A quick question

[DynamicNanny]

Hi,

Ok a quick question, I am a "lurker" and have read many of the threads on the board as a way of learning a little more about what life is like with children with special needs.

Anyway I am a nursery nurse and today we had "inclusion training" and we discussed how to "include children with SEN" so I thought I'd ask you - what would you like to see at a local nursery which would make you/your child's learning environment more friendly etc

I am not being rude or faecetious and I would really like to hear your thoughts etc.

Many Thanks

well, speaking as soemone who's dd has severe quadraplegic cerebral palsy, I'd like to see switch activated toys. But I'd also like them to treat her like everyone else without being too precious. When we visited the ms nursery the teachers went into conuptions everytime another child appraoched dd like she would break. DD loves kids coming up to her.
But each sn would be different I guess.

Needsmore coffee,

Thanks for the comment - I'm sorry that your nursery seemed over sensitive with your daughter.

I can't get over the bit where you said that they went into "conuptions" everytime the children came close ... your poor daughter, and the other children not being able to play and bond together.

Visual Timetables used for everyone. Timers used for activities, proper "warning / countdown" system for when activities are about to end

Safe chill out Zones and individual quiet areas.

Simple Makaton signs for all.

Good quality lighting (not flurescent)

Hi Tibni

We currently have a visual timetable on display within our room, but we probably don't use it as much as we could/should!

The timers and countdowns are a fab idea - we do say 5 minutes before we do this and have a timer for the computer but it could be more utelised.

When you say individual quiet areas - do you mean for each child?

Thanks Tibni

DS' nursery has signs everywhere using both printed words and PECS.

Ladygrinningsoul - Pecs - what's that?

To teach the children basic makaton would be helpful to everyone, and children usually love to sign! And to have symbols alongside labels (nurseries tend to label things around the room, such as "door" etc so to have a symbol too would be really useful).

I was thinking in terms of a quiet sensory space that could be used generally. My son is in MS school and has ASD. As part of his statement he has an individual workstation that he can use if the table work gets too much for him. He has had this since starting at the school in nursery and as he has got older he needs time away less.

For some children with sensory issues the general classroom atmosphere can be too much and they can get overwhelmed - to have a specific area with a few simple toys/ books can be a lifeline.

I also know other ASD children who have special chairs, carpet or beanbags to use when they need space.

Just thought at nursery level my son didn't understand visual timetables and relied on a NOW / NEXT system. Also symbols can be too complicated and some children need photographs as part of their timetable.

Traffic lights on doors. Laminated cards Red and Green stuck in velcro onto door. When the red symbol is on you stay in class when changed to green then you can leave. My son has a set place, away from the door, where the symbol not in use goes, this used to give his teaching assistant a warning that he felt the need to leave the room.

If staff forget when its time for assembly my son will remind them! It has really helped with the urge to run.

Thanks fpr all your thoughts/ideas

When you say a symbol do you mean a picture of a makaton symbol or a picture??

My son uses PECS symbols at school - Picture Exchange Communication System.(I think!) (because this is what our local Autism Outreach Team supplied school)

The traffic lights were downloaded from a general google search.

At home I have ISPEEK symbols although my son doesn't tend to use them much. His language skills are improving and he writes words if we can not understand what he is saying.

Makaton Symbols are used on boardmaker software.

Some children rely on consistent symbols some can generalise.

As a general comment, to be more aware that children (especially those with limited speech) may have difficulties understanding, so that if they don't obey a command, it may be due to language problems rather than disobedience.

backing up what you say with gestures etc to aid understanding. (and of course in a more formal way, with makaton/pecs/words written out).

very good point tibni about generalise - some children take time to be able to generalise, so photographs may be useful (say photograph of different rooms of nursery/nursery garden etc), to refer to when saying to a child it's time to go to the garden etc.

I like the ideas of an individual workstation where children can go if it gets to much.

Also may change the routine pictures as I also enjoy photos - used to work with 1-2's and our routine had photos of rooms, and activities whereas at my new nursery it's just clip art so may change this

Also can any one reccomend any good books which have "normal" children in as opposed to the sterotypical pretty blonde girl and sporty brunette boy Again - we don't seem to have many and was hoping to get some new books - was pointed towards Balamory books as they have a wide variety of people in - any other ideas - greatfully recieved

by normal - I mean children with glasses - walking frames, or problems such as CF or just a group of children like you might find at a nursery - different races, ages, individual needs

www.bookstart.co.uk/Health-professionals/Different-needs-hp/Positive-images-hp

the bookstart website has lots of information about inclusive books/images of children (see above link)

Thanks TotalChaos

Please don't feel that I am only asking these questions because of Inclusion training I have thought several times over the past few weeks thatwe need to do a little more and I just want to say Thank You for your input - I don't want to make children overly aware of children with SEN but I want it to be "normal" so that children can come into our setting and feel at home - with books which have people like them in and little things that can help the children "fit in" I still can't get over the experience Needmorecoffee recounted at the beginning of the thread

As I see it, whatever makes a person seek out more knowledge of how to help kids with SN is to be applauded .

