Northern Ireland Curriculum > Inclusion and SEN

Indicators and Strategies

Speech & Language

These pupils cover the whole ability range. They may have a specific language impairment which is not typical of their other abilities. Linguistic difficulties may also be associated with developmental delay or learning difficulties. Characteristics include difficulty in understanding and/or making others understand information conveyed through spoken language. They may have poor articulation. They find it hard to understand or use words in context. Words and grammatical patterns may be used incorrectly. They have difficulty in recalling words and therefore have reduced vocabulary.

Indicators

  • Difficulty in verbalisation.
  • A tendency to give one-word answers.
  • Muddling or simplifying words/phrases.
  • Difficulty with recall.
  • Needs instructions repeated or modified.
  • Poor comprehension, vocabulary, reading and writing skills.
  • Competence in some practical aspects of development (e.g. sport or graphics), but less competent in other areas.
  • Disorganisation in time and possible difficulties in understanding timetables, locations etc.
  • Disorganised and untidy with possessions.
  • Difficulty in structuring work.
  • Difficulty in applying skills they have learned and processed from one situation to another e.g. difficulty in making connections.
  • Difficulty in processing information.
  • Easily distracted.

General Strategies

  • Make sure you face the child when speaking. Don't turn your face away until you've finished speaking.
  • Give instructions in small, bite-size amounts, and if necessary, one bit at a time.
  • Make sure that important places, equipment and displays are clearly marked with pictures or symbols as well as labels.
  • Try not to use very adult language - keep it at a pupil's level.
  • Slow down your rate of talking to enable the pupil to speak back more slowly.
  • Repeat directions using different words.
  • Laminate and display any common directions.
  • Use gestures.
  • Give instructions one at a time.
  • If possible, provide a visual clue.
  • Ask basic questions that have the answer in a picture or hands-on activity.
  • Allow adequate time for the pupil to process the information and provide the answer.
  • Reduce the number of questions you ask and allow the pupil plenty of time to answer.
  • Use several modalities when teaching (speaking, reading , writing , listening etc)
  • Use visual schedules where possible to provide pupils with visual explanations.
  • Sback to top periodically when teaching to check full understanding of lesson.
  • Encourage the child to ask for help.
  • Never be tempted to complete the pupil's sentences for him/her, or fill in what you think he/she is trying to say.
  • Never force a pupil with a stammer to read aloud in front of others.
  • Reciting rhymes and singing may help a pupil to achieve fluency - many children do not stammer when they sing.
  • Find time to do entertaining activities with the pupil that do not require a great deal of speech and will help him/her to relax.  Spontaneous, easy talking may then emerge.
  • Avoid communication breakdown by providing choices, e.g. ‘Is it in the kitchen?’ or ‘Is it in the bathroom?’
  • Arrange group work so that the child with limited speech has the least to contribute.  However, he will be able to hear other children model what has to be said and others can attempt to predict what he is trying to say.

Additional Information

  • www.thornfieldhouseschool.co.uk
  • Stammering: Tough Talking by Maggie Jones, ‘Nursery World’, 7 November 2001
  • Working with Secondary Students with Language Difficulties by Mandy Brent, Florence Gough and Susan Robinson. David Fulton Publishers
  • Advice and support can be obtained from the support services in:
    SELB  SEELB  BELB  WELB  NEELB

 

Back to top

 

Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD)

These pupils may display a variety of characteristics. They may be withdrawn or disruptive. They may have depressive or suicidal tendencies, communication problems, anti-social behaviour, anger and/or threat of violence. These behaviours inhibit learning and these pupils find it difficult to concentrate during, or cope with unstructured activities. They may also be associated with other learning difficulties.

Indicators

  • Signs of emotional turbulence e.g. tearfulness, withdrawal.
  • Difficulty in forming and maintaining positive relationships.
  • Behaviour which interferes with the learning of the pupils or their peers e.g. persistent calling out in class, refusal to work, persistent annoyance of other pupils.
  • Difficulty remaining on task – poor concentration.
  • Non-attendance at school.
  • Signs of frustration at lack of anticipated academic progress.
  • Unpredictability over tasks, groupings or organisational arrangements in the classroom.
  • Over-sensitive to criticism.
  • Low self-esteem.
  • Underachieves.
  • Obsessive behaviour.
  • Shouts out in class.
  • Unacceptable language.
  • Wanders about and disobient.

