SIMPLE ADAPTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
FROM: Openings: Room for everyone (1995). The Kennedy Center, Inc. Bridgeport, CT 06605. Also a handout from an Early Childhood Direction Center in Syracuse, NY.
Although each child is unique, and not two children will need the same supports, some simple and basic adaptations are listed below. Keep in mind that you may pay particular attention to the following suggestions for children with identified disabilities. However, these ideas may also be used for any and all children in order to enhance their child care experiences. The greatest and most potent "adaptation" ...listen to what your child needs through their actions and their words!
For the Child with A Visual Disability...
- Arrange your room for safe and free movement with clear pathways.
- Avoid small objects spread all over the floor.
- Let your child know when you move furniture by showing him where you moved it.
- Be aware of half open doors and cabinets
- Define edges on stairs, tables, walls with constrasting colors or textiles.
- Use braille labels, tactile, or color coding to identify furniture/personal possessions.
- Ensure that there is plenty of light in the room.
- Talk with the child, often -- let them feel the things that you are talking about.
- Use materials with a variety of textures.
- Use bright color tape to outline play areas.
- Use yarn to outline words on cards or blocks.
- Add texture to finger paint by setting out sawdust, sand, glitter and fine gravel.
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For the Child with A Hearing Disability...
- Show the child how to do things -- don't just tell the child.
- Ensure adequate lighting so the child can use his eyes to see things he can't hear.
- Avoid extra noises such as background music or television when doing activities.
- "Speak" with your face, emphasize your thoughts and feelings through your facial expressions, however, do not exaggerate.
- Use pictures, photographs, and visual aids.
- Talk in short, simple sentences and be sure that the child can see your face.
- Always make eye contact with the child and ensure that there is no glare in his/her eyes.
- Minimize loud patterns and prints both in activity areas and on clothing.
- Discuss the child's hearing with the parents to identify other means of communication and support (i.e., sign language, communication board). If appropriate, teach yourself and the other children how to sign the alphabet.
- Sing and act out songs.
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For the Child with A Cognitive Disability...
- Reinforce routine.
- Break activities down into small steps.
- Block build or "chain" achieved steps.
- Use short, simple directions.
- When the child is doing something "wrong," give another activity to do rather than jsut saying "NO" or "STOP."
- Pair children to encourage peer learning.
- Use behavior specific praise when approximating success.
- Respond quickly and positively to what the child does.
- Physically demonstrate as you explain.
- Reinforce learning across environments.
- Assume that the child just needs to learn in a different way...not that he/she can't learn.
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For the Child with A Physical Disability...
- Let children work out situations for themselves before intervening too fast.
- Give the child extra time in play activities to reinforce balance and coordination.
- Arrange rooms with lots of open space between furniture.
- Put in rails and ramps where you have steps.
- Provide activities that use many parts of the body.
- Improvise and allow child to find solutions.
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For the Child with Autism...
- Make no assumptions about behavior.
- Give the child sufficient time to respond (at least 10-15 seconds).
- Problem solve with the context of the behavior, not outside the behavior.
- If "stuck" with a certain behavior, try directing the child to the next step.
- Give behavior specific praise often, even when the child approximates success.
- Introduce many partners/peers to child.
- Allow the child to feel success for a period of time...avoid introducing the next step too soon.
- Listen to everything the child says...ask questions.
- Avoid creating routines with only one person.
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LINKS
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Special Child: For Parents of Children with Disabilities
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The Parent Journal: Special Needs Library
Traumatic Brain Injury Resources
UHS Catalog of Resources Dealing with Disabilities
What I Learned in Parenting a Child with Special Needs
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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES AND MATERIALS FOR CHILD IN DAY CARE PROGRAMS
A handout from the ECDC in Syracuse, NY - Resource Materials-Including Preschool Children with Disabilities in Day Care Settings
Children with disabilities in the cognitive, physical, social-emotional or speech-language areas of development may benefit from activities which are consisten with their Individual Education Programs (IEPs). You may want to talk with the child's special educaiton teacher about using some of these activities when including children with disabilities in your program.
What You Can Do To Help Children Understand About Space and Size
- Place sound-making objects (clocks, wind chimes, radio) in different parts of the house to hlp the child learn her way around.
- Encourage the child to find and sense different textures throught the house: tile, carpet, wood, glass windows, plastered walls, marble counter top, etc.
- Look for toys and books with raised numerals, letters, or designs that children can touch and explore.
- Provide activities with sensory experiences. Children with visual disabilities learn through hearing and touch. Sand and water play, collages, play dough, and finger painting are good learning activities.
- Read aloud stories that have a predictable story line. You also may wish to choose stories that offer interesting descriptions of actions or objects.
- Follow up descriptions with concrete experiences. For example, after rading "The Three Little Pigs," the child might find it interesting to feel the difference between straw, sticks, and bricks.
- Cut out symbols, shapes, letters, and numbers from sandpaper or cardboard. Guide the child's hand over these shapes as you discuss them.
