DYS Students in Middle School: how to work in a multidisciplinary team around the student
📑 Table of Contents
- Why teamwork is essential for DYS students
- The actors in the multidisciplinary team: roles and responsibilities
- The DYS referent: a key role to structure
- The profile document: central tool for coordination
- Organizing an effective team meeting around a DYS student
- The class council as a tool for monitoring accommodations
- Partnership with families: building a therapeutic alliance
- Including the student in the process: a condition for success
- Obstacles to teamwork and how to overcome them
- External partners to the school team
- Case studies: multidisciplinary teams that transform trajectories
A middle school has an average of about ten teachers per class. For a DYS student, each of these teachers is a different interlocutor, with their own requirements, their own course materials, their own way of assessing. If these ten teachers do not communicate with each other, the DYS student lives in ten different educational contexts — benefiting from accommodations in some classes, suffering in others, without ever experiencing a coherent team that truly understands them.
It is precisely this compartmentalization — inherent to the organization of middle school, where each teacher is a sovereign master in their discipline — that makes multidisciplinary work around DYS students both essential and difficult. Essential because the coherence of accommodations across all subjects is the condition for their effectiveness. Difficult because it requires organized coordination, time for consultation, and a sharing of representations that does not come naturally in teams that see each other infrequently.
This guide offers a comprehensive and practical approach to multidisciplinary work around DYS students in middle school: who does what, how to organize, which tools to use, how to involve families and the students themselves, and how to overcome the most common obstacles.
1. Why teamwork is essential for DYS students
Research in inclusive education is clear on this point: the coherence of accommodations across all subjects is one of the most determining factors for the effectiveness of support for DYS students. A student who benefits from adaptations in two subjects out of ten continues to face the obstacles of their disorder in the other eight — and this inconsistency is often more psychologically exhausting than the complete absence of accommodations, because it signals to the student that some adults understand them and others do not.
Multidisciplinary work creates several cumulative benefits that are only accessible to the team, not to the isolated teacher. It allows for earlier detection of disorders — a student whose difficulties are reported by several teachers in several subjects is identified more quickly than if each teacher thinks the problem is specific to their discipline. It ensures coherence of adaptations that prevents the student from having to readjust to each class. It produces a complete picture of the student — their strengths in one subject, their difficulties in another — which allows for truly personalized support. And it creates a collective responsibility that prevents the support from resting on the shoulders of a single willing teacher.
📊 What research says. International studies on inclusive education show that students with special educational needs who benefit from coordinated support among all their teachers progress significantly more than those who benefit from isolated adjustments in one or two subjects. Coordination is not an "extra" — it is the basic condition for the effectiveness of any differentiated educational support.
2. The actors of the multidisciplinary team: roles and responsibilities
The multidisciplinary team around a DYS student in middle school brings together several types of actors, whose roles are complementary and must be clearly defined to avoid overlaps, omissions, and misunderstandings.
- Centralizes information about the student within the team
- Leads consultation meetings about the student
- Acts as a link between teachers, families, and administration
- Ensures that the adjustment plan is known and applied
- Presents the student at the class council and monitors their progress
- Apply adjustments in their subject
- Observe and report on developments (positive and negative)
- Participate in consultation meetings
- Adapt their materials and assessments
- Maintain confidentiality regarding other students
- Follows the student during non-class times (recess, school life)
- Detects behavioral and social difficulties related to the disorder
- Manages crisis situations with an informed approach
- Links academic and emotional aspects
- May serve as the DYS referent in certain institutions
- Validates and formalizes adjustment plans
- Creates organizational conditions for teamwork
- Allocates consultation time in the schedule
- Promotes an inclusive culture within the institution
- Arbitrates disagreements within the team
- Provides in-depth knowledge of the child outside the school context
- Conveys observations and effective strategies at home
- Participates in the development and revision of the adjustment plan
- Supports the student in their relationship with adjustments
- Alerts the team to signs of distress or disengagement
- Identifies what really helps them vs what doesn't work
- Participates in defining accommodations from the 5th grade
- Develops their own understanding of their disorder
- Learn to ask for help independently
- Builds their identity beyond the disorder
3. The DYS referent: a key role to structure
In institutions that effectively support their DYS students, there is consistently a central actor: a DYS referent — a clearly identified person, trained in DYS disorders, who ensures the overall coordination of support for all DYS students in the institution. This referent is not necessarily a specialist in disorders — they can be the CPE, the doctor or school nurse, the most involved homeroom teacher, or a teacher specifically designated for this role by the administration.
The DYS referent has three essential functions. First, they maintain a DYS student dashboard for the institution — who they are, what disorders have been diagnosed, what accommodations are in place, what their progress is. Second, they are the first point of contact for families when they have questions about accommodations or report a difficulty. Third, they provide a resource function for teachers — answering practical questions about adaptations, signaling available resources, directing towards training.
4. The profile document: a central tool for coordination
The profile document is the simplest and most powerful tool to ensure the coherence of teamwork around a DYS student. It is a one to two-page sheet — no more — that synthesizes essential information about the student and the validated accommodations, and is made available to all concerned teachers.
📄 Typical structure of a DYS student profile document
The profile document must be developed in consultation with the family and, as much as possible, with the student themselves. It is distributed to all concerned teachers at the beginning of the year (or as soon as the diagnosis is made if it occurs during the year) and revised at least once a year. Its confidentiality must be clearly established: it is not intended to be shared with other students or with third parties not concerned.
5. Organize an effective team meeting around a DYS student
The multidisciplinary team meeting around a DYS student is the moment when the coordination work makes the most sense. Well organized, it allows in 30 to 45 minutes to share observations, validate adjustments, and build a common plan. Poorly organized, it becomes just another meeting that leads to nothing and discourages all participants.
- Prepare the meeting. Send the profile document in advance to all participants, along with a list of concrete questions: What adaptations have you implemented? Which ones worked? What have you observed? This preparation transforms the meeting into a time of operational exchange rather than a collective discovery.
- Focus the meeting on observed facts, not on judgments. "I observed that Lucas finished his assessments in 10 minutes and received very low results while he understands orally" is an observed fact. "Lucas is lazy" is a judgment. Structuring the meeting around facts protects the student from unfair labels and directs the discussion towards solutions.
- Decide on adjustments collectively and note them down. Each adjustment decided is recorded in writing in the profile document, with the name of the responsible teacher and the date of implementation. An unwritten adjustment is a forgotten adjustment.
- Designate a follow-up person. At the end of the meeting, a person is clearly designated to ensure that the decisions are implemented and to call the next meeting if necessary.
- Involve the family — beforehand or in attendance. Depending on the situation and the culture of the institution, families may be present at the meeting or informed of its conclusions in writing in the days that follow. In any case, they should never learn about the decisions made "without their full knowledge."
6. The class council as a tool for monitoring adjustments
The class council is the most regular institutional moment of team coordination in middle school. It is also, in most institutions, the moment when DYS students are the least well supported — because discussions focus on grades and behaviors without ever mentioning the adjustments made, their effectiveness, or their absence.
A class council that truly integrates the monitoring of DYS students adopts a few simple practices. Before the council, the head teacher reminds the team of the planned adjustments for each DYS student in the class. During the council, the discussion about a DYS student is not limited to their overall average — it explicitly evaluates whether the adjustments have been applied, what results they have produced, and whether adjustments are necessary. The comments made on the report card clearly differentiate what pertains to the disorder (not negatively commentable in an official assessment) and what pertains to the student's engagement and work.
Appreciations such as "lack of care", "disastrous presentation", "numerous spelling mistakes despite corrections", "does not make an effort" noted on the report card of a DYS student describe their disorder — not their behavior. They are perceived by the student and their family as a double punishment: the disorder is already present, and on top of that, it is being criticized. Every education professional must learn to distinguish what pertains to the disorder (to adapt, not to comment negatively) and what pertains to attitude (to evaluate fairly).
7. Partnership with families: building a lasting alliance
Families of DYS students often arrive at middle school with a heavy baggage. Years of remarks on report cards, meetings to discuss "difficulties", professionals who have "reassured" without acting, sometimes late or disputed diagnoses. Some families arrive convinced that the school cannot help them. Others come overly protective, fearing that their child will be misunderstood or unfairly graded. Still others are just discovering — the diagnosis has just been made, and they barely understand what it means.
Regardless of their starting situation, families are irreplaceable partners in support. They know their child in a way that no professional can acquire in a few hours of classes per week. They have often developed support strategies at home that deserve to be known by the team. And their emotional support is one of the most powerful protective factors for the student's resilience.
Building trust from the first contact
The first contact of the year with the family of a DYS student is crucial. A summons to the principal's office "to talk about difficulties" immediately activates the defenses of a family used to hearing bad news. An invitation to a "kick-off meeting to build the best possible support together" creates a framework of partnership rather than confrontation. The difference lies in the posture: the team does not summon to inform — they invite to co-construct.
The shared meeting report
After any team meeting concerning a DYS student, a simple report — one page maximum — is sent to the family. This document summarizes the agreed accommodations, each person's responsibilities, and the next steps. It is the tool that transforms the meeting into a shared commitment — and allows the family to follow the evolution of the commitments made by the team.
8. Including the student in the process: a condition for success
The DYS student is too often the subject of the team's discussions rather than an actor in their own support. This "for them but without them" approach is both pedagogically less effective and ethically problematic, especially at the middle school age where the adolescent is building their identity and justifiably claiming a share of autonomy.
From 5th grade — and often even in 6th grade depending on the maturity of the student — the DYS student can and must be involved in defining their accommodations. This requires a prior conversation about their disorder — not to stigmatize them, but to allow them to understand themselves and to understand why certain adaptations are proposed to them. A student who understands that the calculator is not an advantage but a tool that compensates for a specific neurological functioning is not ashamed to use it — they use it as a resource.
I was called to the principal's office at the beginning of 5th grade with my parents. They talked for 40 minutes about my "difficulties" in front of me without asking for my opinion. I left knowing exactly what everyone thought of my problems — but no one had asked what I needed. The next time, the new DYS coordinator held a meeting including me. She asked me: "What really helps you?" That's the first useful question anyone has asked me in five years of middle school.
9. Obstacles to teamwork and how to overcome them
"We don't have time to meet to talk about a single student." This is the most common resistance. It is understandable — teachers are overwhelmed. But it ignores the fact that the time invested in consultation at the beginning of the year or after a diagnosis is recovered in time spent managing crises, misunderstandings, and conflicts avoided later.
Institutionalize 30 minutes of consultation at the beginning of each year for each identified DYS student — integrate this time into the schedule from the start of the school year. Use shared digital tools (online profile document) that allow for asynchronous coordination without additional meetings. Replace some less useful general meetings with these targeted consultation moments.
"I'm not going to make an exception for this student — that would be unfair to the others." This position, often sincere, is based on the confusion between equality and equity explained in the previous article in this series. It cannot be overcome by authoritarian injunction but through understanding — which comes through training.
The collective training of the team is the most effective lever to overcome these resistances. A teacher who understands the neurology of dyslexia stops perceiving extra time as an advantage. The administration can also set a clear framework: the accommodations validated in the support plan apply in all subjects, without exception.
A DYS disorder disclosed by a teacher to the entire class ("give him more time, he has a disorder"), or commented on in the teachers' lounge indiscreetly, can damage the student's image in a way that the accommodations themselves will not compensate for.
Establish a clear privacy charter from the start: the student's disorder is known to the educational team but must not be mentioned in front of the class or disclosed to unrelated third parties. With the student's consent, a general awareness of DYS disorders can be raised in class without targeting anyone specifically.
10. External partners to the school team
The multidisciplinary team around a DYS student is not limited to school actors. It ideally includes external professionals who support the student in their rehabilitation and follow-up — and whose observations can significantly enrich the teachers' understanding of the student's profile.
