How to Make Your Classroom More Accessible: 10 Helpful Tips for Teachers

Supporting accommodation needs with or without an IEP.

Do you have disabled students in your classes that you’re not sure how to accommodate? Or perhaps you have a student you suspect of having a disability, but the parents are reluctant to get an IEP. Here’s ten tips on how to make your classroom as accessible as possible, with the budgetary and time restrictions often placed on teachers.

1. Arrange the seats in a U-shape.

As a lipreader, I missed out on so many classroom interactions because my teachers always faced the board, and my fellow students were chatting behind me. Arranging the seats in a U-shape allows for everyone to see everyone else, opening up the dialogue. Be sure that students can see you from every angle, and allow people to exchange seats with someone else if a different vantage point would be more comfortable.

2. No popcorn-style.

Does anyone actually like being called on randomly? Popcorn-style makes it incredibly hard to track where we are in the reading, not to mention anxiety-inducing if you don’t know when you’re going to get called on. Encourage students to raise their hands, or have a sign-up sheet for certain passages instead. Students with dyslexia or stutters may not want to read out loud in front of everyone, so ask if they’d feel more comfortable reading to you in private, or allow them to opt out.

3. Have closed captions on all movies and videos.

If you’re not showing captions on all media in the classroom, you should not be requiring graded question and answer worksheets on said media. If the media does not have closed captions, see if there’s a transcript to print out, ask for captions to be added by the tech department if available, or don’t show the media. Closed captions allow for Deaf and hard of hearing students to follow along with the audio, and those with ADHD or auditory processing disorder to keep up with the plot. If there are blind or visually impaired students who require audio description, arrange for them to watch it on a personal device with headphones.

4. Take eye contact off the rubric.

If you’re going to require presentations, the rubric must not penalize neurodivergent traits such as lack of eye contact, word repetition, or body language. The only thing that should be judged is whether or not the student conveyed all the information they needed to in a timely manner. Alternative criteria to add to the rubric are as follows: did the student cite their sources? Did the student make the topic compelling to the listeners? Were the explanations easy to understand? Get to the essence of what you want the students to achieve with these presentations without counting their disability against them.

5. Offer alternatives for presentations.

Continuing from changing the presentation rubric, you can also change the mode of presentations to make it a more enjoyable experience. Would the students feel more comfortable giving the presentation one-on-one in the hallway? With a blindfold on so they don’t have to see the other students? Perhaps a narrated Powerpoint as an alternative to verbal presentations? There is a myriad of ways to deduce a student’s presentation skills that will not mentally scar them!

6. Make your classroom a serene environment.

We all know teachers are underpaid, but if you are given a budget for your classroom or have money to spare, it’s worth making decor choices that will transform your space into a zen environment. Tone down the colors on the cork board, pick up blankets and pillows at the thrift store (or encourage students to bring their own), add some low lighting, and plug in a diffuser. While the vibes of a bougie therapist’s office might be out of the question, thrifted and creative solutions will create a much calmer learning environment.

7. Watch your language.

Avoid attaching negative words such as “suffering” to disabilities. Censor ableist slurs such as the r-word, and promptly call out students who use them in the classroom. Name the disability, don’t use euphemisms like “special needs,” “differently abled,” or “mentally challenged.” Using neutral language to talk about disabled people and stories breaks down the stigma surrounding disability before it spreads out of the classroom.

8. Allow for breaks.

No one is meant to sit in a classroom for 8+ hours a day, learning and socializing with no breaks. Recess and lunch may be even more overstimulating, so break up the types of interactions in your classroom to offer refuge. Limit the amount of time that people are forced to sit still and listen to you speak, as well as how long they talk with each other. Offer pockets of quiet time whenever you can for students to study on their own or work with others. If school policy allows it, send students to the library, the hallway, or classrooms that aren’t being used for different stimuli.

9. Do not force people to work in groups.

I know group projects are meant to teach you about collaboration, but they honestly turned me off from working with people ever, especially as a neurodivergent person. While you can foster connections in the classroom, don’t force students to work in groups. Allow them to work individually when needed, especially when their grade and mental health depends on it.

10. Encourage the use of gadgets in the classroom.

Gadgets such as fidget toys, AAC, and phones/iPads serve as healthy distractions that actually allow students to learn more efficiently. These tools enable communication and emotional regulation, both of which are necessary in the classroom, especially when a student is over or under-stimulated. As long as they aren’t too noisy, allow your students to use them as needed and I guarantee they will retain the information you teach them better.

If you wait until a known disabled student enters your classroom to make it accessible, it’s already too late. Plenty of undiagnosed students go through the school system struggling to get by due to inaccessibility and being othered. While you may not be able to physically widen the doors of your classroom, you can figuratively make it more welcoming to all students with disability-inclusive practices year-round. Comment down below which tips you’ve started implementing, or if there are any that I missed.

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