IEP Accommodations: Ideas for Neurodivergent Kids – Happy Honeysuckle Healing Center

Discover helpful IEP accommodations for neurodivergent kids with ADHD and autism to support learning, focus, communication, and emotional regulation.

I have been crowd sourcing and keeping track of good IEP accommodations for children with ADHD or other diagnoses. This is important because not all schools (or teachers) have the same exact knowledge, and there are some good ideas that are good to pass on to schools who aren’t aware of them yet.

As a neurodivergent person, I consider our neurodivergence to be beneficial to society and to the world when properly encouraged and utilized.

Society and school systems have a tendency to expect everyone to fit into the box that neurotypical people fit into and while this works for most people. Unfortunately this does not necessarily allow neurodivergent kids to succeed and flourish. I consider this a MASSIVE loss for our society because ND people generally have what NT peers don’t: a capability of seeing the world through a different lens.

While we don’t want to undermine how difficult it is to be neurodivergent (it can absolutely suck), we need to make sure that every ND child is nourished into being able to use the skills that they have and to accommodate the ones that they have difficulty with in order to support their desired future.

I see every children whose love for learning is crushed by the unachievable expectation that they act in a neurotypical way as a massive failure by our society and school system. Each of those children is potentially a person who could find a cure for cancer, develop new and interesting technologies, or set new records in sports, their profession, and in their personal lives. They could be the first in their family to go to college or own their own business… their ability to hyperfocus on a topic of interest can be extremely beneficial. They could be the best electrician in their area or a famous hair stylist on TikTok or YouTube after deciding that they’d prefer to learn a career via a vocational program instead of going to college.

Success doesn’t look the same for everyone, but we want all of our kids to be as successful as possible so they can have lives that they love. Accommodations (and therapy) help improve our chances of success and helps teach kids the coping mechanisms that neurodivergent people otherwise would need to learn the hard way.

These accommodations are going to be in list style and potentially a bit repetitive as there are different ways to address the same problem.

IEP Accommodations: Scaffolding

Before I begin, I want to mention that IEP accommodations are ideally a matter of scaffolding so that the child can eventually gain skills that can help them complete tasks similar to a neurotypical individual. For example, while homeschooling a second grader, I found that too much written work tended to be overwhelming for him. Given the environment, I allowed him to dictate answers to me or to answer questions without doing a lot of extra handwriting. I saved any writing for things like spelling words activities because I wanted him to practice spelling them himself. As the year progressed, I was able to give him progressively more written work without issue.

Similarly, if we are accommodating for executive functioning deficits, we want to ensure that we’re working with the kids to develop those skills and find hacks, if necessary, to be successful. For example, with time blindness and difficulty transitioning, I like to teach kids to set their own alarms and timers to help facilitate using those skills on their own eventually. Or for organization, helping the child evaluate which organization method works best for them to keep their schoolwork organized.

For some accommodations, this won’t apply- for example, a child who gets overstimulated is likely not going to learn to adjust to a chaotic environment. The best case scenario is that they end up taking higher level classes which tend to be smaller, quieter, and easier for the teachers to manage. When they get older, they need to be aware of their limitation and find a work environment that supports the level of stimulation that they’re comfortable with.

IEP Accommodations for Active/Hyperactive Kids

Anytime the child needs a movement break, they can have one. The options are to go outside for 5 minutes if a teacher is available, walk/run up and down the halls for 5 minutes, or go to the special education room which is setup for physical activities when kids need it.
Sensory breaks are allowed as needed, as well as bathroom breaks.
Sensory diet with scheduled decompression times for 15 min, 3 times a day. The school may need to consider what options they’re capable of providing for these time periods, but they might include: running, swinging, spinning, playing basketball, time in a quiet room, or time with a weighted blanket.
Look at your child’s behavior during the course of the day. After a certain period of time, does he/she start to struggle? Track this over a period of time and use this to justify scheduled movement breaks on that schedule (preferably before the child starts to really crash and burn).
Indoor sensory breaks are much easier to put into practice that recess breaks due to staffing issues, unless a child has a 1:1 aide. In a school this person worked for, the kindergarten students went outside 3 times per day, and most of the other grades were out twice. In her state, recess was mandated through 8th grade (Maryland has no mandated recess regulations).
One child’s teacher offers necklaces to wear to go to the bathroom or a different necklace if they need to take a walk (in the halls). They’re able to go get the necklace, put it on and leave the room to take care of their needs.
Classroom learning activities that use movement: these activities have some really positive impacts on learning. You can look into Spark PE for ABCs, Neural Ed, Think Spotlight. Teachers use cognitive motor activities to improve attention, memory and self regulation in the classroom.

