One of my abiding memories is of my dear (but ill-informed) brother spreading a tarpaulin under my daughter's dining chair when we came to stay with him. She was five, and whilst still learning to master her fine motor skills, she was fully conversant with the use of cutlery and as clean and tidy eater as any other five year old. After that meal, the tarpaulin went away and was never seen again....
In my job as a learning support assistant, I am always baffled to discover the children in my charge are initially rarely able to sit and eat a school dinner without using fingers and getting in a right old mess. Forks and spoons seem to be a hindrance, or completely alien. This makes the child a potential target for ridicule when sat on a table with 7 other children who (generally!) are tucking in without ending up wearing their dinner. As the mother of a child with Down's, I always felt that any risk of my child being made fun of or singled out as different was to be avoided if at all possible - obviously allowances have to be made for abilities, but if there is the remotest chance your child can learn a skill along with everyone else, then it should be taught as early as possible.
When my daughter was tiny, obviously I fed her with a spoon as you would with any toddler. But as soon as she was old enough to wield a spoon or fork, she was given the chance to feed herself - it didn't matter if she got in a mess to begin with, the first steps to independent eating had been taken.
Of course her food was cut up into manageable pieces, right up until adolescence when necessary - choking is still a hazard even now. But she was taught to sit at a table and eat 'properly'. Perhaps it helped that she spent her early years living in Greece where the culture is to go out to eat as a family along with other families and the children are expected to join in with the grown ups - no special chairs, kiddy meals or ball ponds in a taverna! It was wonderful to be complimented on both my children's manners when out to eat.
I do not think it is impossible to teach the above at an early age - a little boy I worked with a while back had a lot of difficulties with just about everything in mainstream school, including lunchtimes. But it didn't take very long at all to teach him to use the same cutlery as everyone else, and once he discovered how much more efficient that made him at getting the food into his mouth, he was off! From being on a table on his own after everyone else had gone out to play, smearing yoghurt over himself and everything within reach, he went to being able to sit and eat impeccably along with his peers - to the point where he was getting the compliments too. And it only took a matter of a few weeks.
It may be easier at home to spoonfeed your child, but it does become another 'learned helplessness' - and this has to be considered particularly if your child is attending mainstream school. There is not always the support available to help them fully during the lunchtime mayhem, and if your child can eat on their own it is a big advantage all round. Also, think of the washing you save!
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Good Advice is Always Welcome
I've been doing my job as an LSA for about 8 years now, as well as bringing up my own daughter who has Down's Syndrome, so most of the time I pretty much know what I am doing. However, there are always opportunities to learn and I am always very grateful when they come along.
For the past few weeks the little boy I am looking after has been visited by a speech therapist from an independent company, and she has requested not only that I sit in on her sessions but join in too. It's all very informal and child friendly and gets the best assessment out of the child whilst I can see her methods and get explanations of why she is doing what she is doing. Last week the little lad was off school sick and I was unable to cancel her visit in time, so we sat together for the hour session and discussed strategies, child development, progress, and went over what we in the school have been doing so far this school year. It was extremely useful and shed some insight on certain issues that I have been worried about and also validated the methods I have been using.
I learned a lot too, simple things that now sem blindingly obvious but hadn't occurred to me:
- If the child you are working with is one age but their cognitive age is considerably less, you have to lower your expectations to match the cognitive age. It is no use getting upset when the child is working within a group of their peers and is completely unable to even comprehend the activity, let alone complete it. Therefore, break activities down into simple steps, as simple as you need in order to get a result. Don't worry about comparing them to the other children or whether it is worth doing group work - if nothing else, the child is experiencing working within a group, learning to take turns, learning to listen, all skills which are necessary in mainsteam schooling. If the only thing the child has managed is to sit quietly, then praise this as next time they will remember that in this activity we sit quietly.
