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Special
Education Needs |
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TEACHING STRATEGIES
TO HELP WITH
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS -
TEACHING
PUPILS WITH SPEECH & LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
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Teach prepositions
one at a time, perhaps using visual reinforcement.
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Use
gestures, repetition and choose words at the child's level of difficulty.
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Talk
to pupils as much as possible, using slower speech rate, shorter remarks,
simpler sentences, repetition, exaggeration and gestures.
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Choose
questions carefully giving pupils opportunities to use language; how?
Why? If - then ... Avoid closed questions with yes/no answers.
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Encourage games which use the senses.
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Play
games that talk about making mistakes, then "fixing them". E.g.
If I said "I want a baw" I would have to fix it and say, "I want a
ball."
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Reinforce self-corrections. i.e. if a child makes a mistake
and corrects it himself, then praise him and say, "Well done, you
fixed that up by saying 'ball'".
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Use
labelled praise. E.g. "You read that well. I really heard
the ch sound in cheese."
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Make
modelled corrections. E.g. child says, "Look at the bat cat".
You respond by saying, "Yes, a black cat, a dark black one."
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Don't
ask the child repeatedly to say the correct word over and over.
Just say it yourself several times so that the child will notice.
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Verbalise thoughts and actions as they happen.
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Use
role play to give children opportunities to work in pairs where they
take turns at being speaker and listener
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Encourage
an atmosphere where children are not afraid to ask for clarification.
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Try
to find a 'buddy' for the child with speech difficulties - very often
children can communicate better through each other.
- Use carefully graded reading
books. Oxford Literacy Scheme publish a list of commonly used
books and have graded them according to difficulty.
Auditory
Processing
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Play listening games where
children have to listen for the sounds around them. You could
also record common sounds and ask children to identify them.
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In science use containers
with different contents and get children to identify them by shaking.
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In music have children close
eyes while teacher taps out a rhythm. Children can try to count
the beats or can repeat pattern back.
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With closed eyes try to teach
children to discriminate between near and far sounds, loud and soft
sounds, high and low sounds.
- Play find the sound where
a ticking clock or a music box is hidden.
Expressive
Disorders
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Teach vocabulary through
examples and demonstrations.
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Keep instructions simple.
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Prepositions are best taught
one at a time.
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Encourage children to speak
by asking open-ended questions such as How? and Why?
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Verbalise actions as you
do them.
- Have short role plays where
child takes alternate parts in turn.
Receptive
Disorders
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Use gestures to help child
understand your instructions.
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Talk to the child in short
simple sentences.
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Encourage children to explore
through their senses and talk about what they see, feel, hear etc.
Sample Phonics Lesson
(pdf)
Prepositions worksheet 1 (for
young children) (pdf)
Preposition worksheet 2
(pdf)
Rhythm Rhyme
(pdf)
(Elective)
Mutism
- Think
about using a picture exchange system. Take photographs of the child
doing the activities he/she likes to begin with and also drink and items
he/she would like to eat for break. This would be a starting point for
helping him/her to communicate some choices. When he/she chooses the
activity make sure she gives it to a member of staff who will say what
is in the picture and encourage the child to do likewise.
- If the child can read, could she read the
book onto a tape on her own and bring it back for you to listen to?
Then you will hear the voice but not directly.
- Sometimes a child can be encouraged to
read with partner onto tape and then in small group again onto tape.
Plays were good for this.
- Talk to the child and alternate with talking
to a puppet! Get the puppet to answer . After a while the pupil hopefully
will take the puppet away and converse with it. In time the hope would
be that the child will converse with a puppet held by an adult with
the adult talking through the puppet. Another idea is to have a bring
small pets day and encourage the child to talk to a pet!
- Another idea to try is having a small
group of pupils sitting in a small comforting circle and saying easy
things out loud round the circle eg counting a number each. You may
be able to recite rhymes that had already been done with your whole
class etc,
- What about passing a soft toy as you say
numbers, rhymes etc, emphasis on toy not what they are doing. Rewards
can be given for even a slightest utterance e.g. clips which child then
hooked together; again emphasis on doing something rather than correct
production of language. A puppet for each person in group is another
idea. (Ideas from Anne Stockdale, SENCO forum)
- When trying to assess these pupils for
oral examination you are going to have to be creative; You need to choose
the best environment for him/her. Consider using a phone between pupil
and examiner. Could you tape the questions and get the child to listen
to and respond at home?
Resources
Further
Information
Causeway
Trust (Tel. 028 2766 6600) in conjunction with
NEELB and Homefirst Community Trust (Tel: 028 2563 3700 have produced
a booklet, "An Introduction to Coping with Speech and Language Difficulties
in the Classroom" (March 2000).
Acknowledgements
& Copyright |