In schools and colleges across the country, staff are teaching and supporting young people with a myriad of special needs and disabilities. There are so many variations and individuality to these needs, that it is almost impossible to have a ‘standard’ solution that fully and most appropriately supports each young person. Think about how many personality types there are, how much human diversity there is, what cultural differences we see, and we all see life through a unique perspective. So, you may have cerebral palsy, but who are you? Cultural beliefs, personal beliefs, gender, sexuality, extrovert or introvert, creative or practical, likes and dislikes all make up part of a person’s identity, but it is also important to ask, “what are your life goals?” Everyone will learn differently due to their unique personal identity whether they have a special educational need or disability (SEND) or not.
There are many barriers for young people with SEND – sometimes quite simple things like a couple of steps leading up to a door that somebody using a wheelchair cannot overcome. But not all barriers are this easy to detect. Some barriers go much deeper, are much harder to see, and can go unnoticed for long periods of time, maybe forever. This is why it is so important to prepare teachers, support staff and all student services teams for the different types of support, communication and behaviour they may need to adopt in fully supporting students with SEND.
In many colleges, the provision for students with SEND is growing and staff are interacting with more diverse and complex young people. This has created some anxiety for many staff who say they feel overwhelmed, they don’t really understand the support they could offer, they haven’t been ‘trained’ or they feel that they may offend or get something wrong. In some cases, they feel the student could be in an unsafe situation as the environment has not been adapted sufficiently.
A lot of staff learn as they go, and many have built up a great working knowledge with many strategies. But for inexperienced or new staff it can be daunting, and even experienced staff can come across new situations they have not met before. The observations and tips below are intended for those involved in teaching young people with SEND in post-16 education:
Observations and top tips
1 Teachers are not fully aware or have full understanding of a student’s language deficits, and often there is not a cohesive learning plan where consistent and appropriate strategies are used. The first tip is to find out as much as possible about the student from parents/carers, health professionals and their previous school. It’s important to discover what worked, and just as important, what didn’t work. It is worth finding out who the student had the best rapport with and look at why that might be. If you can work with a speech and language professional all the better. Ask more experienced colleagues for help and make sure that all those involved in teaching and supporting the student get together and share notes and ideas, updating experiences regularly (things may change). You may be dealing with hidden disabilities, as yet not fully recorded, so be open to a bit of experimentation. If you see things that the student regularly struggles with, communicate with them about what they are experiencing and see if you can find other ways to help. Obviously one of the best people to speak to is the student themself, but you may need help with how to communicate to begin with. Often the student can help with that too if you ask them.
2 Teaching and support approaches need to be adapted to learning difficulties and brain function; there are some aspects of language that may be part of the student’s disability and they may not have full cognitive understanding. This is more of a problem when a student outwardly appears to be quite high functioning but there are hidden language/comprehension difficulties. If, after speaking with colleagues, there is still little understanding of what is going on, staff commit to recording the student’s understanding and behaviour – this can be assessed on a regular basis to see if there are any trends. This is where access to a speech and language therapist would be very helpful. But there are still things you may notice if you look hard enough – often students can be reacting to their surroundings; certain sights, sounds, temperatures. Some students may simply be affected by a colour, where a room with chairs all of one colour can contribute to their negative reaction and it could severely affect their attention and therefore understanding. Using different language and visual aids will help some students, while others may need to see the words in writing. With a constant and regular approach to observing and talking to the student and colleagues, you will be surprised at the small things that may help, or the important things you may discover. The following online resources can also help:
Talking Point: Organisations that Can Help
I Can
Scope: Communication Difficulties
Mencap: Communicating with people with a learning disability
3 Students may have had an interrupted education due to ill health and if they have missed important building blocks in key subjects such as maths and English, this may hinder progress. However, careful and appropriate assessments on entering college, along with information from their school, should identify these gaps and a ‘catch-up’ programme can be put in place. Teachers often have difficulty in managing provision for students who miss lessons due to ill health since tight deadlines within the curriculum delivery make it challenging. Many successful teachers have used technology to help: online communication, sending work home and even telephone conversations or Skype sessions where possible.
4 Inclusiveness, where students are on study programmes and are within programmes designed specifically around SEND requirements, are well managed. Inclusion in such things as drama/reading/group work/activities/debates/community engagement/work experience and projects in mainstream curriculum, however, are the things that can tax some of the most motivated teachers. Don’t do everything alone, ask for help from colleagues, support staff, family and online. Ask professionals for guidance and don’t be afraid to discuss possible solutions with the student that you could try together. Even if they don’t work, you will learn with the student what does work, and that will be a positive experience for both you and the student. You may even include some of the class in solving the issues depending on the situation – young people often suggest ingenious ideas.
5 Learning Support Assistants vary greatly in experience and knowledge, and this is an essential provision that needs to be in focus. The spectrum of support can move from ‘too hands off’ to ‘too hands on’. Students, particularly in post-16, need to gain as much independence in all areas of their education and life as possible, especially if they are aspiring to access HE and/or employment. So how can the success of learning support intervention be measured in a meaningful way with unambiguous evidence of impact on outcomes? Firstly, we need to know what outstanding learning support looks like. We need to define it in quantifiable terms and have a system of observation and review that informs us of progress and effectiveness. It is worth spending time on this piece of work, including looking at the staff you have and their skills, providing relevant and meaningful CPD activities and ensuring there is high quality team work between learning support staff and teaching staff. Involve the student in feedback of their support, in a way that gives real and true responses that are helpful in developing provision.
6 Written work should be adapted appropriately for students with poor hand function, both for handwriting and keyboard use. Writing can slow students down and often the correct equipment may not be accessed. In negotiating Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) at the start of their college life, obtaining the right equipment and professional input is essential. The set up for a student with SEND starts from pre-enrolment. Mainstream or vocational teachers can be nervous about adaptations and their uses, as they may not be trained or fully supported in their use, and many learn on the job. This can mean that students do not have a good start to their college education. Staff need time to ‘play’ with equipment so they are fully comfortable in its use and they can see how their curriculum can be adapted. Support from professionals in assistive technologies is also advisable.
7 Verbal communication may be challenging for some students, and teachers tend to learn as they go, having had little training in speech, language and communication techniques. This can leave both the student and teacher frustrated. This is such a big area because of the array of verbal and cognitive issues a student may have. Staff must get a full understanding from the professionals about each student. No two will be identical and each will have personal preferences as to how they wish to communicate, down to small details like whether you can help with finishing their sentences or not. Some students welcome it to speed things up, others are very frustrated by this. It is not only our job to communicate, it is our job to develop that communication. Often up until this point in their lives, the language used will have been quite child-like, but as students grow into adults, the language needs to develop with their age. If you imagine learning a foreign language at school, then stopping and 10 years later had to use the same language to communicate with adults, you can see the problem. Education at all ages is about the whole person, not just the subject they are learning.
8 Pace is important. The speed at which you deliver information is crucial to their understanding and ability to fully join in to learning activities. However, if students have comprehension challenges and/or delayed language, this becomes a basic need for learning. Differentiation should be happening naturally in all classes, but attention needs to be given, especially if students need more time. Find small activities they can do alone to allow them time to be able to work things out for themselves. It is often too tempting to do things, or too much for them, and then they don’t get the real experience of experiential learning. In the end this actually hinders their success and growth.