Extended Time: Good or Bad?

While extended test time may be helpful for some kids, this really needs to be carefully considered before being put into play.

Why?

A child who is struggling to focus isn’t necessarily going to focus better in the same exact setting if you have them sit for 10 minutes vs. 30 minutes. If it’s hard to focus, it won’t get better with time.
Time limits can be helpful to encourage people with ADHD to complete a task. This is somewhat dependent on the person.
If you’re giving them extra time, but removing them from being able to participate in a fun activity with peers, this is going to build resentment and possibly cause them to rush.

Consider these options:

Break down tests into shorter sections and give a time limit for each section, i.e. 5 questions in 15 minutes (or whatever is reasonable). Give movement breaks between sections.
Change the scenery: if they’re struggling to pay attention in one spot, consider another location or setting. Some kids may do better if pulled out to complete an assignment in a quiet room (i.e. counselors office). I’m sure this would be tricky in many schools, but if you have an exterior door, I think some kids might benefit from sitting at a desk right outside (outdoors) to take tests or work independently, if they’re still visible to the teacher. Nature is often more calming and less distracting for people with ADHD.
Try using foam board to create a private space for them and block their views of others. Please keep in mind that it’s better to not single out a child who is sensitive to being perceived as different. I prefer the idea of doing this for the entire class. Also, the foam board will also only block *some* visual stimulation: people with ADHD or Autism can be quite distracted by everything from sound to motion to light to vibration. If there are construction vehicles outside the school making noise, or a leaking ceiling, or a classmate chewing gum near them, they will likely still not be performing to their best ability.
Consider if the student can show competence in another way or if they could show competence with fewer test questions.
Consider if the student performs better or more calmly on paper vs. electronically.

Additional test time may be best used for children who test with slower processing speed, although it’s still possible that a reasonable time restriction is better than unlimited time. A child who really wants to sit and chew on information before answering the question could easily get stuck in perfectionism and end up melting down before finishing the test to their satisfaction.

Accommodations for Educational Deficits

Math

Allow the use of tools as helpful… rules, measuring devices, blocks, pennies, calculators, etc. Really consider if it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary that the child not utilize those tools. For example, Many tools take longer than other methods: kids will drop them as they don’t need them. I used pennies to help my son subtract and add… but he quickly decided that was really slow and he was motivated to drop the kinesthetic part of the process. It helped him initially, however, while learning so he could gain confidence.
Try to incorporate physical activities, art, song or other unique methods into learning things that require memorization. Many kids struggle with memorization (poor short term memory will do this)… you can understand the math, but be completely thrown off by the need to memorize.
Times table fidgets exist! I think they’re a great way to work on memorizing times tables.
Teach kids to show their work so that teachers and parents can help them figure out where they went wrong on problems. This can often result in at least partial credit on assignments which is helpful.
If a child is having problems with a particular number for memorizing the times tables, have them do a craft or woodworking project where they need to mark numbers equally. For example, if 7s are hard, make a project that needs to be marked every 7 inches (or 7 mm etc.). Pull out the long measuring tape. It’s a fun way to learn.
For word problems, highlight each question in the word problem so that they don’t miss one part of the question. For scaffolding, teach them to start doing this themselves and how to look for key words.
Organization is KEY to math. I struggled with math for most of my childhood and my dad (likely undiagnosed ADHD) sat down with me for homework to help me organize my math on graph paper. This allowed me to keep my numbers in the boxes so I didn’t mix up hundreds/tens/ones/etc. when adding, subtracting, etc. MANY, many of my math mistakes were organizational mistakes, and learning organizational skills when completing math work is REALLY helpful. I think using larger print graph paper would be useful for many kids, particularly young ones.