- Show the child how to make rubbings by coloring over an interesting texture.
- Be sure play areas are well lit so that children with limited vision can see better.
- Establish specific areas for play activities. Help a child become familiar with your room arrangeement. If you decide to change the block area or art area, you will need to reorient the child to the new room arrangement.
- Provide toys and materials in colors that children with visual disabilities can see well.
- Tape raise cardboard labels of toy symbols on toy shelves to facilitate cleanup.
- Arrange the house for safe and free movement. Keep doors and cabinets closed.
- Teach non-disabled children to identify themselves and describe their act activities or building constructions in words to children with visual disabilities. Teach them also to call the child with visual disabilities by name to get his attention and to use specific words to describe objects such as a phone, hat, or car rather than this, it, or that.
- Expand the child's learning by talking him through an activity. Use descriptive words such as long, short, over, under, big, and little. Whenever possible, provide concrete experiences that illustrate these important concepts. For example, you might offer the child two balls and says, "The ball in your hand is big. Feel how big it is. But the ball in my hand is small. Would you like to touch it?"
- Encourage children to build with blocks horizontally. Children can feel shapes and lay them end to end or in different patterns without the frustration of falling blocks.
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What You Can Do To Encourage Communication and Language Development
- Cut down on background noise from the radio, dishwasher, etc., when you are doing an activity. Use carpets, rugs, drapes, and pillows to absorb excess sound.
- Make eye contact before you start to speak. A gentle tap on the shoulder usually will get a child's attention.
- Talk in a normal voice. Use gestures and facial expressions to clarify your message.
- Provide earphones or set up a special area where a tape recorder can be played at a higher volume.
- Teach children in your program to use gestures and sign language.
- Encourage a child to talk about what she is doing. Ask open ended questions that will invite the child to practice using language.
- Use stories, songs, and fingerplays to enhance language development. Repeat favorite rhymes and songs to encourage confidence in developing language skills.
- Provide children with visual cues. For example, label shelves with a picture of toys to facilitate easy cleanup. Use pictures to illustrate the steps of a recipe during cooking activities.
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What You Can Do To Match Activities to Children's Cognitive Abilities
- Keep verbal instructions simple.
- Break activities into small steps and give one instruction at a time.
- Practice activities over and over.
- Select activities that match the child's mental age and abilities.
- Show and tell a child how to do something by guiding hands and body through the motions of an activity.
- Provide opportunities to play near a child who is doing a similar activity. This can give the child with mental disabilities some ideas on how to use and explore the same materials.
- Make sure that there are obvious differences in size, shape, and color and ovals can be confusing.
- Limit the number of art materials or toys to avoid overwhelming the child with choices.
- Give plenty of warning when an activity is about to change or end.
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What You Can Do To Work With Children Displaying Different Types of Behavior
- Invite a withdrawn child to join others in an activity by watching others. As the child becomes more comfortable, demonstrate how to play with materials or toys. Encourage the child to play along with you.
- Watch for signs of aggressive behavior and intervene quickly. Teach problem-solving skills.
- Provide developmentally appropriate activities that are not overly difficult and that will help the child feel capable. Avoid activities that can be done only in a certain way.
- Watch for periods when children are less excitable and in control. Use these times to present a new activity that requires some concentration.
- Keep stories and group activities short to match attention spans. Seat the child near you and away from distractions such as a nearby toy shelf.
- Avoid over stimulation. Limit the number of toys or materials you set out at one time.
- Provide adult guidance and structure. Help children to plan or organize an activity. For example, if a child want to play "fire fighter," you might make suggestions that can help him organize props and invite other children to play.
- Announce cleanup time and other transitions ahead of time. Children with behavioral disabilities often have difficulty with transitions. Assign a specific task to the child during the transition.
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What You Can Do To Encourage Children With Differing Physical Abilities
- Provide heavy, stable furniture and equipment that are not easily knocked over.
- Avoid area rugs. Arrange furnitre and equipment to allow for wide aisles.
- Provide a safe place for walkers, crutches, or canes so that other children to not trip over them.
- Provide objects that can be used for grasping, holding, transferring, and releasing. Objects should be age appropriate. For example, a bean bag made from dinosaur fabric is much more appropriate for a 5-year old than a rattle or baby toy.
- Work with parents to find comfortable ways for a child to sit. A corner with two walls for support, a chair with a seat belt, or a wheel chair with a large tray across the arms are three possibilities that might work well.
- Make objects more steady. For instance, secure paper, mixing bowls, or wood blocks to the table or floor with tape so that they remain secure as the child paints, draws, or stirs, or hammers.
- Provide materials of different textures such as play dough, fabric swatches, ribbon, corrugated cardboard, and sandpaper to encourage the sense of touch.
- Plan activities to encourage exercise and movement of all body parts.
- Work with parents and specialists to give special exercises for the child depending on her needs.
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