What does inclusive education look like when you commit to including every child?

Building an inclusive learning environment is a commitment to recognising and addressing the diverse needs of every child. It also means creating an environment where all children feel welcome, valued and that they belong, without having to ask!

Being intentional in the set up of your learning environment will drive successful outcomes in engagement and positive behaviour. Children who experience an inclusive learning environment develop not only academically, but also socially and emotionally.

Just as inclusive architecture focuses on creating environments that are usable by all people – in education, resources and adjustments that may be a priority for some, can be used by all to enable opportunity.

These resources and adjustments encourage learning environments to:

• provide information and content in various ways to accommodate diverse learning styles
• offer various ways for students to engage with the content, which encourages motivation and interest
• allow students to demonstrate their understanding in different ways, which recognises different strengths and preferences

When you minimise the barriers to learning and create an inclusive environment, ALL students are set up for success. This approach is particularly important in the early childhood setting, when needs may not yet have been identified and children are at different stages of development, with varying abilities.

Part of the equity and equality picture

There’s another buzzword you may have heard in education – Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

UDL guides the creation of learning outcomes, resources and assessments that work for everyone. While some children will need more individualised adjustments and tools to participate in an environment, UDL closes the gap that needs to be filled by an individual.

For example, height adjustable desks in a classroom mean that a child who uses a wheelchair some or all of the time, can still sit at the same desks and in the same space as all of the other children. In addition, taller children and smaller children can also set the desk to the height that best suits them rather than needing a cushion or having to sit at a different desk. These children ‘just fit’ in their classroom and there is no requirement to apply for extra funding, have special meetings to organise an appropriate desk, nor to encounter challenges when the class moves to a different room where the ‘special desk’ is not available. There may also be some days where all children would benefit from alternating between standing and sitting.

Communication is no different. Though the majority of children in our childcare and school settings communicate with spoken words, many need or prefer other methods such as sign, symbols, typing, body language and more. Many children benefit from alternate methods some of the time, or to enhance their expression or understanding through visual channels.

Just as PowerPoint, photos, maps and pictures add visual meaning and interest to our conversations and learning, visual displays can do the same for our children by expanding on the spoken word. All children can benefit from the inclusion of symbolic communication displays to enhance understanding, idea generation and expressive communication. With varied methods of communication available, those who need or prefer to use them will ‘just fit’ into their learning environment too. The communication displays also have a beneficial impact on those who may not speak English as a first language, may be shy, or as yet have not been identified as someone who may benefit from a personalised communication system.

It’s never one-size fits all, especially when we consider preferences

Remember that preferences are part of the equality equation and are an important component in creating your inclusive learning environment. Taking preferences into account is crucial because it acknowledges that children have different ways of processing information and engaging with their surroundings. And those preferences may change based on the activity or environment.

Considering preferences promotes a sense of autonomy and agency among children. When children have choices in how they learn and demonstrate their understanding, they are more likely to be actively engaged and invested in their learning process. It’s empowering to feel valued and supported when exploring your own unique interests and strengths!

As we aim to create an inclusive world that includes communication accessibility opportunities, we need to ensure that symbolic communication starts in the early years as a component of UDL (also referred to as Tier 1 support). We can not know which children may need or prefer to use symbols for communication later in life, nor those who benefit from the symbols to enhance their comprehension of speech. Rather than waiting to find out, let’s give opportunities early.

It’s better to be glad we did, than to regret we didn’t

Integrating symbolic communication into existing curricula can be done with a few simple adjustments. By incorporating visual aids alongside other forms of communication, all children will feel empowered to express themselves effectively. And as we mentioned earlier, embracing inclusive communication practices early, not only benefits people with specific needs, but fosters empathy and understanding among all children preparing them for a diverse and interconnected world.

At Two Way Street, we’ve started our quest to ensure that people see symbolic communication as ‘just part of it’ rather than it being different or special.

Our first Communication For All Pack is available now, for the Early Childhood setting. We’ve done all the work, so you can create a truly communication inclusive environment. The pack includes symbolic communication displays for common activities in kindy or childcare settings, along with posters that value, respect and represent symbolic communication, plus downloadable templates to help you implement inclusive communication practices.

Want to know more?

Take a closer look at the Communication For All Pack – Early Childhood. And get in touch with the team at Two Way Street for more information.

When you’re little, emotions are big! Think back to when you were young. Did you throw an occasional tantrum? Did you have a bad day and go over it again and again in your head? Until you eventually talked about it with someone you trust and finally felt that huge sense of relief from a problem shared… Probably. 