- Simplify tasks to have attainable goals. We have been rehearsing a Xmas play with the whole of Reception year, and I have been trying to teach the little boy signs to go with the songs. I was advised to keep it down to one sign per song line in order for him to learn something really well and not get flustered with too much to do when so much is going on. Same applies to daily tasks - make sure there is something they can be praised for and that you are not asking too much from the child. When you break what seems to be a pretty easy request into just how much the child has to process and remember, it is surprising to realise just how much has to go on in the brain.
-Don't be afraid to be unconventional in your approach - this is not something I have ever worried about, but it was nice to see someone else down on the floor doing silly voices with toys in order to keep the child focussed. You may look daft, but it works.
-When working on one specific target, don't concentrate on one resource i.e. we have been teaching the little boy two word phrases such as 'cat eating' using photographs. This should be backed up with toys, people, whatever you can find throughout the day so that these phrases are not just associated to the particular photos.
-Whilst it gets your point across when you stress 'b-b-b-ball', make sure you are not teaching the child that the word for ball is 'b-b-b-ball'! Children take adults literally at the best of times, so you have to be extra careful when working with children with special needs who cannot differentiate whether or not you are just showing them how to say the first sound of a word. (Oops, I am very guilty of this one - good job this was pointed out before he learns a stammer!)
The above are just a few of the very useful tips I have picked up lately - hopefully there will be many more before the visits come to an end.
For the past few weeks the little boy I am looking after has been visited by a speech therapist from an independent company, and she has requested not only that I sit in on her sessions but join in too. It's all very informal and child friendly and gets the best assessment out of the child whilst I can see her methods and get explanations of why she is doing what she is doing. Last week the little lad was off school sick and I was unable to cancel her visit in time, so we sat together for the hour session and discussed strategies, child development, progress, and went over what we in the school have been doing so far this school year. It was extremely useful and shed some insight on certain issues that I have been worried about and also validated the methods I have been using.
I learned a lot too, simple things that now sem blindingly obvious but hadn't occurred to me:
- If the child you are working with is one age but their cognitive age is considerably less, you have to lower your expectations to match the cognitive age. It is no use getting upset when the child is working within a group of their peers and is completely unable to even comprehend the activity, let alone complete it. Therefore, break activities down into simple steps, as simple as you need in order to get a result. Don't worry about comparing them to the other children or whether it is worth doing group work - if nothing else, the child is experiencing working within a group, learning to take turns, learning to listen, all skills which are necessary in mainsteam schooling. If the only thing the child has managed is to sit quietly, then praise this as next time they will remember that in this activity we sit quietly.
- Simplify tasks to have attainable goals. We have been rehearsing a Xmas play with the whole of Reception year, and I have been trying to teach the little boy signs to go with the songs. I was advised to keep it down to one sign per song line in order for him to learn something really well and not get flustered with too much to do when so much is going on. Same applies to daily tasks - make sure there is something they can be praised for and that you are not asking too much from the child. When you break what seems to be a pretty easy request into just how much the child has to process and remember, it is surprising to realise just how much has to go on in the brain.
-Don't be afraid to be unconventional in your approach - this is not something I have ever worried about, but it was nice to see someone else down on the floor doing silly voices with toys in order to keep the child focussed. You may look daft, but it works.
-When working on one specific target, don't concentrate on one resource i.e. we have been teaching the little boy two word phrases such as 'cat eating' using photographs. This should be backed up with toys, people, whatever you can find throughout the day so that these phrases are not just associated to the particular photos.
-Whilst it gets your point across when you stress 'b-b-b-ball', make sure you are not teaching the child that the word for ball is 'b-b-b-ball'! Children take adults literally at the best of times, so you have to be extra careful when working with children with special needs who cannot differentiate whether or not you are just showing them how to say the first sound of a word. (Oops, I am very guilty of this one - good job this was pointed out before he learns a stammer!)
The above are just a few of the very useful tips I have picked up lately - hopefully there will be many more before the visits come to an end.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Chew Toys!
