5 Tips on Including All Kids at School

In the classroom, on the playground and during recess all children should feel included. Many times pediatric therapists focus on environmental modifications. Don’t forget other types of modifications as well. Each child can bring their own unique abilities to a classroom setting. Here are several ideas to ensure that all kids are included during the school day:

1. Accept each child for who they are – don’t try to change a child, realize that each child has their own unique traits.

2. Encourage group participation – many parts make up a whole. We all benefit when we work together.

3. Acknowledge all efforts – make sure each child knows that their opinions and actions are valid and appreciated.

4. Promote group decision making – let all voices be heard to make a decision

5. Break up big, group projects into smaller parts – assign each child a small part that they can accomplish.

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Needs ideas on environmental modifications?  Check out Modifications and Interventions for School - Reporting Forms.    Find out more information at http://yourtherapysource.com/modsdownload.html

Inclusive Play for Children with Physical Disabilities

Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics published research on including children with physical disabilities during play. A comprehensive review of the research was completed to determine what factors help children with physical disabilities participate in play in childcare centers.

The following results were reported:
1. Strategies were grouped into role of the adult facilitator and environmental factors.
2. The role of the adult facilitator included customizing approaches to a specific child's needs, being self aware of their (meaning adult facilitator) prescence, prompting and praise and promoting fairness, equity and play interaction.
3. The environmental factors included physical setting types of toys and types of play.

The researchers concluded that therapists should employ inclusion strategies to encourage play in children with physical disabilities.

Reference: Sara K. Crawford, Karen N. Stafford, Sarah M. Phillips, Kathleen J. Scott and Patricia Tucker. Strategies for Inclusion in Play among Children with Physical Disabilities in Childcare Centers: An Integrative Review.  Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics. Posted online on 8 Apr 2014. doi:10.3109/01942638.2014.904470

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Including Preschoolers

Head Start Body Start presented a webinar on including preschoolers with special needs in active play today. This webinar had lots of great ideas - some therapists would be familiar with and perhaps some are new information. Here are a few tips that I found helpful:

• "teach children how to stop before you teach them how to go" - Diane Craft PhD
• cover balloons in panty hose to prevent any broken pieces if it pops and to prevent children from biting the balloons
• put eye bolts on each side of the room, clip a clothes line onto the eye bolts when you need a quick room divider for games or to hang objects from
• several tips on modifying lessons

You can download the handouts from the webinar here.

Free Webinar Including Preschoolers with Special Needs in Active Play

Heard on Twitter from @balmeras about a free webinar on February 7th entitled including preschoolers with special needs in active play. Here is the description from the Head Start Body Start website:

"Join HSBS Advisory Board member Diane H. Craft, Ph.D. to learn fun ways to include preschool children with special needs in active play with their peers. This webinar provides many practical ideas for inclusive physical activities that are developmentally appropriate, use inexpensive equipment, can be done in small spaces, and are enjoyable for children to play together!"

You can register for the webinar for free here.

It looks as if they archive their webinars if you are not available at 1:00pm. You check out their previous webinars here.

Inclusion Golf

Are you interested in starting a golf program that includes individuals with and without disabilities?  If so, there is a grant available from the United States Golf Association (USGA). Partnering with the National Alliance for Accessible Golf, the USGA is offerring a maximum award of $20,000. It is open to tax exempt non profits, schools and government programs. You can find out more at the National Alliance for Accessible Golf website.

Inclusive Art Booklet

Here is an awesome, free resource from Crayola entitled "Creative Art Experiences for Children with Special Needs". This booklet is great for ideas and tips. It would make a wonderful resource for any art teacher or elementary school teacher who works in an inclusive environment. If parents are looking for ideas for at home they can find plenty here. The topics include: Create an Arts-Encouraging Environment, Drawing Explorations, Painting Activities, Modeling and Sculpting Techniques, Outdoor Art Experiences and Benefits of Art Exploration. You can download the booklet here.

Thanks to the Teaching All Students blog for finding this free resource.

Inclusive Art Activity

Came across this inclusive, creative art idea - painting with hats. A preschool teacher taped paintbrushes to the tops of hats for the children to paint with on easels. It makes an interesting disability awareness activity as well. Since some children access computers using a pointer on a hat, why not let the children see how difficult it can be to paint let alone use a computer or speech device. Check out all the photos at this blog - Play Based Classroom.

Free Play and Feeling Included

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly published interesting research on children's feelings about being included. The researcher, Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere, interviewed 11 children with a range of disabilities including cerebral palsy, motor delays, DCD and more. Three themes were seen throughout the interviews regarding the children's perspective on sports, games and play:

1. Gaining entry to play - initiating play can be difficult
2. Feeling like a legitimate participant - children wanted meaningful roles in play
3. Having friends - wanted a friend they could depend on and trust so they could feel accepted

Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere also mentioned that the children never mentioned "physical education classes when discussing feeling included". She recommends when in doubt about inclusion be sure to ask the children.

Read previous blog post on including all kids.

Reference: Physorg.com Feeling included -- kids with disabilities have their say in landmark study. Retrieved from the web on 12/10/2010 at http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-kids-disabilities-landmark.html

Including All Kids

In the classroom, on the playground and during recess all children should feel included. Many times pediatric therapists focus on environmental modifications. Don't forget other types of modifications as well. Each child can bring their own unique abilities to a classroom setting. Here are several ideas to ensure that all kids are included during the school day:

1. Accept each child for who they are - don't try to change a child, realize that each child has their own unique traits.

2. Encourage group participation - many parts make up a whole. We all benefit when we work together.

3. Acknowledge all efforts - make sure each child knows that their opinions and actions are valid and appreciated.

4. Promote group decision making - let all voices be heard to make a decision

5. Break up big, group projects into smaller parts - assign each child a small part that they can accomplish.

Measuring Inclusion in Early Childhood

If are a teacher, parent or therapist for children in an early childhood inclusive setting you may want to check out two new resources that can assist you in determining the quality of your inclusion program. The SpeciaLink Early Childhood Inclusion Quality Scale was developed in 2009 to assess inclusion quality in early childhood settings.

The Inclusive Classroom Profile was developed to assess daily classroom practices that support students with disabilities. This tool appears to be a great measurement of adult involvement with the child, social interactions of the child, communication, adapting of activities and more. You can download this assessment tool here.

For more information on these tools visit the Early Childhood Community website.

Including All Children on the Playground

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy published research in 2008 on children's interaction on the school playground. Twenty children were videotaped for 11 weeks on a school playground. The children participated in extended recess with loose parts or materials such as bicycle tires, hay bales, fabric, trash can lids, strips of foam and more. Following the 11 week intervention, teachers were interviewed and the Test of Playfulness indicated significantly higher scores. In addition, teachers reported increased socialization, creativity, cooperation and resiliency in the children. Teachers observed that children of varying abilities were more likely to play together. Some teachers mentioned that children who did not usually participate in sports activities were leaders for the creative activities.

Reference: Bundy AC, Luckett T, Naughton GA, Tranter PJ, Wyver SR, Ragen J, Singleton E, Spies G.Playful interaction: occupational therapy for all children on the school playground. Am J Occup Ther. 2008 Sep-Oct;62(5):522-7.