Text III

Enthusiasm for helping children with communication needs with main­stream settings stems from the growing awareness of the importance of context on the way in which language is used and understood. Children make commu­nication demands on each other and are often at their most animated in the company of peers.

Informal social situations, with no explicit direction or control are very important in language learning. Children learn just as much by talking to others about what they are doing, whether in playing pinball, at home over the dinner table, or in the snack bar, as they do in formal teaching periods. However, the idea behind flexible support systems for children is to help achieve the right kind of balance between peer-group exposure and more individualised time with an adult. All teachers are aware that children with special needs who are left entirely unsupported, both in informal settings and in teaching contexts, may be overwhelmed by the demands they have to face and can switch off completely. Naturally, then, the very first questions which many teachers ask in relation to children with, communication difficulties the mainstream school, are to do with resources. The most important of all resources in schools are human: the number of pairs of adult hands to the wheel.

The overall responsibility for a special needs child in an ordinary class­room should be taken by the class teacher. It is, however, important for teach­ers to know what kind of specialist advice is available, whether a child will be given any supportive help, and how a programme of intervention is to be planned, co-ordinated and shared between the adults involved. Every child's reeds should be appraised carefully and individually, in line with the recent philosophy that we should try to fit arrangements flexibly to children, rather than children to schools.

Whatever provision is recommended, professional advisers must take into account a number of factors together with the needs of the child. These in­clude the availability of resources within a particular school, and it is to these that attention is turned first of all. Occasionally, a school will already have ad­ditional help, such as a classroom assistant, organised to meet the special needs identified in other children. It may be possible to extend and sustain this extra help when a new child is identified. In some local authorities, support teams, Deluding language and remedial teaching specialists, are normally available to schools, to be drawn in to help children on a regular basis, as and when appro­priate. Speech therapists are available in some areas to give advice in schools, help plan a suitable programme with a teacher, and, occasionally, to work with an individual child in the school setting. The multi-professional team involved with children who experience communication difficulties will address the question: " Can this particular child's needs be met within the resources normally available to this particular school? " If not, the formal statutory procedures un­der the 1981 Act are initiated to ascertain exactly what me dnbfs needs are and how they might be met. In some local education authorities it is me practice to collect children together in one resourced mainstream school, where additional language spe­cialists, or a speech therapist, are available to help. Arrangements are often flexible, depending on the needs of the child. Some children are able to partici­pate for the majority of the time in ordinary classes, with a specialist teacher supporting the work in mainstream education by giving additional help to sup­plement information presented in class, reinforce key concepts, check under­standing, and prepare the child for future lessens. As we have said, the responsibilityfor what is taught in a mainstream class must be with the class teacher.

But, if a child is going to spend time out of class for supportive help and if more than one adult is going to be involved, then teachers must work carefully together. Detailed forward planning is perhaps the most difficult, allthough potentially most valuable, groundwork for supporting children with special needs in mainstream classes.

(A. Webster, C. McConnelh from. Special Needs in Ordinary Schools Children with Speech and Language Difficulties. L., 1987.)