The keys to creating an accessible classroom for children with disabilities
A Texas A&M professor shares strategies to ensure opportunities for success for all students.
There is no “one size fits all” strategy for working with special education students, but according to a Texas A&M University researcher, there are strategies that can assist in creating a safe and successful learning environment for all students.
Julie Thompson, associate professor of special education in the Texas A&M College of Education and Human Development, has developed a set of practical, adaptable strategies she calls “blueprints for belonging” to help educators across disciplines better support special needs students of all ages and abilities.
Demystifying disability
General education teachers and special education teachers receive different types of training. This can lead to general education teachers feeling unprepared or unwilling to work with special education students, Thompson said.
“Sometimes general education teachers distance themselves from children with disabilities because they think, ‘Well, they’re not on my caseload. They’re on the special education teacher’s caseload.’ We want to change that line of thinking to, ‘These are all our children,’ and we need to work toward that goal,” she said.
Thompson also recommends that general education teachers work closely with their students’ parents and occupational therapists, who can offer insights into strategies that can assist with a child’s challenging behaviors.
“Sometimes there’s fear that you don’t want to hurt or do something wrong when caring for the individual, but that’s why it’s really critical that teachers see, encounter and engage with individuals that are different,” Thompson said. “The more comfortable we become in being around them, the more we can start thinking about how to include them.”
Overcoming problem behaviors
Thompson said many teachers are seeing increased disruptive behaviors among students — a trend she attributes in part to children missing critical classroom experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re seeing an increase in more intense behaviors across the spectrum from children without disabilities and for children with disabilities,” Thompson said. “When we describe disruptive behaviors, what qualifies as one can also depend on the teacher. That may include a loud, boisterous class or it could be individuals with higher support needs, like they may try to bite others.”
One strategy Thompson recommends teachers use is the “check-in, check-out” procedure. At the beginning of the day, a caretaker checks in with the child, asking questions about their mood or providing reminders of good behavior. At the end of the day, a teacher can provide a check-out by asking questions like, “What worked well?” and, “What can we work on tomorrow?”
“It’s not just about checking in on those behaviors, but about building relationships with the children,” Thompson said. “It lets them know they have somebody who really cares for them, has an interest in them and wants to support them with follow-up. That seems to be the key difference in supporting children and encouraging them to engage in more pro-social behaviors and reduce some of their problem behaviors.”
Focus on similarities
Thompson said one of the best ways to view working with children with disabilities is to focus on similarities and what they are capable of engaging in.
“We know through our research that explicit instructions are critical to teach reading skills, and those good teaching practices are beneficial for the population of children with disabilities as well,” she said. “The difference is you might break down a school activity into three steps for a typically developing child, and that may need to be broken down into 10 steps for that child with autism.”
The way a teacher acts around a child with a disability is noticed by all students in a classroom, which is another reason Thompson suggests teachers focus on not alienating their students with disabilities.
“There are kids with autism who can only talk using iPads, or use their hands to communicate,” she said. “Having a teacher showing their students ways to engage, like using your hands to say, ‘Hi,’ for example, is really helpful from both the child and peer perspective. Lots of children are curious about their classmates with disabilities, but if we come with a fear-based approach, they may be afraid to engage with those children with disabilities. If we approach with curiosity and interest instead, it will assist in incorporating all children in the classroom.”