We’ve all had a tough few years and kids have watched their world evolve in ways we could never imagine a short time ago. One of the main messages conveyed when the world was in the turmoil of a pandemic was to ‘stay connected’. We stay connected with one another through sharing stories, ideas, thoughts and even our sense of humour. And we use language to manage our emotions – to tell people how we’re feeling, to validate ourselves, to get help and to regulate ourselves. 

What happens when you have a communication disability?

So just imagine, you have a million thoughts in your head – some are worries about the future, some are funny stories about your day, some are wondering about what’s happening with your body… but, you need an augmentative communication system like a PODD or communication device, and maybe also a communication partner to share your thoughts clearly. You may not get the same opportunities to talk things through like your siblings or peers.

Emotional development is extremely intertwined with language development. During early years of communication, parents describe their own emotions and the emotions of their child. This ‘emotion talk’ is how we navigate our feelings and start to create our belief systems that stay with us through life. So it’s time to start talking about the important stuff with children with a communication disability, as early as possible, so they too can build a strong foundation for emotional well-being.

Here’s our top strategies on how you can start ‘talking about stuff’ to help manage those emotions

Set the scene

Just being aware that emotional development and language development go hand-in-hand is important. Think about all the things that happen in a day that can affect a child emotionally. Create a supportive environment, where you notice when your child may have had strong feelings about something. Celebrate and acknowledge those feelings when you notice them, and do that often! There may not be a response from the child yet, but it’s a great way to ensure they feel heard and can navigate those feelings. And keep talking about stuff in age appropriate ways! 

Provide learning opportunities

Make vocabulary available. Further to that, model emotional conversations. These conversations may be about something that happened that day or what’s happening in a story you’re reading. You can also scaffold and co-construct messages, to figure out what is happening for your child and help them learn what it means to feel a certain way, how to share their feelings with others and how to indicate why they’re feeling that way. 

Promote independence

It is crucial to encourage independent exploration and problem solving from an early age, no matter how a child communicates. Ask children to direct you when appropriate, respect preferences and begin to negotiate. Perhaps you could include your child in interviews with support workers. Any time you find yourself advocating for your child, add those messages to their communication system and show them how to advocate for themselves. Let them hear from people with lived experiences of communication difficulties. Always respect and enable privacy and authorship for anyone using AAC. Do they have the opportunity to talk privately? Can they tell you ‘don’t say that’ or ‘don’t tell anyone’?  Can they clarify a message, or say ‘that’s not what I meant’? 

By adopting these simple strategies, you can help your little one manage big emotions and navigate their world with confidence and resilience. 

Learn more

To learn more about positive emotional development in children with communication difficulties, take the FREE Two Way Street online course ‘Talking About The Important Stuff’. The course gives parents and key communication partners the skills and knowledge they need to enable meaningful conversations with their kids. 

A program that builds the capacity of children with complex communication needs and their key communication partners to have conversations that will improve their emotional well-being and self-advocacy skills.

Presented by Margie Charlesworth and Janelle Sampson at the AGOSCI National Conference in Hobart on September 4-6, 2022.

Abstract:

The ‘Talking About Important Stuff’ project aims to help children with complex communication needs (CCN) and  their parents talk about important topics such as health, hopes, worries, fears and the harder subjects such as death and loss. 

The program will target early development of skills such as emotional development, well-being, and self-advocacy with a particular focus (as a pilot program) on young children and their parents. At completion of  the  project, a free online training program will be available that includes video lessons, real stories, examples and practice activities so that parents can share and teach their children how to  talk about stuff. The training program will support opportunities for children  and their parents to  learn and practice vocabulary, skills, and habits. We also hope to build on their attitudes and insights into the uniqueness and autonomy of their children.

It is important to acknowledge that this project is not about doing or expecting anything extra than the natural conversations that occur for parents and their children who do not have CCN. We simply aim to ensure that children with CCN do not miss out on this valuable learning and connection with their parents and/or people. 

This presentation  will share the progress of the project to date including a literature review and input from the project advisory committee and content  contributors, many of whom have CCN, or are  parents of children with CCN. This information will make up the key messages to be presented in the online program. 

A sense of belonging is at the heart of inclusion.  At Two Way Street, we believe this to be true.  Inclusion is about more than a place, about more than just being in the same room as your peers.  Inclusion is about a sense of belonging, about not only being accepted but about being valued and appreciated for who you are.