Reading

The child should practice reading aloud with feedback from a supportive adult. Lots of positive reinforcement is important.
Read aloud to a pet: I love this as a way to teach reading.
Let them pick the books, and don’t restrict what they read (within reason). Help them find books that they’ll love.
Read back and forth: I love to read roles in books with kids. The Elephant and Piggy Books (Mo Willems) work well for this because there are usually two or more distinctive roles. I ask the child if they’d like to be Elephant or Piggy and we each take turns reading the parts. This encourages the child to read aloud without it being too overwhelming, they get choice about the part they read, and they have to follow along as the other person reads. I read VERY dramatically so I’m extra silly, partially because it’s fun and partially because it encourages the other person to read with confidence (they can’t possibly look more silly than Ms. Danielle!) And if they get a word wrong, I can encourage them during my ‘correction’ by adding the ‘acting’ to the word as I repeat it for them.
There are some excellent books with multiple short scripts for helping kids learn to read fluently and to make it more fun. You can usually find these by searching for “readers theater.”
- Two that I’ve found:
  - 12 Fabulously Funny Fairy Tale Plays: Grades 2-4
  - U.S. History Readers’ Theater: Grades 5-8… I found these scripts to be extremely short and less fun than the fairy tales which is too bad.

Writing

Allowing the use of typing vs. handwritten work, or vice versa, depending on what is easier for the child.
Allowing the use of talk to type for writing stories and papers, or alternatively, letting the child dictate to an adult as the adult writes it down. I find this helpful for those of us whose brains work faster than we can type or write, or kids who get frustrated by writing things down and spelling. You can have the child go back to edit the writing and rewrite it after, but at least the word get on the paper quickly so they don’t lose their train of thought while they’re trying to figure out how to spell a word.
Allowing the use of AI to help develop outlines for papers, or to help develop headings for the paper once it has been written.
- This is an accommodation that I use as an adult because I LOVE writing, but often struggle to organize my work.
Break larger assignments into smaller, manageable parts with separate due dates.
Reduced paper length.
Giving the child as much choice as possible about the topic for the writing.
- Example 1: Allowing a child who loves comics to write a nonfiction paper using comic-style writing… keep in mind that this is MORE WORK than simply writing a paper so you want to ensure the child is given the choice. They may decide they’d prefer to write something that is in paper format.
- Example 2: Allowing the child to pick the book for their book report, or the topic for their persuasive paper. If you don’t need limits on it, let them go ham. If they want to argue why they shouldn’t need to write this persuasive paper, let them write it as long as it is done well.
Jemicy, a school for kids with Dyslexia in Maryland, has software available that helps kids break down written work (non fiction) in a helpful manner. It looks really helpful, even for kids who just need help with organizing their writing or breaking down the paper into smaller sections. It works alongside their Paragraphology program.

Accommodations for Other Issues

Modified assignments for kids who can’t keep up with homework:

Reduce the number of homework questions or problems while still covering the key concepts.
Break larger assignments into smaller, manageable parts with separate due dates.
Ditch homework for anything they have shown competency in.
Ensure that kids are placed appropriately for their skill level.

Homework Support:

Offer access to a homework helper or tutor for extra assistance outside of class hours.
Arrange for peer support or study groups that can help the child understand and complete homework.

Use of Technology:

Utilize software or apps that can aid in organizing tasks, such as digital planners or timers.
Allow for homework to be completed using a computer, especially for students who may struggle with handwriting.

Differentiated Instruction:

Tailor homework to match the child’s learning style (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.).
Provide alternatives to traditional homework, such as oral presentations, videos, or creative projects.

