skills

Has difficulty “reading”

body language

“Talks his way” through

simple motor activities

Has exceptional memory

for rote material

May not understand the

operation of mechanical

devices

Teach student to use procedural

checklists for math solution

processes

Link to prior knowledge

Use summarizing strategies; teach

summarization strategies






Allow/suggest use word processor

Give step-by-step directions presented

visually and/or auditorily


Provide checklists for math solution

processes

Allow extended time for writing

assignments and tests

Incorporate the use graphic organizers

Preview vocabulary

Provide cues for summarization

Abstract Reasoning

Has difficulty

generalizing and drawing

inferences

Has difficulty solving

unique problems

Has difficulty

categorizing, comparing,

and contrasting

Is verbally expressive and

does well with concrete

thinking

Can repeat but not follow

directions

Has good decoding skills

but poor comprehension

Use concrete examples

Provide lists of steps for problem

solving

Use manipulatives to develop

concepts

Activate prior knowledge


Teach reading comprehension

strategies

Use visualization strategies


Check for understanding of abstract

concepts individually before pairing

with another

Preview vocabulary



Page 13 of 13

Social Skills

Perceives and interprets

social situations

inaccurately

Is ineffective at

recognizing faces,

interpreting gestures,

deciphering postural cues

and “reading” facial

expressions

Is unable to perceive

proximity and distance

Is unable to notice or

distinguish between

changes in tones and/or

pitch of voice and/or

emphasis of delivery

May withdraw in novel

situations

Naively trusts others

Directly teach social skills

Use role play, social autopsies,

social stories

Teach the use of procedural

checklists for social situations, self-

monitoring strategies/checklists

Fade from verbal to visual cues in

social situations

Allow the use of procedural checklists,

self-monitoring checklists

Provide verbal, visual cues

Documents

Processing Deficits and Accommodations County School System Departments of Exceptional Children’s Services and School Psychological Services Revised January 13, 2012 Page 1 of 13