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Please use the contact form below to contact Families and SEN. Set out briefly the issues you want to discuss with your contact details and I will get back to you:
Please use the contact form below to contact Families and SEN. Set out briefly the issues you want to discuss with your contact details and I will get back to you:
Education: The Great Equaliser!
Hello and welcome,
The following points have been expanded in the books available via my web site. They contain much more about accessing learning and the development of valuable skills.
Rgds Clive.
If You Don’t Do It Who Will?
Considerations at the pre-birth stage may include:
Etc
Pre-School Provision
You can achieve a huge amount at home before your child starts playschool or formal education. However, professional advice and support is important because your child may find it harder to learn than, for example fully sighted peers if s/he has a visual impairment.
Regular home visits should take place by a specialist with appropriate experience and knowledge but, don’t assume that specialist advice and support will automatically be given.
A specialist, ideally one named person, should address the following,
Etc
S/he should also,
Etc
Information Accessed Through Sight
It is estimated that a very high percentage of information is accessed through sight. A huge amount is also learned through incidental learning via sight. Incidental learning represents an important foundation for more formal learning later.
Through sight, your child gets information about,
Etc
Issues to Consider
Issues you may need to consider include,
Etc
You may need to gather information covering,
Etc
Also,
Etc
Starting School
In most cases children with a significant disability, for example severe visual impairment, will have been identified before starting school. Those with a less severe disability might not …
Following is a list of issues you may find necessary to address when your child is aged below 5 years.
Etc
The gathering of appropriate information covering,
Etc
Also,
Etc
And,
Etc
Early Years’ Specialist Support
To ensure that your child has full access to a pre-school experience specialist advice will be necessary before s/he starts. This will involve explaining to staff about your child’s disability ...
A specialist, for example a low vision teacher, can deliver staff training. S/he can,
Etc
Working closely with specialist support can enable you to,
Etc
A specialist can also ensure,
Etc
And,
Etc
Teaching Strategies and Behaviour
A specialist, for example in low vision, can raise awareness about the common characteristics of your child’s condition and how to address them. These might include,
Etc
A specialist can also advise about,
Etc
Further advice to those working with your child could include,
Etc
Equipment
A specialist can advise about equipment. For example, if your child is visually impaired, s/he is more likely to enjoy toys which are brightly coloured and,
Etc
Specialist equipment might not be necessary but you should avoid learning resources always made of plastic …
Water or sand may cause apprehension ...
Accessible Resources, Modifying and Adapting
Story time is enjoyable for all children. However, showing a picture as part of a story may mean little to your visually impaired child …
Nursery staff may need to find another way of making information accessible. For example by:
Etc
Pre-school should be an exciting experience for all and every child should have full access to learning. However, by whom, how often and when will the above points be addressed?
For an adolescent disability can be traumatic. Adolescence is about learning to live with emotional and bodily changes. It is a time when young people are seeking their own identity whilst trying to make sense of their position and future in the world.
Low Vision and Image
We learn a great deal by copying others. With low vision however, issues arising during adolescence can be more complex …
Rebellion
Rebellion is a normal part of the growing up process. However, rebellion in dress can be very hard to achieve for someone who is visually impaired …
Aids such as a cane or low vision device which draw attention to the disability might be rejected …
Frustration and Tension
Adolescence can be demanding emotionally, stemming from frustration and tension. This can be compounded by a disability ...
Being unable to go out with friends as a result of a disability can undermine confidence and self-esteem. It disrupts friendships and builds isolation …
Many visually impaired people are dependent to some extent on family and friends. It can be hard therefore not expressing frustration with the very people you need to provide support.
However, not rebelling as a teenager could be storing up trouble for later. It is even less acceptable rebelling when 30, 40 or 50 years old.
Anger, Depression and Confusion
Feelings of anger, depression and confusion are often common ...
If suppressed, anger or its cause could lead to depression ...
Independence
It is hard for adolescents to accept support gracefully. By asking for support they are acknowledging that they have a problem and for some, this is very hard to do ...
Many families find it hard to allow disabled adolescents full independence. Over protection is a major risk and this prevents the young person from developing age appropriate skills …
Information from Others Similarly Placed
Finding ways of exploring and releasing feelings can be therapeutic …
Acceptance and Loneliness
If an adolescent has come to terms with his or her disability s/he may find it easier to keep friends and find new ones …
Fear of the unknown and fear of not being normal are common feelings during adolescence …
The Helper
It is not uncommon for an adolescent to be arrogant, rude and ungrateful. This can impede support ...
A helper may also face anger and rejection which presents at times of distress. Knowledge, understanding and the building of trust is therefore necessary …
Identity, Social and Emotional Skills and Independence
A disability, for example visually impairment, can stimulate anxiety and isolation. Sight loss later in life can also mean losing a sense of identity.
