English and children with physical impairment at P level 4

The implications for teachers of a child with a physical impairment centre on two things:

The physical environment.

The specialist equipment each child will need (this may be simple, such as a special pencil grip, or technological such as augmentative communication aids.

These pages looks at the physical aspects (the use of communication aids is included in the section on communication difficulties).

Throughout English P levels 4-8, the physical considerations will be similar at each level, the difference from one P level to the next are in the enhanced level of support needed and the opportunities that can be created.

You can

• Set up the classroom so a child with a physical impairment has plenty of room for themselves and any equipment (standing or walking frames, wheelchairs with individual adaptations, special classroom chairs).
• Make sure the child can see what is happening – take into account any tendency for the child’s head to be to one side or the other.  This will be obvious from their headrest on a wheelchair.
• Make sure the pupil is working at the same height as other pupils as often as possible (the height of standing frames can make users feel isolated.) 
• Take into account any visual impairment or hearing impairment.
• A child with a severe physical impairment will have support from a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist, which should mean they have adapted equipment. Establish good communications between the different professionals to make the most of opportunities and to support all aspects of their development.
• Things that may help include:
  • Adapted pencil grips
  • A raised (wedge-shaped) board to work on
  • A computer for recording work (try a special mouse which works on whole-hand movement)
  • Big-key keyboards that can be colour-coded
  • Voice-recorder