Scenarios

Things to try – ideas and suggestions

This section describes some typical group sessions and suggests how ICT could be used to support and include pupils with severe and complex needs.

The section includes various types of formal and informal session and refers to software, strategies and devices that may be used. Each section describes some resources and how they can be set up to cater for different needs. Each activity contains some suggested resources; think about how they can be used for other activities.
The suggestions focus on two pupils in one class who have additional needs that make it difficult for them to participate fully in some class and school activities.

• John is a bright sociable pupil who is unable to speak and has difficulty with fine and gross motor control. He can use a switch to operate a single message or Step-by Step communicator and also point to operate a simple overlay on an IntelliKeys overlay keyboard. He is well liked and accepted by the rest of the pupils in his class. However they tend to ‘mother’ him. They will often answer for him, help him by doing everything for him and treat him as the class pet.
• Sharon has a visual impairment along with some motor and learning difficulties. She is able to see and handle learning materials that are close to her. She has some additional support assistant time to prepare additional materials and to help her make sense of class activities. She often finds the noise and bustle of the classroom intimidating and is being encouraged to play a bigger part. She enjoys using ICT and has begun to enjoy showing her skills to other pupils.

Some of their classmates have additional learning and sensory difficulties and also require additional support, especially modified and adapted learning materials. In particular one is very reluctant to talk but enjoys using the computer with a mouse and is often provided with an on-screen grid to use to support his communication. This grid usually is similar to the overlays provided for John and Sharon.

Scenario 1 – Getting started – Greetings and news

Pupils arriving in school will encounter a variety of situations where they will meet and greet others. These range from the informal groupings of the school bus or taxi to the formal class routines such as ‘Circle-time’.

Each of these situations can involve different types of greetings from a formal “Good-morning” to a “hi-ya”. News about the weekend may be exchanged on Monday morning or last nights ‘East Enders’ events discussed.

The pupils will also meet different adults and pupils who may not be familiar with them and what support they need, so any equipment used should be easy to program and all staff should be aware of how it is used.

John comes to school each morning in a school bus that also collects a number of other pupils. The following examples illustrate ways in which ICT can help John in the morning’s activities.

Not necessarily all on the same morning!

Example 1a – Saying “Hello”

Each morning John meets a number of people on his way to school. Many of them will say hello to him. He has a One Step communicator programmed with his favourite greeting “Hi-ya”, fastened to his wheelchair tray. He really likes pressing this, all the time! All the adults that meet John have been told that he is trying to restrict his greetings to the first time he sees someone and not to press the communicator indiscriminately.

The adults that John meets each morning have been asked to help by also responding in an appropriate way to the greeting and not to keep encouraging him to repeat his greeting.

This morning he is able to say hello to six people including the bus escort, the driver, his best friend on the bus, the teacher who helps him off the bus, the school secretary and the rest of the class during Circle-time.

Example 1b – Telling news

Last night John went to see his brother play in a local football team. His brother has recorded a message in the One Step communicator so that John is able to tell his class about the match when he gets to school. On the way he also tells everybody he meets, many times!

Example 1c – Calling the register

The morning routine in John’s class involves the register being called. Each pupil’s name has been recorded in a Step-by-Step communicator. This morning it is John’s turn to call the register. He gets very excited and is working on waiting for each pupil to answer before pressing the communicator to call the next name. The rest of the class joins in by waiting for their name to be called and then answering clearly.

Example 1d – The day’s events

During Circle-time the day’s events are discussed. John and other pupils have already used a Step-by-Step communicator programmed with the day’s events to lead a discussion. John and another pupil are beginning to use pictures on an overlay keyboard. Today they are both using this to lead the discussion.
The pictures on the overlay are used alongside a talking word-processor to read out and print a record of the day’s events. A tactile version of the overlay has also been created for Sharon who is beginning to use objects of reference to plan her daily activities.

Key skills and equipment

The key skills for the above examples are the ability to:

• programme simple communicators
• create overlays with pictures linked to a talking word-processor

The key equipment is:

• One Step communicator
• Step-by-Step communicator
• Wheelchair mounting for the communicator using a variable friction mounting arm
• IntelliKeys overlay keyboard
• Talking word processor

For more information, see Unit 3 – Language and communication and Unit 8 – The development of switching skills

Scenario 2 - Whole school activities

In John’s school each class take turns at leading a school assembly. As well as John there are other pupils who use switches and each time the class lead assembly their teacher uses a piece of switch-operated equipment or a computer program to include John and the others in the presentation. Pupils in other classes are also asked to help by using some of the switch equipment.

Example 2a – Providing music A PowerLink mains unit lets John use his switch to provide music at the beginning and end of the assembly. This is used in latched mode, so John is learning to start and stop the music at the right time. He is very enthusiastic and needs some assistance as he is liable to produce music frequently throughout the assembly.

Example 2c – Describing a school trip Having just been on a school trip John’s class have used SwitchIt! Maker to create a presentation using the photos taken with a digital camera. This presentation also included spoken descriptions recorded by some of the class. John can use his switch to change the pictures during the presentation. When using the slides the hall was blacked out and a screen and data projector were used to project the computer images.

This ICTS website is maintained by Inclusive Technology.