How do you accommodate students with OCD?

If a student's anxiety or OCD makes transitions from class to class extremely difficult, consider allowing the student to spend longer block of time in the same classroom (if possible) until symptoms improve. Provide the student extra time to make in-class transitions from one activity to another.


What accommodations can you get for OCD?

Examples of Family Accommodation
  • Providing reassurance regarding the OCD concern.
  • Waiting for patient to complete compulsions.
  • Directly participating in compulsions (e.g., doing repeated washing or checking at patient's request)
  • Providing items needed to do compulsions (e.g., purchasing cleaning products for patient)


Can you get school accommodations for OCD?

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act allow children with OCD to receive intervention services and accommodations in school settings.


How can school counselors help students with OCD?

A regular schedule of individual sessions with the student is a possibility, for example. However, the school counselor could also facilitate an extra-curricular group activity that is tailored to the student's interests and strengths while avoiding the known OCD triggers.

Should you accommodate someone with OCD?

You can be supportive of the person you love who is suffering, but stop supporting the disorder. When the family stops accommodating OCD behavior, the person who suffers from OCD can become more motivated to seek treatment. None of this will actually make OCD stop.


Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)



How do you calm down someone with OCD?

Living With Someone Who Has OCD. Guidelines for Family Members
  1. (From Learning to Live with OCD) ...
  2. Recognize Signals. ...
  3. Modify Expectations. ...
  4. Remember That People Get Better at Different Rates. ...
  5. Avoid Day-To-Day Comparisons. ...
  6. Recognize “Small” Improvements. ...
  7. Create a Supportive Environment.


What are some coping strategies for OCD?

OCD Coping Skills to Try
  • Keep A Journal. One of the most common tips to overcome OCD is journaling, and for good reason. ...
  • Refocus Your Attention. ...
  • Learn How to Cope With Stress. ...
  • Be Patient With Yourself. ...
  • Gradually Expose Yourself to Your Fears with A Fear Ladder.


What can teachers do to help students with OCD?

Plan an escape route: Try working out a communication system so that if the student feels OCD symptoms coming on, she can signal to you and leave the classroom, or go to a protected place in the classroom, without interrupting the class.


What is the most effective intervention for OCD?

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is the gold-standard treatment for OCD.

What does OCD look like in the classroom?

Getting stuck on tasks and having a hard time moving to the next activity. Needing to do perfect work, like erasing a word over and over or going very slowly on a test. Seeming distracted. Tapping or touching things symmetrically or in a certain order.

Does OCD qualify for an IEP?

Your students' OCD or anxiety symptoms may qualify as a disability if they are severe enough that they impact their ability to learn. In these cases, the student who is in public school is eligible for a 504 Plan or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).


Is OCD considered a learning disability?

We have now discovered that OCD in young people actually significantly alters both memory and learning ability. OCD, which affects 2-3% of people at some point during their life, involves ritualistic behaviour such as constantly checking on things, placing objects in a certain order or washing hands repeatedly.

Is OCD a specific learning disability?

The researchers found that adolescent patients with OCD had impairments in all learning and memory tasks. The study also demonstrated for the first time impaired goal-directed control and lack of cognitive plasticity early in the development of OCD.

How do you accommodate students with anxiety in the classroom?

Accommodations to help the anxious student
  1. Extra time and warnings before transitions.
  2. Preferential seating (near the door, near the front of the room, near the teacher's desk)
  3. Clearly stated and written expectations (behavioral and academic)
  4. Frequent check-ins for understanding.


What are 504 accommodations for anxiety?

If a student qualifies for a 504 plan for anxiety, the school then puts in place supports and accommodations to help. This might mean frequent breaks, a quiet test room, or something else — whatever helps the student fully participate at school.

What are reasonable accommodations for anxiety?

Reasonable accommodations for anxiety can include remote work, a support animal, a rest area, a modified break schedule, a flexible schedule, and shifts in schedule. The type of anxiety you have, your limitations, and your employer's resources will determine what accommodation is appropriate.

What are 3 ways to treat OCD?

Treatments for OCD
  1. Exposure Therapy. The psychotherapy of choice for the treatment of OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP), which is a form of CBT. ...
  2. Imaginal Exposure. ...
  3. Habit Reversal Training. ...
  4. Cognitive Therapy.


How do you deal with OCD in children?

Managing your child's OCD at home
  1. Set limits. ...
  2. Be firm. ...
  3. Make sure that your child's other caregivers take the same approach. ...
  4. Do not accommodate or enable OCD. ...
  5. Praise and reward your child's efforts for managing their OCD. ...
  6. Be aware of your own OCD behaviours.


What is the root cause of OCD?

Experts aren't sure of the exact cause of OCD. Genetics, brain abnormalities, and the environment are thought to play a role. It often starts in the teens or early adulthood. But, it can also start in childhood.

What should you not tell your child with OCD?

#2) Don't tell your child with OCD to just “stop it!” OCD is not a behavioral disorder it's a brain disorder. Being such, your child cannot help it when their brain is telling them to tap five times or to wash their hands until it feels “just right.”


What are five things that a person with OCD might do?

Common types of compulsive behaviour in people with OCD include:
  • cleaning and hand washing.
  • checking – such as checking doors are locked or that the gas is off.
  • counting.
  • ordering and arranging.
  • hoarding.
  • asking for reassurance.
  • repeating words in their head.
  • thinking "neutralising" thoughts to counter the obsessive thoughts.


How do you break an OCD cycle?

The best way to put an end to the cycle is to practice exposure and response prevention. This means you “accept” the thoughts, live with the uncertainty, and refrain from engaging in compulsions.

How do you respond to OCD triggers?

How to manage OCD triggers
  1. Begin a mindfulness practice. Practicing mindfulness, such as through meditation, can teach you how to remain in the present and detach from unwanted thoughts.
  2. Pace yourself to avoid stress. ...
  3. Take care of yourself. ...
  4. Don't hesitate to ask for help from loved ones. ...
  5. Try therapy.


How do you respect someone with OCD?

Suggestions for supporting the person with OCD include:
  1. Offer reassurance that OCD is a recognised and treatable illness.
  2. Assist them to be fully informed about effective treatments, including medication and psychological therapy. ...
  3. Encourage them to seek treatment from a professional who is experienced in treating OCD.


Does OCD count as mental illness?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts or sensations (obsessions) or the urge to do something over and over again (compulsions). Some people can have both obsessions and compulsions.