General Strategies

  • Positive rules.
  • Consistency and fairness.
  • Plan short activities.
  • Keep instructions short.
  • Make expectations and boundaries clear – do not give confused signals.
  • Aim for results at each stage.
  • Ensure the tasks are relevant.
  • Choose themes suitable to age, maturity and peer culture.
  • Create opportunities for using ICT.
  • Use photos and videos to record work.
  • Pair pupils with good role models.
  • Be flexible.
  • Give two or three minutes warning before changing to next activity.
  • Build in success until pupil can react appropriately to ‘failure’.
  • Give pupil time to calm down – don’t let difficult situations escalate.
  • Find an appropriate and meaningful reward.
  • Do not back pupil into a corner – give choices.
  • Use reasonable consequences.
  • Praise where appropriate.
  • Refer to behaviour not to the pupil.
  • Work closely with parents.
  • Create situations where success is built in.

Advice and support can be obtained from the support services in:
SELB  SEELB  BELB  WELB  NEELB

 

Back to top

 

Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)

These pupils may have significant difficulties in reading, writing or spelling which are not typical of their general level of performance across other areas of the curriculum. They may demonstrate good ability orally but experience difficulty in gaining literacy skills. There may be associated difficulties in phonological processing, short term memory, sequencing number skills, motor function and organisational skills.

Indicators

  • Low attainment in one or more subject areas, particularly where this can be traced to difficulty in some aspect of literacy and/or numeracy i.e. spelling, handwriting, number, manipulative skills.
  • Indication that the low attainment is not global.
  • Difficulty with fine or gross motor skills.
  • Signs of frustration and/or low self-esteem and in some cases evidence that the level of difficulty is leading to disengagement from learning, non-attendance and/or behavioural problems.
  • Inability to overcome weaknesses despite carefully planned intervention, differentiated work and limited success in the use of alternative approaches.
  • Difficulty with language skills, such as following instructions.
  • Poorly presented and/or unfinished work.
  • Poor recall, sequencing, organisational, memory and problem-solving skills.
  • Confusion  with similar letters and words, either written or spoken.
  • Confusion with direction and time.

General Strategies

  • Use ICT as an aid i.e. spell masters, computer spelling programmes, speech facility as a support, tape recorders.
  • Illustrated dictionaries or word lists.
  • Highlight key words in text/display, colour back to topic-specific key words.
  • Use alternative ways to record information e.g. mind maps, symbols, graphs, timelines etc.
  • Colour-coded exercise books.
  • Colour filters.
  • Time at beginning and end of classes for pupil to organise themselves and time to write down homework.
  • Use of a ‘buddy’ system.
  • Teach spelling rules.
  • Use of mnemonics.

Advice and support can be obtained from the support services in:
SELB  SEELB  BELB  WELB  NEELB

 

Back to top

 

Visually Impaired (VI)

Visual difficulties range from relatively minor and remedial conditions to total blindness. Some children are born blind; others lose their sight partially or completely as a result of accidents or illness.

Blind

Pupils who are blind or have minimal sight require tactile methods of learning (e.g. Braille). These pupils will have an acuity score of<3/60 (World Health Organisation definition of blindness).

Partially Sighted

These pupils have vision which is adequate for all school tasks but require adaptations to teaching methods and differentiated materials (e.g. larger font).These pupils will have an acuity score of<6/18 to >3/60 (World Health Organisation definition of partial blindness) 

Indicators

  • Clumsiness and poor hand-eye coordination.
  • Movement of head rather than eyes when reading.
  • Unusually short or long working distance.
  • Sitting awkwardly or in a bent or twisted position.
  • Complaints of dizziness, headaches or general eye discomfort.
  • Fear of heights.
  • Reluctance to join in physical activities.
  • Not answering questions or commands, unless addressed by name.
  • Closing or covering one eye.
  • Poor attention or concentration span, especially when observing demonstrations or activities across the room.
  • Inability to read and copy from the board.
  • Errors in reading and writing - confusions, reversals, omissions.
  • Problems reading back own writing.
  • Consistent loss of place when reading.
  • Difficulty searching for information on a page.
  • Written work does not reflect oral ability.

