Accommodation Breakdown: It Isn't the Student's Responsibility to Request Accommodations

Schools—Not Students—are Required to Implement IEPs and 504 Plans

Students who have IEPs or 504 Plans often struggle with understanding their rights and advocating for themselves. Yet, students are repeatedly blamed for not accessing and/or refusing to access their accommodations—and some educators have been known to use “human error” as an excuse every time a student’s accommodation isn’t implemented.

Example: Student “Refuses” Accommodations

A high school student who has ADHD and severe social anxiety had accommodations related to explicit instructions. She needed help with understanding the specific steps required of her. However, she avoided asking questions in class due to her struggles with anxiety.

During an IEP meeting, school staff said it couldn’t force her to use her accommodations. They didn’t consider that her refusal to access her accommodation was a barrier to learning. In addition, they didn’t collect data that might help adjust the accommodation to meet her unique needs—and/or support the need for an advocacy goal.

The student knew she needed to ask questions. She didn’t want to ask because sticking out in front of her peers was worse than turning in incorrect work. As a high schooler, she had graduation in the future. She had to be able to ask questions in front of others.

A different option would have been to provide the student an advocacy goal, focused on helping the student find alternative ways to obtain the information she needed, rather than avoiding obtaining it altogether. Advocacy is a critical life skill—whether in school, at work, or in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles or elsewhere—and the student needed her failure to advocate addressed.