Dr. Mercer's Baker's Dozen Rules on Modifications
1. Access is not optional and the time you provide the material is not optional either. Students are entitled to equal access AT THE SAME TIME THAT IT IS PROVIDED TO THEIR SIGHTED PEERS. If you don't know about ADA -- find out. It's your best, final motivator.
2. Ask your students. Never assume that a modification is "right" without asking the opinion of your student. When in doubt, ask your student. If you don't know what modifications are necessary, make some samples, let the student look at those samples, and ask which one is best for their individual needs.
3. Teach your students about modifications. They should know the techniques that are available to modify their materials and how those techniques have been used in the past.
4. Teach your students to advocate for their own adaptations as soon as possible. Allow your students to be involved in teacher conferences wherever possible so they can hear you act as role model as you work out modification strategic with their teachers. When they are in secondary school, role play advocacy sessions with them and let them begin taking charge of their own needs.
5. Keep EVERYTHING as simple as possible. Cute is nice, but it has to be functional first.
6. Get as much lead time to prepare materials as possible. Before school starts in the fall, have a communication system in place that will give classroom teachers as much incentive as possible to get their materials to you well in advance. There will never be enough time to modify everything!
7. Get help. You can never do all the modifying that needs to be done all by yourself. In fact, even though it's sort of fun to do these projects, the truth is that a TVI's time almost always more wisely spent in laying out the project with an assistant who will actually get it finished. If you don't have your own paraprofessional (and you would be an extremely lucky and unusual TVI if you did) you might try using parent volunteers, bus aids, honor societies, and even Lions/Lioness Clubs.
10. Maximize your effort. Ask yourself: Is this material going to be used again? If so, then spend a little extra time and make it sturdy and beautiful. If it's not, be sure the student has it, but don't spend a lot of time on the frills.
11. Refrain from the impulse to make tactual modifications very detailed. It will only make the material more confusing. Instead, use smooth, consistent, easily identified tactual adaptations.
12. Think about where the material is to be used. How many persons will be watching this student use this material? If that number is high, how can we make it more interesting, alluring, and COOL to the student's sighted peers. How can the material actually draw other kids to our student?
13. Never over modify.