A disability can hugely restrict the development of age appropriate social and emotional skills along with independence.
For an adolescent disability can be traumatic. Adolescence is about learning to live with emotional and bodily changes. It is a time when young people are seeking their own identity whilst trying to make sense of their position and future in the world.
Low Vision and Image
We learn a great deal by copying others. With low vision however, issues arising during adolescence can be more complex …
Rebellion
Rebellion is a normal part of the growing up process. However, rebellion in dress can be very hard to achieve for someone who is visually impaired …
Aids such as a cane or low vision device which draw attention to the disability might be rejected …
Frustration and Tension
Adolescence can be demanding emotionally, stemming from frustration and tension. This can be compounded by a disability ...
Being unable to go out with friends as a result of a disability can undermine confidence and self-esteem. It disrupts friendships and builds isolation …
Many visually impaired people are dependent to some extent on family and friends. It can be hard therefore not expressing frustration with the very people you need to provide support.
However, not rebelling as a teenager could be storing up trouble for later. It is even less acceptable rebelling when 30, 40 or 50 years old.
Anger, Depression and Confusion
Feelings of anger, depression and confusion are often common ...
If suppressed, anger or its cause could lead to depression ...
Independence
It is hard for adolescents to accept support gracefully. By asking for support they are acknowledging that they have a problem and for some, this is very hard to do ...
Many families find it hard to allow disabled adolescents full independence. Over protection is a major risk and this prevents the young person from developing age appropriate skills …
Information from Others Similarly Placed
Finding ways of exploring and releasing feelings can be therapeutic …
Acceptance and Loneliness
If an adolescent has come to terms with his or her disability s/he may find it easier to keep friends and find new ones …
Fear of the unknown and fear of not being normal are common feelings during adolescence …
The Helper
It is not uncommon for an adolescent to be arrogant, rude and ungrateful. This can impede support ...
A helper may also face anger and rejection which presents at times of distress. Knowledge, understanding and the building of trust is therefore necessary …
Identity, Social and Emotional Skills and Independence
A disability, for example visually impairment, can stimulate anxiety and isolation. Sight loss later in life can also mean losing a sense of identity.
A disability can hugely restrict the development of age appropriate social and emotional skills along with independence.
Building on the support from pre-birth to 11 years the following may also need addressing,
Independent advice from a specialist may be invaluable regarding,
Etc
The development of computer skills should be ongoing ...
Independent specialist charities may also be able to advise about the following,
Etc
Once again, advice from a specialist can be useful regarding:
Etc
Age appropriate independence is crucial. The development of age appropriate independence regarding daily living skills, life skills in general to include mobility skills should be ongoing…
The list is long. The following issues though are equally important for you to consider.
Etc
School and college should be an exciting experience for all and every child and young person should have full access to learning. By whom, how often and when, will the above points be addressed?
Issues to Consider
Building on the points raised in the sections above, the following issues should also be addressed. You should have an understanding of how to deal with the following:
Etc
Along with,
You may also value specialist advice in the following:
And,
Employability
A crucial period in the life of young people is the transition from education or training into employment. Developing independence and the pursuit of employment are huge challenges. For many, the transition into adulthood is often made more complicated by disability. Consequently, at this time it is a good idea to reconsider the often heard mantra ‘education, education, education’ but replace it with ‘employment, employment, employment.’
Of course, education is crucial but for most of us employment is the end game and not education.
Many young people often arrive at this transition stage without the necessary skills to find or sustain employment. They are without the skills employer’s demand. The skills under consideration here are,
You will note that these are skills we all need and not just disabled people in order to succeed professionally.
Blindness, No Barrier to Employment?
As already mentioned for most people education is not an end in itself. Therefore, construct an education programme better suited to seeking and sustaining employment and thereby see education as a functional exercise rather than an academic one and use it to assist along a road to employment.
Addressing Employability Skills
What can the individual do to improve employability and develop the skills we all need to find and sustain employment?
You might like to ask yourself four questions when considering the education or training planned or being delivered,
These issues apply to both the disabled and non-disabled communities.
What is Necessary?
The following will therefore be necessary,
Etc
Who Is Being Considered?
Learners under consideration here are not necessarily academic high fliers. Neither do they have to have learning difficulties with an IQ below 70. Some may have been through a mainstream education placement whilst others may have attended special schools. The common denominator being, they do not have the necessary independence and employability skills to secure and sustain employment.
Consequently, we find a disabled person needing to develop the same general skills as non-disabled peers …
By whom, how often and when, will the above points be addressed?
This subject is covered extensively within,
DISABILITY: NO BARRIER TO EMPLOYMENT?
Finding, Securing and Maintaining Employment
Visual Impairment and Other Disabilities
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