Tools for Schools
General strategies and provision to support from the OAIP:
- Child or young person does not understand or use social rules of communication
- Difficulties with language / difficulties with communication
- Difficulties with imagination
- Difficulty with social communication and developing relationships
- Anxiety in busy unpredictable environments
- Sensitivity to sensory stimuli
- Physical outbursts causing harm to others and/or to self and/or damage to property
- Limited attention span compared to developmental age
In addition to the strategies above which are described within the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP)guide children and young people may benefit from:
- Flexible teaching arrangements
- Help in acquiring, comprehending and using language
- Help in acquiring literacy skills
- Alternative means of communication
- Support in using different means of communication confidently for a range of purposes
- Support in organising and coordinating oral and written language
- Withdrawal facilities provided for times of anxiety and sensory overload
- Opportunities for the development of social interaction and communication skills
- Staff to monitor child or young person during break times and lunchtimes and have strategies in place to reduce anxiety during unstructured times
- Staff to provide support at break and lunchtimes to develop play skills and social interaction skills
- Curricular language will benefit from ‘scaffolding’ and pre-learning approaches
- Additional access to I.T. may be necessary
- Child or young person may need considerable preparation for changes in routine. This includes arrangements for staff cover
- Provision map targets will be addressed through individual, small group and class work within the curriculum framework
- Use transition support from one school/teacher to another. Resources may include passports, one page profiles, a familiarisation book of photos of the new environment or a file of coping strategies/equipment and social scripts
- Structured programmes of work may need to be clearly set out via a visual timetable or Now and Next approach
- There should be consistency within the classroom organisation, structure, routines and space
- The child or young person may need access to a workstation to reduce distractions and enable them to focus on the set task or activity
- Equipment for Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC) may be needed, for example, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) (direct adult input and support will be necessary in early stages), and/or signing
- Consideration may need to be given to the physical environment
- Strategies may be used to promote social success/social understanding. These include Social Stories, Comic Strip Conversations, LEGO Therapy, PIKAS and Circle of Friends.