I sat down at the computer about 2 hours ago now and I am really "enjoying??" myself finding out more ways to make my room/nursery more child friendly for children with SEN and other children with their needs too.

There are many things I hadn't really considered and now that I'm thinking about different things my google search engine is going to explode with the number of questions I'm asking it

I can't believe how many books there are out there which encorporate children with autism, wheelchairs, splints etc - as I sadly have not come across that many since I started training in the childcare sector.

visual timetable and a clear and predictable routine

children kept with their age group - my dd2 was always kept with the younger group, which wasn't really in her interest

support provided by the LEA used appropriately and for the child with SN, not abused to bring down the cost of running the nursery

(can you tell my experience of mainstream nursery wasn't all that great? )

Oh Geekgirl,

yes - you can tell you've not been treated well by "the system2 I agree children should be kept with their peers and not with younger children and also know what you mean about utelising the LEA They are supposed to be there to "help" your child as an EXTRA pair of hands rather than a member of staff in the room dealing with everyone and leaving your child to get on with it

Firstly to listen to the parents as they know the child and may well have ideas, they also may have toys or books they are willing to send in.
An awareness that so called 'attention seeking behaviour' can be a child trying to ask for help when they don't have the skills to deal with a situation.
Good communication in a home/school diary.
To make sure a child is listening, keep communication as succinct and simple as it needs to be for the child to understand, give the child time to process what has been said and respond.
whoops, sorry, gripe over!
Pictures that are of significance/interest to each child to help them identify their own coat peg/bookbag alongside their name.
Sensory areas can be enjoyed by everyone. Makaton/signing is a skill it would be great for all children to learn. Our pre-school incorporated signs into their singing time and did display board from the something special website which my DS loved as he loves Mr Tumble and it taught the other children too.
Appropriate timers for the child's ability to wait eg. 5 mins may be way too long for some, or way too short for someone who's into a favourite activity.

More than anything I love it that ds2's school see him first as a person & his disabilities are secondary, don't expect all children with the same conditions (eg ASD,CP,DS) to all act or respond to things equally, like all children they are individuals & have their own likes & dislikes.

It helped at playgroup that we understood the playgroup routine & they made us aware of any changes so that we could help prepare our ds.

Physio & SALT exercises were made part of the days activities & other children were included so ds wasn't singled out as different.

Don't be afraid to ask for help, IME OT, Physio etc & ASD outreach are only too pleased to go into a setting & advise.

Thanks everyone I have mentioned all of these to my manager and I think most of the adpatations would make life easier for the other children too - not that there are "2 groups".

And as mymatemax said we have to remember that they are individuals like everybody else - each child has their own "special" need and some are more complex than others so I think us proffessionals as much as we think we do - should remember "that this is G, he loves trains and machines. G has autism which makes things a bit more interesting around here " rather than "The autistic boy is G"

Hello

Just wanted to add a few things and second the 'home-school diary' thing. Very important for the nursery to learn about any problems there may be at home and equally for the parent to learn about what they did that day.

Ds1 has cp in the form of a Hemiplegia affecting the right side of his body. He started off in a sn nursery which was fab. The activities were not much different from a ms nursery. When I think back, there were some great little touches like having names stuck on the outside of the door. the children had to remove their name (with photo) off the door and put it on a bus on the wall to show their presence. And at hometime, they had to remove it and put it in a bag. Also having the child's special needs for food etc. up on the wall for all to see just in case.

Music played a great part aswell, having a particular song played on a tape for 'tidy up time' or 'snack time', something the kids really took note of sometimes better than spoken words. For those still in nappies (which was all the kids in my Ds1's class), changing them all at the same time every day and offering them to sit on a potty first to see if they could go or not, a very important step for any child to reach, but especially hard for one with sn (Ds1 5.8 and still in nappies ).

Ds1 is now in ms Receiption full-time. He cannot talk and uses an electronic communication aid, plus some signing to communicate. I went to parents evening the other night and was really pleased to see a big poster on the wall with "Talk to Ds1" at the top and below were pictures of makaton signs. I have seen some of the kids use these signs and the teacher wants to include makaton some more I believe. Great progress to have obvious signs on the wall and tells the other kids quite clearly that some children are different to others.

Loads more patience and praise as I am sure you have already gathered.