Clear Instructions:

Ensure homework instructions are clear and concise. Consider providing written instructions to avoid confusion.
Offer checklists or step-by-step guides for complex assignments.

Regular Feedback:

Provide timely and constructive feedback on homework submissions to help the child improve and feel motivated.
Schedule regular check-ins to discuss homework challenges and successes.

Environment Modifications:

Recommend a quiet, well-lit study area free from distractions.
Suggest structured homework times to help with routine building.

Breaks and Time Management:

Encourage scheduled breaks to prevent burnout. The Pomodoro Technique (work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break) can be effective.
Teach and reinforce time management skills, including how to prioritize tasks.

Parent-Teacher Communication:

Maintain open lines of communication between teachers and parents to monitor homework load and adjust as necessary.
Provide parents with strategies to support their child’s homework completion at home.

Tools:

I find that using special tools can help give positive feedback when I’m struggling. For example, using multi color highlighters or pens to write or highlight notes. It’s important to keep the sensory piece in mind: if the pen feels icky or writes icky, they’ll be less likely to use it and be potentially frustrated by the tool. I find that neurodivergent kids are prone to breaking pencils a lot so skipping the pencils when possible is a good idea.

Multi-Color Pens
Special Paper
Highlighters
Mechanical Pencil vs. Manual
High quality pencils (the ones that break more frequently are a huge struggle)
Toss pencils once they lose their eraser or replace the eraser. Keeping track of a separate eraser is an extra job.
Ensuring computers or other resources auto save and work properly.

Transitions:

For children who struggle with transitions or have difficulty being in the hallway (due to their own behavior or bullying), allowing them to transition to their next class a few minutes before the bell rings may be helpful.
Noise cancelling headphones may be helpful for transition periods in the hallway when it’s generally loud.
Some kids may benefit from an adult or another child to walk with them during transition periods.

Realistic Expectations

I think we need to keep in mind that there are realistic expectations and unrealistic expectations for neurodivergent children. Certain environments are not conducive to us learning and I think it’s worthwhile to engage an educational advocate when the environment doesn’t work for the child.

For example:

Gyms, hallways during transitions, crowded school busses (some of our local school routes have 3 kids per seat), and cafeterias can be quite loud and overwhelming. This is REALLY hard on neurodivergent children. If the child is struggling with this, it’s really important that related accommodations be put in place.
Classrooms with lots of noise- inside or outside them- should be avoided.
I’ve heard of “open concept” schools with cubicle style dividers between classes. I’m going to be frank here- this is not an appropriate setting for a neurodivergent child and they should NOT be in this environment.

Accommodation Requests: Wording

Fast Pass necklace, on hand to use when needed that allows the child to walk out of class without asking permission.

I request that [Student’s Name] be provided with a “FastPass” that allows them to take breaks as needed throughout the day. They should have this pass readily available, either on their person or stored in their desk, to ensure easy access.

Noise-Reduction Tools

It would be beneficial for [Student’s Name] to have the option to use noise-canceling headphones or earplugs during activities that require focus or in situations where the classroom environment may become overwhelming.

Request for Psychological Evaluation:

I kindly request a comprehensive psychological evaluation to better understand [Student’s Name]’s strengths, challenges, and any underlying factors impacting her academic and social-emotional development.

Access to a Quiet Workspace:

I recommend providing [Student’s Name] with access to a designated quiet area where she can work independently during times when the teacher is not lecturing. This accommodation will help minimize distractions and improve her focus.

Help-Indicator System:

Please consider implementing a token or visual signal system for [Student’s Name] to use during class. This system would allow her to discreetly indicate whether she needs assistance or is working independently.

What to do if the IEP Team Refuses?

If the school refuses, request that they document their refusal and the parent’s request.

According to this website, you need to request that they document the refusal in a PWN (prior written notice). The site has some great information about your child’s rights.

When it boils down to it, get creative. Think about what the child NEEDS. Ask the CHILD what they need! Brainstorm ideas. IEP accommodations aren’t one size fits all.