Practical tools and ideas - children with additional needs

Observations can be used to notice children and young people’s behaviours and reactions to certain situations, activities or events. Observations can help to provide information on:

• What they like or dislike
• How they express their feelings
• What soothes or settles them
• What upsets, stresses or overexcites them
• Whether they look to an adult for a safe base
• How they look when near staff or other children/young people e.g. relaxed, fidgety, uncomfortable
• Their primary response to stressful situations (fight, flight or freeze)
• Engagement/disengagement with certain tasks/subjects
• Peer relationships
• Strategies that children/young people use to help themselves

Observations are best carried out over multiple sessions, at different times of the day and week, as any number of factors may be impacting on how a child or young person may present at a certain time.

For some children/young people further information is needed due to the complexity of their additional needs.

The primary reason for creating the All About Me tool is to gather complex information presenting it in an easy-to-read format which ensures that all relevant information is easily accessible and in one place.

It offers an ideal way of sharing the child/young person’s voice and should be child-centred, written in their voice, and tailored to their individual profile.

This tool can be used to identify a child’s needs and how they like to communicate to support you in gaining their voice and their views.

Download the All About Me tool

This communication tool is based on research and has been created by Speech and Language Therapists and was designed to improve the lives of people with communication difficulties by increasing their capacity to communicate effectively about the things that matter to them.

Download our talking mats guidance

Blob trees can be used to explore issues and difficulties by looking at different feelings. 'Blobs' with different feelings are shown on a tree and can be interpreted in many ways.

Download a blob tree sheet

A child who finds face to face conversations may relate better to a puppet. They may talk to it or follow the puppets instructions. They may project their feelings on to the puppet and feel more able to share their experiences.

Using puppets can combine verbal and non-verbal modes of expressions.

Things to consider when using puppets:

• When using puppets model to the child a conversation between the puppets, this may be verbal or non-verbal
• Give the child a puppet or puppets and let them tell you a story
• Let them choose from a range of puppets and act how the puppet would. This is a good reflection of how they are feeling
• Used finger puppets as family members to start a conversation
• Use a puppet to relay information to the child. They will more likely to listen and retain

Symbol-based communication is often used by individuals who are unable to communicate using speech alone and who have not yet developed, or have difficulty developing literacy skills. Symbols offer a visual representation of a word or idea.

Visit the Literacy For Instruction webpage for further information around the different symbol based communication systems such as communications board, eye gaze, iPad communication app’s etc.

Children/young people can be supported to draw pictures as a way of sharing their thoughts and views.

There are also more structured drawing techniques that can be used with children to gather views such as: Drawing the Ideal Self allows a child or young person to explore their view of themselves and their lived experiences.

Traffic lights can be used as a scale to gather views about different topics.

• Green - positive
• Amber - neutral
• Red - negative

This technique is useful for children to reflect on how they feel about particular things.

You can download free communication fans.

When asking a child or young person questions, it is important to think about where they are at developmentally.

• Adapt your language accordingly
• Think about 'which', 'who', 'when', 'where', 'what', 'how', 'why', and yes/no questions
• Allow enough time for the child to respond
• Rephrase questions to allow the child to respond
• Think about the environment in which you are asking questions. Does the child feel comfortable?

The Resilience Ladder can be used for children and young people to identify where they are on a feelings scale. This can be done in a group to highlight that we all may feel differently.

Questions may be asked to gather views on why a child/young person placed their feeling where they did, and what might make them move up/down the ladder.

Faces may be used in the form of a scale to allow children and young people to identify how something makes them feel. Scales could be 1-3, 1-5 or 1-10; faces could be preferred cartoons, photographs, basic line images, or drawn by the child/young person themselves. Scales could be sad-happy; calm-angry; worried-confident; nervous-at ease, etc.

Important note: If used for scaling it is important that the child understands the concept of scaling.

Graffiti boards are a way to gather the views of a child/young people by use of different questions or statements which are written on big paper, placed in different parts of the room to enable children to write/ draw their answers and ideas onto the paper.

The Wizard is a solution focused technique which encourages children and young people to share their views about their hopes and dreams. A picture of a wizard is used to record the things they are good at in the top part of the wizard before recording the pressures (things that are currently making them unhappy/causing problems) in the bottom part of the wizard. Finally, they are asked to imagine that a wizard has cast a spell overnight and, when they wake up, all of their hopes and dreams have come true, and all of the things causing them difficulties have disappeared.

Children/young people are asked questions such as:

• What would be the first thing you noticed that made you realise the wizard had cast a spell while you were asleep?
• What would be different?
• What would you be doing?
• What would other people notice?
• What would they say?

Responses can be written down around the wizard.

The Hot Air Balloon is a solution focused planning tool to encourage children and young people to consider a plan, what they will need and what they might need support with. A visual of a hot air balloon is used (this can be provided to the child/young person, or they may choose to create this themselves).

Questions are asked to support planning, such as:

• Where are you going?
• What makes the fabric of your plan?
• Who do you want in the basket with you?
• What might blow you off course?
• What might stop your plan taking off?
• What do you need to keep in balance to make it work?

Responses can be written on or around the hot air balloon.

Nonverbal communication cards can be used by children and young people who struggle with communication to share their voice.

Using nonverbal communication cards that use pictures and symbols is a great way to help nonverbal children communicate.

The Twinkl website offers a range of free resources that you can access.

The three houses template enables you to discuss a child’s likes/hobbies/strengths/protective factors, dislikes/worries & risks related to the child and dreams/hopes/wishes. You can ask a child to draw/write things to each house or assist them in doing so.

Download the three houses template

This well known method can be used in a number of ways to elicit views around particular subjects, how they feel about a situation and event that has happened or a place.

A different range of media can be used to complete this, such as words, pictures, drawings etc.