For students with complex communication needs, this also means being valued and appreciated for how they communicate, and that their voices are heard just as clearly as those of their peers.  So how do we develop a sense of belonging for students with complex communication needs in inclusive schools?

To start with, we need to ensure that students with complex communication needs are able to connect with their peers and educators.  When students with disability start school, there is often a lot of focus on how they will access the curriculum.  But what is arguably more important is ensuring that from the outset, students with complex communication needs are able to form connections within the school community, and build and maintain relationships as they progress through their grades.

Some simple strategies to assist with building connections may include:

• Adding the names of educators and peers into the student’s communication system (before they start school if possible) – this can be added as a link in the ‘people’ pages
• Setting up a ‘quick chat’ page, with messages directed to peers (such as, “can I play?”), so that AAC users can quickly and easily initiate conversations and play with their peers
• Providing educators and other adults within the school community with strategies that will support them to successfully interact with the child (e.g., providing the student additional processing time when needed, allowing ‘wait time’ when interacting with the student, talking to the student the same way they talk to their same age peers)
• For educators, from the first day of school, facilitating discussions about the different ways that people communicate and highlighting that everyone communicates in lots of different ways (e.g., nodding and shaking your head, pointing, writing this down, smiling)
• For parents, sending a letter to the parents of students in your child’s class, to provide a simple explanation about how your child communicates; this allows parents to answer any questions that their children may have at home with simple, factual information

An important component of belonging is the sense that you are accepted and valued by your community.  For students with complex communication needs, the presence of AAC within the environment sends the message that their language is important, and valued within the school community.  As a speech pathologist working in schools, I find that this works best when symbolic language, perhaps in the form of an aided language display (ALD), is embedded into classroom routines and activities that already exist.  This way, AAC becomes an enhancing component of existing activities, rather than an additional activity that educators have to fit into their day.  Here are just some examples of how AAC can be embedded into the school community (all of these examples are from inclusive kindergartens or schools in South Australia).

Embedding AAC tools within the environment is an important starting point in developing a sense of belonging for students with complex communication needs.  The next step is to support other people in the environment to use the communication tools during interactions.  This should include everyone from the teachers, teacher aides, school administration staff, and perhaps most importantly, peers.  When other people use a child’s communication system (or other AAC tools) while interacting with them, it implies to the student with complex communication needs that how they communicate is important, that their voice is valued, and that they belong.

Running a formal peer training session can be a useful strategy in supporting students to develop familiarity with their peer’s communication system, and building their confidence in interacting with their peer.  It is important to note that peer training sessions should be developed and run in collaboration with the student with complex communication needs and their family.

Activities in peer training sessions can include:

• A whole class discussion about all the different ways that people communicate
• Watching a video featuring a Person using AAC, such as:
  • For kindergarten / junior primary school students: Play School: Callaghan Visits the Library https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J64r9MBRt4g 
  • For upper primary / high school students: Lost Voice Guy at the Britain’s Got Talent Finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2YJYVYYhfI 
• Small group activities, which may include:
  • Playing a group game while using an aided language display (e.g. Simon Says).  Students can practice a specific communication skill, such as modelling key words while giving instructions or providing partner-assisted scanning to allow another student to communicate  a message.
  • Going on a ‘word hunt’, where students have to find specific words / messages in (a copy of) their peer’s communication book or device.  The messages that are included in the ‘word hunt’ should be relevant and useful in supporting peer interactions (e.g. ‘greeting and manners’ words, sharing an opinion).  Once they have completed the word hunt, the students can also just explore the system to find other words then try using the words they have found in role plays or conversation.
  • Designing a communication board for the school environment.  This assists students to understand that communication happens all the time, and that they can be advocates for communication accessibility at their school.  A relevant and often highly motivating activity is for students to design a communication board for their school playground.

When students feel as though they belong, they feel accepted and valued by their community.  It is therefore the shared responsibility of individuals within a particular community to embrace each and every child for who they are, and to recognise their own unique strengths.  For students with complex communication needs, this also means valuing how they communicate, by building a school community that understands and embraces AAC.  This will allow students with complex communication needs to be who they really are; to belong, in their school communities.  Because, to quote AAC user Sara Pyska, author of Inside My Outside,

“the feeling of being yourself with someone is priceless”.

To download free Aided Language Displays visit  https://twowaystreet.com.au/online-learning-and-products/ 

For more examples of children who use AAC in inclusive settings, visit https://vimeo.com/showcase/8678812 

For more information about building peer relationships for for beginning communicators in inclusive primary school settings, visit https://spaace.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Building-Peer-Relationships-2021.pdf