Supporting a child with Spina Bifida

[LesterKnopf]

I've recently been assigned as a 1:1 TA with a little girl with Spina Bifida and am looking for advice on how to help her learn (age 4).Most of the information I can find online around the condition is about advising what problems children with SB might have at school, but not much about practical advice on how to help the child learn. She can understand simple instructions tho they have to be repeated as she can be easily distracted, count to 3 (sometimes more but I get the impression she is just repeating the words and has no understanding of the actual numbers getting bigger), can't hold a pen properly or understand the concept of copying what the teacher does when he is teaching them to write letter or number shapes (the child just draws random shapes / lines and doesn't relate them to what the teacher is doing). Any TAs / teachers who have had a child with SB in their class and can suggest anything that helped them with maths / phonics?

Couple of different things going on here

Instructions being difficult to follow can often be a short term memory issue so some visual sequencing cards could be helpful

Holding a pencil and writing -combination of fine motor skills, motor planning and more complex letter formations you also have the memory issues

Lots of fine motor and pre-writing skills

Can she copy basic writing shapes (horizontal and vertical lines, circles, lines that meet and lines that cross)?
If not then gross motor and multi sensory writing, copy writing (copy mark making) from the same piece of paper so she's not copying from the board

Also remember she's only 4 and lots of children have these issues -it may not be related to the SB

We have a teen with SB in our school. Academically there are no issues with our student (top sets). It's much more about mobility.

As pp, I wonder if her issues are an 'age/starting school' thing rather than related to her condition. When compared to other students in the class is she on a level with them?

I expect she should have an ehcp or be getting one pretty soon. What does that say in regards to her cognition and learning as that may guide you whether she's on par with her peers or further behind.

If there are cognition and learning issues, now and next are great for preparing for the school day as well as visual timetables so she can follow what the expectations of the day are.

Lots of visual resources - when counting, use counters and show one counter next to two counters, next to 3, next to 4 and so on so she can see the number is getting bigger.

Pens grips can be helpful. There are a variety of styles. But for now I'd maybe go for a much chunkier pen or pencil. Whiteboards and markers are great for easy recording of work. If size is an issue and you have wipe clean tables, let her write on the table. Take a picture and use that to record her progress.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm going to try working on a pad of paper with her rather than looking at the board so we can use different pens / crayons. Maybe a now and next board. We did a session today with moving different objects around on a board to talk about positioning. I'm not sure how much of it sunk in after 1 session but she seemed happy...

Chalk is good for getting feedback from the writing object, an OT told me that. And visual timetables all the way!

I support a 5 year old, 1:1, with mobility issues and non verbal. I use a now and next board, a choosing board (with photos of activities) I have photos of classmates to choose a friend to play with and an emotion picture board to express an opinion after an activity. I evidence almost all their learning by photos. I have a unit with labelled trays with resources for different topics, maths, English, sensory, craft, phonics, so all physical resources are easily accessible. I would suggest lots of sensory mark making, sand, dough, foam, glitter letters. Physical objects for maths, counting bears, numicon, coloured dishes for sorting activities, plastic shapes. You may need to enquire if you have an SEN budget for ordering new things.
I am in year 1 this year and have it found much easier as the other children are spending longer sitting at tables for activities too (the fast pace of reception class is tricky for children with mobility difficulties).
It's taking me 12 months to feel really secure in what I am doing (and lots of research outside of school hours !)
The fact that you are even asking shows you are a good T.A who cares about their job x