Find a Way or Make a Way: Checklists of Helpful Accommodations for Students

Consistency across home and school environments is an important factor that often gets over looked when working with students, especially those students with disabilities. This guide is a resource that can help bridge the gap between home and school and provide that consistency that is essential for a student to achieve emotional, behavioral, and academic success. This is a tool that can provide both parents and teachers with daily feedback and strategies to target one or more areas of significant weakness that interfere with a student's ability to be academically successful. This guide is written in lay-person terminology so it is easy to comprehend, and it is a resource that appears to be both time and cost effective for both parents and educational professionals to use. --Heather M. Bausano, PsyD
Certified School Psychologist

Until I read Find a Way or Make a Way, I didn't realize how many students have handwriting issues, homework problems, and sleep problems. The reproducible surveys in the guide are a wonderful idea for teachers. The guide also provides terrific accommodation ideas for students who have disabilities that are often not covered in depth in graduate education programs. I love the convenient checklists of accommodation ideas for each disability, and will keep the guide on my shelf to help me think about what accommodations my students may need. --Tara Lathan, M.Ed.

Leslie E. Packer, Ph.D. is a New York State licensed psychologist currently in independent practice. For more than 25 years, she has worked with adults and children with neurological challenges, the last ten of which have been spent specializing in children and adolescents with neurobehavioral disorders. In addition to her psychological services, she also serves as a consulting psychologist to school districts to provide staff developments and to assist school teams in developing appropriate educational programs, behavior plans, and accommodations for students with neurological disorders.
Dr. Packer served on the Professional Advisory Board of the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island and on the Board of Directors of the Tourette Syndrome Association of Long Island for six years, two of which were as President of the Board of Directors. She also served on the national Tourette Syndrome Association s Education and Advocacy committees. As a parent and advocate, she was responsible for the creation of the very first public school program for gifted students with TS+.
Dr. Packer is the author of the Tourette Syndrome "Plus" and Schoolbehavior.com web sites for parents, educators, and clinicians. In addition to her electronic publications, she has also published in professional peer-reviewed publications such as Behavior Modification and Neurologic Clinics, and has lectured nationally and internationally on these disorders.