Teaching pupils with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus

  • Children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus have co-ordination and perception problems because they are not as active as other children and their balance is not good.  They may need help to learn how to use different eye movements such as skimming and scanning.
  • They may need practise in learning to direct their eyes left, right, up, down, and from a wide focus to a narrow focus.
  • Estimation games are good to develop pupils’ self-judgement.  This can be done in P.E. when pupils have to throw a ball in the area and catch it; they have to estimate how quickly it will come down again.
  • To help with auditory perception encourage pupils to whisper instructions after you, then ask them to explain it.
  • Children with spina bifida will benefit from a systematic approach to some learning.  They should be taught methodically to look for patterns, similarities and differences, e.g. in spelling or later in comparing the treatment of themes in novels and plays.
  • Try to present the same information in different ways and where possible use concrete materials which the pupils can touch.  This helps them relate words to objects.
  • For homework give pupils tasks which are practically based where possible.
  • Try to train pupils to organise themselves by writing checklists and procedures for doing things.
  • Use task lists which are broken down into steps.
  • Pupils with spina bifida often find it hard to judge their own performance; make it explicit what the criteria is and what you want them to do.