Podcast: How to Talk About (and Normalize) Learning Accommodations

It’s a tricky (but very common) classroom dilemma: How do you talk about—and normalize—learning accommodations in class without singling anyone out in front of peers? 

Unfortunately, many teachers aren’t trained to have these sensitive conversations, so they’re figuring it out on the fly.

But we’re here to help! In this episode of School of Practice, we chat with Daniel Vollrath, a veteran high school special education teacher, and elementary teacher Jeremiah Kim. They’ll share excellent, teacher-tested tips for talking with individual students (and your whole class) about learning supports in age-appropriate ways, establishing classroom norms that make space for different learning needs, and managing privacy without making disability a taboo topic.

Related resources:

• It’s Important to Talk About Learning Accommodations With Your Students—Here’s How to Do It From metaphors for elementary school kids to mindset shifts and graphic organizers for teens, here are teacher-tested tips for normalizing learning accommodations across grade levels.

• A One-Page Chart to Support Every Student Every Day Teachers can use this spreadsheet—a free template is included—to track accommodations and strengths to keep students on track and motivated.

• Equity vs. Equality. What Does Fair Look Like in the Classroom 2024? Fourth-grade teacher Ryan Brazil’s lesson about fairness helps her students understand why “fair doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing.”

• Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices So All Students Feel Accepted & Supported (2025) A guide for teachers who support neurodivergent students.

• Empowering Students with Hidden Disabilities (2016) Practical teaching tips to help teachers support students who struggle with executive functioning, autism, ADHD, and other “invisible” disabilities.

• Stigma Consciousness Among Adolescents With Learning Disabilities: Considering Individual Experiences of Being Stereotyped (2018) Researchers used a questionnaire to measure how adolescents with learning disabilities feel others view them through the lens of negative stereotypes. The results show substantial variability in “stigma consciousness” among students, which may help to explain why some students with learning disabilities have worse academic or emotional outcomes than others.

• Stigma and Stratification Limiting the Math Course Progression of Adolescents Labeled with a Learning Disability (2016) Researchers surveyed adults with both hidden and visible disabilities and found that stronger disability identification was associated with greater use of collective coping strategies that frame disability positively and emphasize group advocacy. 

• Redefining Disability, Re-imagining the Self: Disability Identification Predicts Self-esteem and Strategic Responses to Stigma (2012) The study investigates people who identify as part of the “disability community” and found that embracing disability as part of one’s social identity can buffer against stigma and maintain psychological well-being.
• The Purpose-Driven Classroom (2024) Dan Vollrath’s book shares behavior strategies to help students build seven key productive behaviors, such as persistence, organization, and self-control.