General Strategies

All tasks involving reading and writing may take longer for a pupil with VI and fatigue may reduce working efficiency.

  • Pupils with a VI should be encouraged to make use of any residual vision – allow them to adopt a position that most efficiently uses their residual vision.
  • Some pupils with a VI may need to hold text close to the eyes.
  • Viewing text from an angle may also benefit some pupils.
  • Many pupils with a VI are helped by using some form of magnification and should be encouraged to do so.
  • Good lighting is essential - either an even light throughout the room or individual task lighting.
  • Avoid glare: position the pupil away from direct sunlight.
  • Care must be taken not to over-enlarge printed resources as this may add to the pupil’s difficulties.
  • Diagrams may be confusing; redrawing in a simplified form may be more beneficial.
  • Provide individual notes, diagrams and equipment.
  • Seat the pupil with a VI near to the teacher to provide individual attention.
  • Read aloud what is written on the board and describe diagrams.
  • Clean boards regularly to maintain maximum contrast.
  • Address the pupil by name rather than pointing.
  • At all times, give verbal descriptions of activities going on in the room.
  • Modified print resources must be provided at the same time as the rest of the class receive theirs.

Text Formatting Strategies

  • Type size: The size of the type (known as point size) significantly affects its legibility and is one of the most important features to bear in mind. A minimum of 12 type should be used for all publications. However, RNIB recommends the use of 14 point to reach more people with sight problems.
  • Typeface: Avoid italic, simulated handwriting and ornate typefaces as these can be difficult to read.
  • Type style: Avoid capital letters as they are generally harder to read. A word or two in capitals is fine but avoid the use of capitals for continuous text.
  • Type weigh: People with sight problems often prefer bold or semi-bold weights to normal ones.  Avoid light type weights.
  • Leading: The space between one line of type and the next (known as leading) is important.  As a general rule, the space should be 1.5 to 2 times the space between words on a line.
  • Contrast: The contrast between the background and the type is also extremely important.  The better the contrast, the more legible it is. Contrast will be affected by the size and weight of the type. Provide clearly lined, good quality paper.
  • Numbers: If you print documents with numbers in them, choose a typeface in which the numbers are clear. Readers with sight problems can easily misread 3, 5, 8 and 0.
  • Line length: Ideally, line length should be between 60-70 letters per line. Lines that are too long or too short tire the eyes. The same applies to sentence and paragraph lengths, which should also be neither too long nor too short.
  • Word spacing and alignment: Keep to the same amount of space between each word. Do not condense or stretch lines of type. RNIB recommends aligning text to the left margin as it is easy to find the start and finish of each line and keeps the spaces even between words. It is best to avoid justified text as people can mistake large gaps between words for the end of the line.
  • Columns: Make sure the space between columns clearly separates them. If space is limited, use a vertical rule.

Additional Information

 

Back to top

 

Hearing Impaired (HI)

Pupils with hearing impairments range from those who have mild hearing impairment to those who are profoundly deaf. Hearing difficulties can be permanent or temporary.

Temporary losses are usually caused by the condition known as ‘glue ear’. This occurs mostly in early years. These hearing losses may be mild or moderate.

Permanent losses are generally sensori-neural and vary from mild to moderate, through to severe or profound. These pupils may have severe or profound communication difficulties resulting in language acquisition being affected.

Children who require hearing aids, adaptations to their environment and/or specific teaching strategies (e.g. British Sign Language) to access the language and concepts of the curriculum are regarded as having a hearing impairment.

Severe/Profound Hearing Loss
These pupils will have a hearing loss of 71 to 95+ decibels.

