The Impact of Overaccommodation in K–12 on Independence in College and Beyond (with Jill Fahy)
“Accommodation” is a loaded word. On one hand, we want to provide reasonable accommodations in K-12 so kids can access their education.
But determining what is “reasonable” accommodation or modification can be messy.
Both parents and educators can unintentionally “overaccommodate” in the moment without realizing it, which over time can impede a child’s ability to work through daily challenges and solve problems on their own.
This can be in the context of adding too many “cookie-cutter” accommodations on a 504 Plan or IEP, or it can be unofficial accommodations in the way we interact with kids.
My colleagues who work on college campuses are seeing the impact of this “overhelping” in K-12.
And it’s not just kids with neurodevelopmental disorders. It’s the neurotypical kids too.
That’s why I invited my colleague, Jill Fahy, back to De Facto Leaders to talk about the state of college readiness, the upstream impacts of what’s happening in K-12 on success both during and after college.
Jill Fahy, Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders & Sciences, serves as the Director of STEP, a transitional education program for EIU students with autism. STEP programming supports the development of executive functions, social communication, self-appraisal, and self-regulatory skills to facilitate students' management of their academic and university living demands. Ms. Fahy specializes in the assessment of executive dysfunction, particularly as it is associated with concomitant disorders of language, cognition, or social/pragmatics. She is a widely-known lecturer in the area of executive functions, speaking nationally and internationally on aspects of evaluation and treatment of executive dysfunction, and the role of language in executive functions. Ms. Fahy is co-author of The Source for Development of Executive Functions, 2nd edition, and various articles on self-talk and executive functions. Ms. Fahy teaches graduate courses in Aphasia/Right Hemisphere Dysfunction, Cognitive-Communication and Executive Function Disorders, and Medical Grand Rounds. She previously taught undergraduate courses in Neurology and Advanced Clinical Practicum and Diagnostics. Prior to teaching at EIU, Ms. Fahy worked for several years as a medical SLP providing services for patients with acquired neurological deficits resulting from stroke and TBI, including those in acute care, inpatient and day rehabilitation, and home health.
In this conversation, we discuss:
✅ The difference between accommodations and modifications, what “overhelping” looks like, and why it impedes development of important metacognitive skills.
✅ The state of college student mental health, and how it relates to the opportunities students have to practice self-regulation and experiencing failure.
✅ Skills many college students are lacking, including managing due dates, extended writing assignments, study skills, working through conflict, and managing their daily life.
✅ How and when to start fading supports, and how to recognize if you’ve been “overaccommodating” for a student
You can connect with Jill at jkfahy@eiu.edu or on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-fahy-250478b/
Learn more about the Students with Autism Transitional Education Program (STEP) Program at Eastern Illinois University here: https://www.eiu.edu/step/
Be sure to listen to my first interview with Jill on De Facto Leaders here: Executive Functioning for College Students: Beyond Checklists and Planners (with Jill Fahy)
Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-122-executive-functioning-for-college-students-beyond-checklists-and-planners-with-jill-fahy/
You can also listen to my commentary on her first interview in this episode: Balancing Language, Academic Content Areas, and Executive Functioning (featuring Jill Fahy)
Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-232-balancing-language-academic-content-areas-and-executive-functioning-featuring-jill-fahy/
In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a scalable framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy
I also mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership
But determining what is “reasonable” accommodation or modification can be messy.
Both parents and educators can unintentionally “overaccommodate” in the moment without realizing it, which over time can impede a child’s ability to work through daily challenges and solve problems on their own.
This can be in the context of adding too many “cookie-cutter” accommodations on a 504 Plan or IEP, or it can be unofficial accommodations in the way we interact with kids.
My colleagues who work on college campuses are seeing the impact of this “overhelping” in K-12.
And it’s not just kids with neurodevelopmental disorders. It’s the neurotypical kids too.
That’s why I invited my colleague, Jill Fahy, back to De Facto Leaders to talk about the state of college readiness, the upstream impacts of what’s happening in K-12 on success both during and after college.
Jill Fahy, Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders & Sciences, serves as the Director of STEP, a transitional education program for EIU students with autism. STEP programming supports the development of executive functions, social communication, self-appraisal, and self-regulatory skills to facilitate students' management of their academic and university living demands. Ms. Fahy specializes in the assessment of executive dysfunction, particularly as it is associated with concomitant disorders of language, cognition, or social/pragmatics. She is a widely-known lecturer in the area of executive functions, speaking nationally and internationally on aspects of evaluation and treatment of executive dysfunction, and the role of language in executive functions. Ms. Fahy is co-author of The Source for Development of Executive Functions, 2nd edition, and various articles on self-talk and executive functions. Ms. Fahy teaches graduate courses in Aphasia/Right Hemisphere Dysfunction, Cognitive-Communication and Executive Function Disorders, and Medical Grand Rounds. She previously taught undergraduate courses in Neurology and Advanced Clinical Practicum and Diagnostics. Prior to teaching at EIU, Ms. Fahy worked for several years as a medical SLP providing services for patients with acquired neurological deficits resulting from stroke and TBI, including those in acute care, inpatient and day rehabilitation, and home health.
In this conversation, we discuss:
✅ The difference between accommodations and modifications, what “overhelping” looks like, and why it impedes development of important metacognitive skills.
✅ The state of college student mental health, and how it relates to the opportunities students have to practice self-regulation and experiencing failure.
✅ Skills many college students are lacking, including managing due dates, extended writing assignments, study skills, working through conflict, and managing their daily life.
✅ How and when to start fading supports, and how to recognize if you’ve been “overaccommodating” for a student
You can connect with Jill at jkfahy@eiu.edu or on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-fahy-250478b/
Learn more about the Students with Autism Transitional Education Program (STEP) Program at Eastern Illinois University here: https://www.eiu.edu/step/
Be sure to listen to my first interview with Jill on De Facto Leaders here: Executive Functioning for College Students: Beyond Checklists and Planners (with Jill Fahy)
Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-122-executive-functioning-for-college-students-beyond-checklists-and-planners-with-jill-fahy/
You can also listen to my commentary on her first interview in this episode: Balancing Language, Academic Content Areas, and Executive Functioning (featuring Jill Fahy)
Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-232-balancing-language-academic-content-areas-and-executive-functioning-featuring-jill-fahy/
In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a scalable framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy
I also mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership
