The strategies listed below highlight the ordinarily available inclusive provision that should be in place to support children and young people with sensory and physical needs on a daily basis, across all areas of the curriculum. These ordinarily available whole class strategies should be embedded as part of everyday inclusive practice, and their impact on an individual evaluated, before considering a more targeted approach.
Strategies to support visual impairments
- Teaching position – avoid standing in front of windows, this can reduce you to a silhouette and make it difficult for all learners to see you properly.
- Seating position – children and young people who have VI need to sit in the best position to see the whiteboard but not separately from the other learners .
- Print resources should be in an appropriate format, (print size, font and contrast) on A4 paper.
- Use black or dark blue dry marker pens for white boards, and keep the white board clean to maximise contrast.
- Worksheets clear and uncluttered; keep drawings, tables and graphs as simple as possible.
- Provide individual copies of anything presented on the whiteboard.
- Lighting – classroom to have good ambient lighting.
- Reduce glare – ensure windows have blinds to reduce glare.
- Edges of stairs or steps are clearly highlighted.
Strategies to support children and young people who are deaf or hard of hearing
- Preferential seating within 1 metre of the class teacher so that they can access lip patterns with the speaker facing light, speaking clearly and naturally, standing still, facing the child or young person and not in front of a window.
- Accessible videos – show videos with captions, or sign-interpreted videos.
- Reduce background noise by monitoring voice levels of all children and young people, closing windows, closing doors and turning machines off.
- Use alternative ways of gaining the child or young person’s attention, for example wave, knock a table, or tap their shoulder lightly.
- Never give up or say ‘I’ll tell you later’ you can try using text on a laptop, gestures, objects or good old-fashioned pen and paper.
- Make sure that the deaf child knows when the topic changes. The child or young person will find it easier to guess your words if they know what you are talking about.
- Use visual clues – where possible point to what you’re talking about, and don’t be shy about using gestures to support your communication.
- Speak one at a time – group conversations can be difficult for a deaf child to follow. Make it easier by asking everyone to take their turn talking and to make a sign if they want to talk next. Passing round an object and only being able to talk when you have it can help.
Strategies to support multi-sensory impairments
In addition to the strategies for visual impairment and deaf/hard of hearing:
- Staff awareness that children and young people will have reduced access to incidental learning.
- Use a total communication approach (Speech, BSL, tactile cues, on-body signs, objects and sounds of reference).
- Avoid too many stimuli at the same time (visual, tactile and auditory info).
Strategies to support physical needs
- Optimal seating position, to allow for easy access to all resources and class teacher.
- Allow more time for movement when forming small groups within a class.
- Encourage independence. Even if they are not physically capable of fetching equipment, children and young people should be encouraged to make independent choices regarding what is required to complete a task.
- A range of PE equipment to choose from.
- Use pictorial cue cards, for example things to have on the table at the start of the lesson.
- Organisation of rooms to avoid trip hazards and support independent access to resources.
- Bold floor markings.