Support children with disabilities or special
Overview
Who is this unit for?
This unit is for those who work with disabled children or young people, or children or young people with special educational needs, either as a team leader or coordinator, or have a degree of autonomy in a setting where you are not a team leader or coordinator, or work with limited supervision either within a school or a peripatetic service.
Those working in a support role in a school setting would always work under the direction of a teacher.
What is this unit about?
This unit is about supporting disabled children or young people and/or children or young people with special educational needs or additional support needs. It involves working under the direction of a teacher to establish the strengths and needs of children/young people in partnership with their families and in collaboration with other agencies if appropriate. It also includes the identification and use of resources to enable inclusion and participation.
This unit contains three elements:
1. Contribute to the inclusion of children with disabilities and special educational needs
2. Help children with disabilities and special educational needs to participate in the full range of activities and experiences
3. Support families to respond to children's needs
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Contribute to the inclusion of children with disabilities and special educational needs
P1 seek information about children/young people from families and external support agencies in order to assess and respond to the child or young person's individual needs
P2 identify barriers to participation; take steps to remove these and support children/young people's participation and equality of access
P3 involve and consult children/young people and families at each stage of determining the steps that have to be taken to support participation and access
P4 develop individual plans to meet each child/young person's needs P5 request additional resources or a statutory assessment where
appropriate
P6 support children/young people appropriately through transitions to ensure continuity of experiences
P7 refer concerns about children/young people, according to setting procedures
Help children with disabilities and special educational needs to participate in the full range of activities and experiences
P8 identify and take steps to overcome barriers to communication
P9 identify and take steps to overcome barriers to participation in the full range of activities and experiences
P10 offer alternative activities if appropriate
P11 implement adaptations that can be made without the use of special aids and equipment
P12 identify and deploy specialist aids and equipment as necessary
P13 adapt the environment, including layout of furniture and accessibility of equipment, where this is necessary and within your role and responsibility
P14 ensure adults involved are knowledgeable about children/young people's disabilities and special educational needs and confident in their roles and responsibilities
P15 agree boundaries for behaviour with children/young people and families
Support families to respond to children's needs
P16 encourage family members to participate in observing and identifying the needs of children/young people
P17 actively encourage family members to participate in activities with
children/young people
P18 establish partnerships with families in recognition that they are the child/young person's primary carers and may have detailed specialist knowledge about the child/young person
P19 tailor support to families' different needs, recognising that the material and personal resources available to them will vary
P20 encourage family members to express their feelings in a non- judgmental environment
P21 adapt your use of complex specialist language to ensure clarity and understanding
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
K1 the possible impact of having a child or young person with a disability or special educational needs within a family and the varied responses of carers, siblings and the wider family
K2 legislation, regulations and codes of practice affecting provision for disabled children and children with special educational needs within your home country
K3 assessment and intervention frameworks for children with special educational needs
K4 the rights of all children and young people to participation and equality of access and how this affects provision
K5 specialist local and national support and information that is available for you and for the children/young people and families
K6 partnerships with parents and families are at the heart of provision as they know most about their child
K7 there are `expert parents' with wide-ranging and in-depth knowledge of their child and the disability or special educational need, who can offer support to others
K8 how integration/inclusion works in your setting and local area and the reasons for its benefits or otherwise
K9 details about particular disabilities or special educational needs as they affect the children/young people in your care and your ability to provide a high quality service
K10 the expected pattern of development for the children/young people for whom you are responsible
K11 the possible effects of communication difficulties and attention deficits K12 the purpose and use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication
and assisting children/young people through use of all available senses and experiences
K13 planning for each child/young person's individual requirements according to their age, needs, gender and abilities
K14 how to adapt your practice to meet the needs of all the children/young people for whom you are responsible, according to their age, needs and abilities
K15 what specialist aids and equipment are relevant and available for the children/young people you work with and how to use these safely
K16 the importance of early recognition and intervention to prevent learning or other difficulties from developing
K17 awareness of, and ability to use, specialist terminology in the interest of the children/young people with whom you work, whilst ensuring that use
of such terminology does not act as a barrier to communication
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Attention deficits
a group of symptoms sometimes related to hyperactivity where it is hard for the child to organise or finish a task, to pay attention to details, or to follow instructions or conversations: the child is easily distracted or forgets details of daily routines
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
this refers to any device, system or special method of communication that helps individuals with communication difficulties to communicate more easily and effectively: e.g. symbols, communication boards, voice output communication aids, sign language or facial expressions and gestures
Barriers to communication
anything that prevents the child or young person communicating with others or making relationships, e.g. hearing, speech or visual loss, lack of support services, mental health issues, learning disabilities
Barriers to participation
anything that prevents the child or young person participating fully in activities and experiences offered by the setting or service
Children
the children or young people you work with, except where otherwise indicated
Disability
a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the child or young person's ability to carry out normal day- to-day activities
Equality of access
ensuring that discriminatory barriers to access are removed and that information about provision is accessible to all families in the community
Integration/inclusion
children with disabilities or special educational needs belonging to mainstream settings
Social and medical models of disability
the medical model reflects the traditional view of disability, that it is something to be `cured', treating the individual as a sick patient. The social model considers that it is society that needs to change and that disabled people have rights and choices
Special educational needs (SEN)
children and young people with special educational or additional support needs learn differently from most children or young people of the same age. These children and young people may need extra or different help from that given to other children and young people
Transitions
changing, moving between different stages of life (growing up) or physical places (home–nursery–school)
Links To Other NOS
TDASTL12 Support a child with disabilities or special educational needs TDASTL39 Support pupils with communication and interaction needs TDASTL40 Support pupils with cognition and learning needs TDASTL41 Support pupils with behaviour, emotional and social
development needs
TDASTL42 Support pupils with sensory and/or physical needs
Origin of this unit
This unit is taken from the National Occupational Standards in Children’s Care, Learning and Development where it appears as CCLD 321.
This unit is underpinned by the principles and values for the National Occupational Standards in Children’s Care Learning and Development.