Mild/Moderate Loss
These pupils will have a hearing loss of 20 to 70 decibels.

Indicators

  • Does not respond when called.
  • A delay in learning to speak.
  • A lack of clarity in speech, slurring of words, incorrect pronunciation.
  • Unstressed words in speech (especially prepositions e.g. ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘up’) may be misinterpreted.
  • Watches faces/lips intently.
  • Reluctant to speak freely, e.g. a nod or shake of the head rather than saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
  • Displays of inappropriate behaviour or temper tantrums.
  • Verb tenses may be incorrect.
  • Any difficulty in listening and attending to speech.
  • Constantly asking for repetition — ‘pardon?’, ‘what?’, ‘eh?’
  • Failure to follow instructions straight away or misunderstands/ignores instructions.
  • Requires repeated explanations.
  • Watches what the others are doing before doing it themselves.
  • Continues with an activity when the rest of the class has sback to topped.
  • Doesn’t pick up information from overheard conversations.
  • Attempts to control and dominate conversation through talking.
  • Becomes withdrawn.
  • Makes little or no contribution to group or classroom discussions.
  • Shouts, or talks, overly loudly.
  • Speaks very softly.
  • Complains of not being able to hear.
  • Frequently seeks assistance from peers.
  • Low results in reading and oral subjects, but may have good results elsewhere.

General Strategies

  • Seat child near the front of the class and away from sources of noise e.g. outside traffic, noisy heaters, hum of Overhead Projector.
  • Make sure that you have the pupil’s attention before starting to talk, otherwise they may not have got the first part of the conversation or instructions.
  • Face the pupil when you are talking.
  • Try not to do any of these things:
    • cover your face with your hands or objects;
    • walk around the room;
    • standing with your back to a window as this creates a shadow.
  • Use whole sentences and not single words – if a child does not understand a word, use a different word with the same meaning.
  • Do not talk at the same time as writing on the black/whiteboard
  • Speak clearly, naturally and at a normal rate, shouting can distort lip patterns and also give the impression from facial expression that you are angry with the pupil.
  • Allow pupils time to read or look at visual aids and/or instructions before talking.
  • Encourage all children to say when they do not understand something as very often a HI child will nod and smile when in fact they do not understand.
  • When planning a lesson it is vital that time is taken to brief support staff on subject matter, including the key points or new concepts to be covered, as well as the vocabulary to be used.
  • Try not to presume that a pupil who is HI has certain general knowledge, check their understanding first.
  • Encourage the other pupils to speak one at a time and to raise their hands before speaking so that the HI pupil knows who is talking.
  • It is helpful to repeat what other pupils say, especially those who are sitting at a distance from the pupil who is HI.

Profoundly Deaf - Strategies

  • Make sure that you have their attention before starting to talk; otherwise they may not have got the first part of the conversation or instructions.
  • Speak clearly, naturally and at a normal rate – bear in mind that if you shout, this will distort lip patterns and can also give the impression from your facial expression that you are angry with them.
  • Face them when you are talking to them and allow some space between you and the child for signing or lip reading purposes, ideally keep a distance of between one and two metres.
  • Remember that lip reading involves a lot of guesswork because different words often have similar lip patterns.
  • Try not to cover your face with your hands or objects or walk around while you are speaking, as again it will make it difficult for a child to read facial expressions or lip read.
  • Avoid having your back to a window as this creates a shadow and makes it difficult for a deaf child to read facial expressions or lip read.

Partially Hearing - Strategies

  • Use whole sentences and not single words – if a child does not understand a word, use a different word with the same meaning.
  • Do not talk at the same time as writing on the black/white board.
  • Allow pupils time to read or look at visual aids and/or instructions before talking.
  • Encourage all children to say when they do not understand something as very often a partially hearing child will nod and smile when in fact they do not understand.
  • When planning a lesson it is vital that time is taken to brief support staff on subject matter, including the key points or new concepts to be covered, as well as the vocabulary to be used.
  • Bear in mind that some deaf children may not have complete auditory access to what is happening around them.