You learn something every day - the last little boy I worked with used to grind his teeth really badly throughout the day. It was so loud, you could hear it across the room and it must have been playing havoc with his teeth. The only way I could stop it temporarily was to squeeze his cheeks gently between my fingers - but you can't keep doing that all day! My current little boy when tired or listening on the carpet makes a loud bull-froggy noise from the back of his mouth, which while it is harming no-one can be very distracting when the whole class is supposed to be listening to the teacher. Also, there is no way I can prevent him from making this noise, short of sticking my fingers in his mouth - which is NOT going to happen!
His mum, however, went on the case and came up with a possible solution, Apparently, you can buy human chew toys! See them for sale here. I guess that is no different to a teething ring and if it has the desired result, then it is a wonderful tool. So there is one on the way and we shall see what happens - watch this space!
His mum, however, went on the case and came up with a possible solution, Apparently, you can buy human chew toys! See them for sale here. I guess that is no different to a teething ring and if it has the desired result, then it is a wonderful tool. So there is one on the way and we shall see what happens - watch this space!
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Starting to Read
The child I am working with at the moment is the fourth one that I will teach to begin to read. In the school where I work, the system for the other children is Synthetic Phonics which is good to know but will not go very far towards helping a very young child with Down's to read just yet. We usually continue including the child with the others in Phonics groups, but work harder on whole word recognition in these early stages.
The way I do this is to make a small 'All About Me' book. It's just a plain exercise book and I type up a few simple sentences to illustrate photographs from home. For instance,the first pages will consist of pictures of the child and their immediate family, with the words 'I can see Mum. Hello Mum. This is my Mum' etc. used underneath. As the first few words taught to the rest of the class are also Mum, Dad, I, can, see, the, cat, dog, it works out well. For children who also have speech difficulties, this helps a great deal with stock phrases being learnt that can be used in everyday life.
The book is then used on a daily basis for about ten minutes at a time - more if the child is enthusiastic - initially just read the text while pointing at each word as you say it. Gradually, as these words become more and more familiar, you get the child to read along with you and eventually to read independently. Along the way, you introduce cut out or magnetic matching words and show the child how to find and match each word while saying it out loud. Throughout your day, if you come across a printed word elsewhere that matches what he is learning, point it out and read it - it is quite important to avoid the pitfall of the child thinking that these words only have meaning when read in the All About Me book. As the vocabulary widens, it helps to have labels on such objects such as door, window, chair, table etc.
I will also be introducing flashcards of the first few words and slowly adding new words such as names of classmates, the words that will be used on future pages of the book, and selections from the 100 most common word list held in class. The flashcards are never used in a sit-down-read-this kind of way - you can invent all kinds of games to make this more interesting - labelling passing children, having a few words on the desk and getting the child to find one that matches an object, or even, if they are not impressed with this activity, getting them to put each word away as you read it, the reward being the end of the activity. I am currently using the child's snack as a fun incentive for counting and word finding - he brings in yoghurt covered raisins which can be used in hundreds of ways to help the learning process as well as being a good basis for some conversation and signing practice - ' I want MORE!' 'How many more, 1,2,3,4, or 5?'
Funny how the answer is invariably 'Five!'
The way I do this is to make a small 'All About Me' book. It's just a plain exercise book and I type up a few simple sentences to illustrate photographs from home. For instance,the first pages will consist of pictures of the child and their immediate family, with the words 'I can see Mum. Hello Mum. This is my Mum' etc. used underneath. As the first few words taught to the rest of the class are also Mum, Dad, I, can, see, the, cat, dog, it works out well. For children who also have speech difficulties, this helps a great deal with stock phrases being learnt that can be used in everyday life.
The book is then used on a daily basis for about ten minutes at a time - more if the child is enthusiastic - initially just read the text while pointing at each word as you say it. Gradually, as these words become more and more familiar, you get the child to read along with you and eventually to read independently. Along the way, you introduce cut out or magnetic matching words and show the child how to find and match each word while saying it out loud. Throughout your day, if you come across a printed word elsewhere that matches what he is learning, point it out and read it - it is quite important to avoid the pitfall of the child thinking that these words only have meaning when read in the All About Me book. As the vocabulary widens, it helps to have labels on such objects such as door, window, chair, table etc.