| External professional | Role in DYS support | What they can bring to the school team |
|---|---|---|
| Speech therapist | Rehabilitation of oral and written language (dyslexia, dysorthographia, dysphasia) | Precise profile of the student's difficulties, advice on suitable materials, reading strategies that work for this particular student |
| Psychomotor therapist | Rehabilitation of motor coordination and spatial organization (dyspraxia) | Recommendations on tools to substitute for handwriting, advice on organizing the workspace |
| Neuropsychologist | Evaluation of the complete cognitive profile, monitoring of executive functions (ADHD, complex disorders) | Comprehensive neuropsychological assessment — the most precise document to understand the student's profile and define accommodations |
| Child psychiatrist / Pediatrician | Medical diagnosis, medical follow-up, prescriptions if necessary (ADHD) | Diagnostic confirmation, information on ongoing treatments and their effects on schooling |
| Occupational therapist | Adjustment of the work environment, compensatory tools (dyspraxia, TDC) | Specific recommendations on digital and material tools suitable for this specific student |
Communication with external professionals requires explicit consent from the family. With this consent, an exchange of a few messages or a short phone call with the speech therapist or psychomotor therapist can provide the team with valuable information that transforms the understanding of the student's profile.
11. Practical cases: multidisciplinary teams that transform trajectories
For six years, the support for DYS students in this college has relied on the goodwill of a few sensitized teachers — without coordination, without shared documents, without a common policy. DYS students benefit from accommodations in two or three subjects and endure ordinary practices in all others. Families complain about the inconsistency, but no one really knows how to organize it differently.
The new head of the institution decides to change the approach after a full training day for the entire team on DYS disorders. She designates the CPE as the DYS referent, creates a standardized profile document for all DYS students in the institution (22 students), organizes a starting meeting for each student at the beginning of the year, and integrates the follow-up of accommodations into the agenda of class councils.
✅ Assessment after two years: Average increase of 2.3 points in the overall average of DYS students. Zero dropouts among the 22 students over two years (vs 3 dropouts in the previous period). Four families initially very wary of the institution have become active partners. Three initially reluctant teachers have been converted into ambassadors of the inclusive approach.
Raphaël, 13 years old, is dyslexic and dysorthographic. His speech therapist has been following him since the 2nd grade. His main teacher in 8th grade, trained in DYS disorders, realizes that the teaching team has never had contact with the speech therapist — who has been following Raphaël for 7 years and knows him better than anyone in relation to writing. With the parents' consent, he calls her for 15 minutes.
The speech therapist explains that Raphaël has developed a particularly effective strategy: he dictates his answers out loud before writing them down, which helps him better organize his ideas. She also recommends a specific font (Dyslexie font) that significantly improves his reading speed. Two pieces of information that no one on the team was aware of.
✅ Impact: The team adopts the recommended font for all materials intended for Raphaël and allows voice dictation as a writing method. In two weeks, the quality of Raphaël's written productions visibly increases in all subjects. His French teacher: "In 7 years of my career, this is the most effective accommodation I have ever implemented — and it cost me 15 minutes of a call."
Chloé, 14 years old, diagnosed with inattentive ADHD in 9th grade. The DYS referent at her school, trained in a participatory approach, decides to organize the team meeting about Chloé in her presence — a first in the establishment. Chloé is prepared in advance: she knows she can say what helps her, what doesn't help her, and what she needs.
During the meeting, Chloé reveals two pieces of information that no one on the team knew: the only class where she manages to stay focused since the beginning of the year is the art class, because "the instructions are short and we do different things every time." And the accommodation she needs the most is for someone to verbally remind her of her homework at the end of each class — "not a note in a notebook that I forget to open, a real voice that tells me."
✅ Impact: The team adopts the systematic verbal reminder at the end of class. Six out of nine teachers implement it the following week. The rate of homework submitted by Chloé increases from 40% to 80% in one month. Her art teacher is invited to share her practices of short and varied classes with the entire team during the next back-to-school meeting.
Working in a multidisciplinary team around DYS students is not a pedagogical luxury reserved for the best-equipped institutions. It is an organization of work that becomes possible in any school as long as three conditions are met: a willingness from management, a clearly designated referent, and a common training that gives all team members the same frame of reference. The DYNSEO training is designed precisely to create these conditions — and to transform siloed teams into multidisciplinary teams capable of making a real difference for their DYS students.
🎓 Train your team and build a coherent approach
The DYNSEO training "DYS Disorders in Middle School" brings the entire educational team together around a common frame of reference — essential conditions for effective multidisciplinary work. Qualiopi certified — eligible for funding — in-person or hybrid.