Additional Information

 

Back to top

 

Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD)

These pupils general level of academic attainment will be significantly lower than that of their peers. Their cognitive ability and/or attainment levels will be at or below the second percentile. Generally they will have difficulty acquiring literacy and numeracy skills. Other difficulties may include associated speech and language delay, low self-esteem, low levels of concentration and under developed social skills.

Indicators

  • Language and metalinguistic problems:
    • Restricted vocabulary
    • Poor syntactical awareness
    • Limited memory span for verbal materials
    • Difficulty in ‘word finding’
    • Weak listening comprehension
  • Phonological processing problems
  • Word recognition problems
  • Text-processing problems
  • Lack of imagination
  • Poor listening skills
  • Poor concentration and a short attention span
  • Poor coordination

General Strategies

  • Establish what the child knows (Assessment for Learning) and go back to that point (where difficulty may have occurred).
  • Allow the child to work at his/her own pace.
  • Structure learning in small achievable steps.
  • Provide visual instructions beside written ones.
  • Use visual sequential time schedules.
  • When using worksheets use:
    • Type size 14 point
    • 1.5 to 2 spacing between lines
    • Uncluttered presentation
    • Visual clues
    • Bright colours with clear contrast
  • Use bright colours.
  • Present the same concept in a number of ways so that learning is reinforced.
  • Repeat learning frequently to embed concepts.
  • Assess the child’s preferred learning style and direct teaching to that style when possible.
  • Use practical activities where possible.
  • Provide immediate feedback to reward effort.
  • Provide group work situations where the child’s talents can be used positively.
  • Short tasks.
  • Provide opportunities for success.

Advice and support can be obtained from the support services in:

SELB  SEELB  BELB  WELB  NEELB

 

Back to top

 

Physical Difficulties

A pupil’s physical disability or disabilities may be a result of illness or injury which may have short or long term consequence or it may arise from a congenital condition. Some pupils with physical disabilities may also have sensory impairments, neurological problems, behaviour problems and/or learning difficulties.

Cerebral Palsy

Spina Bifida and/or Hydrocephalus

Muscular Dystrophy

There is a wide range of physical disabilities affecting pupils across the whole ability range. Pupils with Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Spina Bifida and/or hydrocephalus will all have a medical diagnosis.

Significant Accidental Injury

Pupils in this category include those who have physical disabilities as a result of significant accidental injury. They are being provided with special educational provision on a long term basis to assist then in accessing the curriculum and the school facilities.

Indicators

Difficulty with:

  • Mobility
  • Gross motor skills
  • Fine motor skills
  • Communication skills
  • Emotional well-being
  • Social skills.

General Strategies

  • If a pupil has difficulty moving about, the school will need to assess the extent to which classrooms and corridors are wheelchair friendly. Issues to consider include:
    • the layout of the classroom (aim to maximise space);
    • the position of the learner in the classroom – are resources accessible to him or her?
    • the best route from one area of the school to another (the shortest route may not be the easiest);
    • the time the learner needs to get from one area to another;
    • whether another learner should be asked to help push a wheelchair (if the user does not control it) or be available to lend a hand or carry a bag, etc; and
    • if the learner has a wheelchair, if he or she can transfer in and out of it – e.g. to sit at a desk, or lie on a PE mat.  
  • Unless you have been properly trained, do not risk injury by lifting a pupil. Make sure you always have sufficient help on hand if lifting is necessary. 
  • If a pupil’s hand control is weak, consider using:
    • jumbo pencils, wax crayons, thick felt pens, paintbrushes held in the teeth or velcro-ed to the hand;
    • non-slip mats or even sticky tape to hold paper, books, plates etc in place;
    • foam rubber around cutlery handles;
    • rimmed, rather than flat plates;
    • specially-adapted computer switches and concept keyboards; and
    • different ways of recording work, such as word-processing, talking into a tape-recorder, and dictating to a friend. 
  • Give the pupil time and opportunity to initiate and/or complete an activity he or she is carrying out as independently as possible. 
  • Use a buddy system.
  • Make use of ICT aids.

Further information

 

Back to top