edbydesign.com is an Australian website  dedicated to helping kids of all abilities learn. Online since 1997.




Special Needs Corner Newsletter - April  2004

Teaching language to children and teenagers with special needs can be challenging. Rather than bore and confuse you with the latest theories, I thought I'd share my experiences from my teaching days. As a qualified special-ed teacher, I've taught language in a number of different environments to children with a wide range of abilities. I always found it more practical to focus on functional language - i.e. language that meant something to them (not me, or the people that made school policy).

Get their attention - use the things they know about!
One group I taught consisted of 5 teenagers with severe to profound intellectual disabilities. Three were severely autistic, with only one of them having any functional language, one had a severe intellectual disability and the other two had multiple disabilities.  For all of them, communication was a challenge - only two could talk and even then, their vocabulary was very limited.  But we still had a language program and it focused on our everyday routines.  One of the more successful of these was the "morning tea program".  Each morning we would sit down and make biscuits with vegemite, peanut butter or cheese.  Each student had to choose what they wanted on their biscuit.  They could choose by pointing to the object or a symbol which was placed in front of them, picking up or leaning towards an object or saying the objects name. To me, this was using language in it most functional way - to communicate a want or a need.

I took this approach for almost all our daily routines and for variety, we would go on a weekly outing (bowling, fire station, shopping, beach, zoo etc) and then use those words to make books, sentences, posters, anything we could think of to illustrate to the students that we were doing something and they had a choice in it - even if it was a very small choice.  So even though the students couldn't read, write or really hold a conversation, we had a very full, functional language program.

Make it meaningful
In my junior special-needs class (5 children, aged 5 - 12), again with mix of limited language abilities, we focused on the things around us, the activities we did, and because they were younger and a little more able, we also used picture book stories.  One of the most successful language activities for this class was Morning Circle.  We would each greet each other with a word, touch or even a look, and then talk about what we were going to do that day.  This would lead to what things we'd need to take, who had them, who didn't, who was doing what... you get the picture.  All the things we talked about were represented symbols on a whiteboard.  For each activity we had a book to illustrate the sequence of events, and each student had a book that was only about them and the things they could do.  During our reading time, someone would choose a book to read and we would point out words, letters, people and things within the book.  So even with the children's limited abilities, we still had a very full language program. And it meant something to them - it gave their day structure, put things into context for them, increased their vocabulary so they had more to talk about and gave them choices, which gave them some control over the things they were doing (which makes them feel good).

This is just a small, quick sample of the things that are possible in the way of language and children with disabilities. Now that I've started thinking back, almost all of the special needs software we've developed is based on this practical approach.  Food for Thought comes from the morning tea and 'lunch language' lessons we used to have.  My Time, a scheduling program, comes partly from 'Morning Circle' and the daily schedule I used to make for one of my autistic students.  Animals Galore reminds me of the trips we used to make to the zoo, farm and wild-life parks and the books we used to make afterwards.  Out in the Community is a reflection of the places, people and things we used to do on our weekly trips.

I've included here three worksheets of the type I used to use and which may give you more ideas of how you can apply language in a practical way.

Worksheet 1: Daily schedule (created with My Time software)
Worksheet 2: Making a choice - morning tea program
Worksheet 3: Practical application for writing practice and learning personal details.

Got a great idea?
Send us your great language ideas for children with special needs and we'll share them with others on our web site.  Each newsletter will have a theme and our subscribers will get the chance to share their ideas for each theme.

Our new software program, In My Home, is based on the theme of Home and there are some good language opportunities in the Communications activity. In "communications' the student is required to complete the sentence by choosing a symbol from the choice bar. For classroom groups and individuals, this activity lends itself to discussion and thinking. by providing a base for discussion and thinking their lives at home, what they like to do and help with and how they feel about it.

"At home, I'm good at... clearing the table"

The sentences can be printed out, so you can use them in a number of different ways like:  - cutting out the symbols and have the student build the sentence again.  - cutting out the symbols and words separately and you have a neat way to reinforce reading, matching and sequencing skills.  - print all the sentences made to produce a book - a great way to reinforce reading skills. See a printed sample.

We've released two new software program for special needs children - Out in the Community and In My Home as mentioned above.  Both titles can be ordered straight from our secure web site!

We've also updated the look of our site and and added some new activities for all the kids that visit our web site.  See our new ART IS FUN section where children can learn about famous painters and their works.  Try out the Drawing Board where you can trace famous works of art or create your own masterpiece.

Number Cruncher is our new Flash math game which will test your math skills in all areas of number and give you a nice clap if you get all the answers right.  Good for Juniors to Genius'

Oh yes, and if you're one of the many people already using some of our software, we'd love some feedback from you.  Constructive comments, good and bad, will help us develop better software that meets your needs.  Email us!

If you've found this newsletter useful or you think someone else might, you can tell a friend about us.

If you're not on our mailing list for this newsletter and you'd like to be, please subscribe here