I will also be introducing flashcards of the first few words and slowly adding new words such as names of classmates, the words that will be used on future pages of the book, and selections from the 100 most common word list held in class. The flashcards are never used in a sit-down-read-this kind of way - you can invent all kinds of games to make this more interesting - labelling passing children, having a few words on the desk and getting the child to find one that matches an object, or even, if they are not impressed with this activity, getting them to put each word away as you read it, the reward being the end of the activity. I am currently using the child's snack as a fun incentive for counting and word finding - he brings in yoghurt covered raisins which can be used in hundreds of ways to help the learning process as well as being a good basis for some conversation and signing practice - ' I want MORE!' 'How many more, 1,2,3,4, or 5?'
Funny how the answer is invariably 'Five!'
Toilet Doll - Update
Not that there is much to update actually - the doll works fine, but the child it is aimed at was not impressed! He likes to see the doll pee into a toy potty on the table, away from the actual toilets, that he finds great fun. However, take it to the loo to use as a demonstration of what is required, that's another matter! Several times I have had ro rescue the 'mini-me' from nearly being thrown down the toilet in contempt.
We will persevere - I don't think it's anything to do with the toy or behaviour, just that the child isn't quite ready yet. In the meantime, I've sent the doll home with him for the weekend to see if it has any effect when used in familiar surroundings. Let's hope he doesn't come back to me tomorrow damp.....
We will persevere - I don't think it's anything to do with the toy or behaviour, just that the child isn't quite ready yet. In the meantime, I've sent the doll home with him for the weekend to see if it has any effect when used in familiar surroundings. Let's hope he doesn't come back to me tomorrow damp.....
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
So in an effort to speed the training process along a little, I came up with the idea of a very visual aid. Last year I used a teddy with a small bottle of water held behind him in order to simulate the toy having a wee in the loo, but I felt this might not be the way to go with my current charge. So I whizzed up a little 'mini-me' out of felt.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Back to Basics
This September I am back working in Reception class for the first time in 4 years, with a new little boy to get to know. This year it has been possible to prepare very thoroughly as the school has had a major change in the number of classrooms and their layout, which has meant starting completely from scratch. So the teacher and I have had many discussions on how to arrange a little learning area for the new child, where to put it and how to stock it. It's been fantastic for the first time to be so completely organised rather than jammed into the nearest available corner. There is a work table, a noticeboard, my own set of drawers for various equipment and resources, even storage for my reference material.
However, I fear this learning area is going to remain unused for a while - I had forgotten the mayhem of those first weeks with a bunch of four year olds who have to have time to adjust to being in school and for us staff to get to know them and their foibles! It's been a good start to the school year, with what seems to be a calm and well adjusted class of children but to be honest, this week each day is just a matter of them charging around exploring their new environment and playing with just about everything they see. Combine that with teaching my new child all about the toilet and trying to get a routine established to avoid any further dampness(!), the hours fly by and any achievements are quite small and unremarkable.
But I know things will slowly calm down and then I can get on with my job properly. These early days are quite crucial even though they don't feel like it - if you don't establish a rapport with your target child in the beginning, there isn't much hope of you achieving an awful lot in the years ahead.
However, I fear this learning area is going to remain unused for a while - I had forgotten the mayhem of those first weeks with a bunch of four year olds who have to have time to adjust to being in school and for us staff to get to know them and their foibles! It's been a good start to the school year, with what seems to be a calm and well adjusted class of children but to be honest, this week each day is just a matter of them charging around exploring their new environment and playing with just about everything they see. Combine that with teaching my new child all about the toilet and trying to get a routine established to avoid any further dampness(!), the hours fly by and any achievements are quite small and unremarkable.
But I know things will slowly calm down and then I can get on with my job properly. These early days are quite crucial even though they don't feel like it - if you don't establish a rapport with your target child in the beginning, there isn't much hope of you achieving an awful lot in the years ahead.
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