Literacy news

Adapting the environment to help children with SLDs

25 Sep 2003

Having defined spaces for activities is really useful - these can be labelled: the puzzle table, the home corner - and also supported with symbols or pictures to reinforce the area and activity.
Using signing gives children an extra visual support. This can be a formal system like Makaton or based on natural gestures. We can sign choices of activities, stories, rhymes and songs to support vocabulary or instruction.
Using symbols and pictures can help in a child's confidence with their space. We can use them to label equipment, areas and activities, enabling children to find what they need and supporting the associated language.
Using photographs of the child, their family and significant people can help to support conversations. If children find it hard to say people's names, they can show the photographs and provide a context for the conversation.
Using routine and structure: giving the nursery session defined times with labels is also useful. Juice time, tidy-up time or listening time again provides more security. Children often need help in learning the nursery routines, but knowing these routines will then provide a good deal more security. It is helpful to lead children through routines like 'coats on and off' or 'what happens at snack time', demonstrating and using simple language to describe what is happening.
Using visual support to represent the nursery activities can be an excellent additional support for children with SLDs.

(From "Pass It On" by Lisa Morgan, Nursery World, 25 September 2003, pp. 22-23)