Middle school student with dyslexia, age 12
In middle school, a student sees thirteen different teachers pass through in a single week. Each one opens the school planner at some point. Each one can scan it. What used to take one staff meeting per term now fits into a sticker inside the cover: the profile gets read, the accommodations get applied, without the student having to ask in front of others.
This situation concerns dyslexic middle schoolers in mainstream school, with or without a PAP (personalized support plan, in France), especially during the transition from sixth to seventh grade (6e to 5e, in France) when the teaching staff changes.
The moment as it happened
History class, sixth grade. The teacher asks students to copy out neatly the paragraph dictated the day before. Adam opens his notebook, flips through it, looks for the page. Around him, pencils glide across the paper. He stares. He finishes three lines in ten minutes, spelling that has nothing to do with how well he speaks. The teacher walks through the rows, stops. He wonders if the student is dawdling, doesn't understand the instruction, or is refusing.
The school planner is on the desk, open to today's page. On the inside cover, a discreet sticker. The teacher scans it. Three paragraphs later he knows Adam has a PAP (personalized support plan, in France) currently being approved, that he uses Open Dyslexic font at size 14, that he's given ten extra minutes on written work, and that it's better to assess his knowledge of the lesson orally.
The next class, Adam has a pre-printed sheet to fill in, not copy. The teacher notes his grasp of the content separately.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR code for this situation
The inside cover of the school planner is the anchor point: every teacher opens it every class to check what's been written down. A discreet sticker, 3 x 3 cm square, laminated.
Add a second one in the personal planner (middle schoolers often have a separate one) if the student uses it more than the official school planner. Avoid the pencil case in middle school: it passes from bag to bag and stickers end up torn off by classmates who think "that's an ad."
For tests, the sticker can be printed directly on the test paper by the head teacher or the referring AESH (a teaching assistant for students with disabilities, in France). At the end of each term, when a new substitute teacher arrives, they scan it during the first class and don't need to be briefed on every student's file.
Avoid cards in a wallet in middle school: they get lost before Christmas, and a teenager won't willingly pull one out in front of classmates.
Pre-written text templates
The three templates below are designed for a middle schooler who writes their own profile, with parental agreement. At 12 or 13 years old, the person can take ownership of the "I" voice and state what they know about themselves.
For the "Introduction" section
"My name is Adam, I'm 12 years old, I'm in sixth grade. I'm dyslexic and a bit dysorthographic (I struggle with spelling). What I read, I understand well, but I read slowly and my spelling stays shaky even when I know the rule. What I say out loud is often more accurate than what I write."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: print my course materials in Open Dyslexic font at size 14, quiz me orally in addition to written work, give me extra time on long tests, not take off points for spelling when you're assessing my understanding, let me use a spell checker for written work."
For the "What to avoid" section
"To avoid: making me read aloud in front of the class without warning, asking me to copy out three pages at once, penalizing me for spelling in a class that isn't French, saying 'make an effort' when I'm already doing much more than average."
Conditions related to this situation
This situation is based on dyslexia and the dysorthographia (spelling difficulty) that's frequently associated with it. It also extends to dyslexia without dysorthographia, with the same QR code placements but a different emphasis in the text (keeping the focus on reading speed rather than spelling).
Similar situations
Three other situations where the QR code lets every adult at the school read the same accommodations, with no staff meeting needed.
The teacher understands why handwriting slows down without mistaking fatigue for lack of effort, and adapts written work from the first week…
View the case Student with ADHD, age 9 Reader: TeacherThe teacher knows from the start of the year that wandering attention isn't a lack of interest, and favors short instructions rather than re…
View the case Student with sensory sensitivity, age 8 Reader: TeacherThe teacher identifies the triggers (playground noise, fluorescent lights) and allows a calm corner without the student having to ask out lo…
View the case