Key Aspects of Teaching People with Additonal Needs

BY LAURIE LAWRENCE, CONTRIBUTOR WENDY BEUTEL

WORLDWIDESWIMSCHOOL.COM

KEY ASPECTS OF TEACHING PEOPLE WITH ADDITIONAL NEEDS

1. INTRODUCTION

Firstly, we would like you to close your eyes and picture someone swimming.... let’s assume most of you had an image -- something similar to that of Ian Thorpe doing nice high elbows and a strong kick. We are swimming teachers, this is what we want to see and for most people this is their definition of swimming. Our definition of swimming is being able to get from point A to point B safely, progressing towards ability focussed technique. Doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you can get there. The oxforddictionaries.com defines the word swimming as “the sport or activities of propelling oneself through water using the limbs”.

We chose the name Adapted with the blessing of our case study parents, as they saw that we truly did “become adjusted to new conditions” when teaching their children to swim. When teaching students that present with additional learning needs, it is imperative that you can think outside the box and understand that they can swim, it may just look different to what you are used to seeing and the way in which we teach someone to swim needs to be different.

2. KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is Confidence....

We cannot stress enough that having the knowledge of conditions and disabilities plays a significant role in the success of teaching students who present with additional learning needs to swim. A ‘student Profile’ (SP) can be created with collective information such as: medical diagnosis/history, parent prospective, assessment outcomes and social behaviour/ triggers. With the foundation of information collected through the SP, it now becomes the responsibility of the teacher to obtain further knowledge of the student’s condition. The more knowledge you have ensures you deliver appropriate teaching skills and strategies that will produce progressive and positive lessons. If you do not have the knowledge of their physical, cognitive, and social development, how can you adapt your lesson to ensure a student receives the best aquatic experience?

Being an informed teacher of Adapted Aquatics (AA) requires research on whatever condition you are presented with.

3. PAIRING AND TRUST BUILDING

For many individuals with additional learning needs, interacting with others can be challenging. To ensure students feel safe in an environment we must firstly gain their trust. This is sometimes not easy to achieve in a mainstream class so you can image trying to gain the trust of a new and anxious student . At this point you may or may not accomplish pairing. Pairing is a common term that Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) professionals often use to describe the process of building or maintaining rapport with a client.

Therapy often begins with intentional and thorough pairing, where it’s ALL about what the client loves or enjoys and making that available to them on a non-contingent basis. Basically, the therapeutic relationship should start off with low demand, and high reward. We have included this strategy because we use this with our students from mainstream to additional learning needs. You will know when pairing has been accomplished by a child willingly engages in an activity with you, acts excited to be near you and does anything you ask of them. You and anything you do has become the reward (reinforcement)...It must be noted here that research shows if you do not accomplish ‘pairing’ in the first few interactions with a student, you never will.

Trust can also be achieved by establishing achievable goals, boundaries, and consistency.

As teachers, we need to establish a learning environment that our students feel safe and of worth. Once all information is gathered regarding a student it’s time to produce a program that consists of achievable goals, “low demand – high reward”. It is imperative that the goals being set are achievable. For example. there is no use starting off the side breathing if the student hasn’t yet developed a strong kick. By ensuring students have a positive and progressive program the foundations of swimming need to be mastered. As that of a mainstream class.

By setting boundaries, students will develop an understanding of the lesson structure and expectations. Once a student knows what is being asked of them, they will strive to achieve the expectations of the teacher.

Next comes consistency, students will get confused and or unstable without consistency. Mixed messages are being sent when consistency is different on a weekly basis. Students develop reassurance when a routine is established and together with boundaries the learning environment will become a positive and progressive experience. When we have established the boundaries, expectations and are consistent our behaviour management plan is beginning to evolve.

4. COMMUNICATION

Now onto a more challenging aspect of teaching students with additional learning needs, communication. Effective communication requires both parties to be engaged and being an active listener.

Sometimes we forget to be an active listener in lessons so we will start with this. Active listening is a skill that can be acquired and developed with practice. However, active listening can be difficult to master and will, therefore, take time and patience to develop. Active listening means, that an individual is fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just passively ‘hearing’ the message of the speaker.

Active listening involves listening with all senses. As well as giving full attention to the speaker, it is important that the ‘active listener’ is also ‘seen’ to be listening - otherwise the speaker may conclude that what they are talking about is uninteresting to the listener. At this point you may lose the trust/pairing of your student. Remember some of your students are non-verbal. They are experts in reading your body language. Interest can be conveyed to the speaker by using both verbal and non-verbal messages such as maintaining eye contact, nodding your head and smiling, agreeing by saying ‘Yes’ or simply ‘Mmm hmm’ to encourage them to continue. By providing this ‘feedback’ the person speaking will usually feel more at ease and therefore communicate more easily, openly and honestly.

10 PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING

Here are the 10 principles of effective listening that will help you as a teacher communicate better with not only your students, but everyone you engage with. 1. Stop talking 2. Prepare yourself to listen 3. Put the speaker at ease 4. Remove distractions 5. Empathise 6. Wait and watch for non-verbal communication 7. Be patient 8. Avoid personal prejudice 9. Listen to tone 10. Listen for ideas, not just words Although there are many forms we have listed below are four forms of communication that are key aspects of teaching swimming to all of our students.

I. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION Interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages: it is face-to-face communication. In many interpersonal encounters, the first few minutes are extremely important as first impressions have a significant impact on the success of further communication. Interpersonal communication is not just about what is said - the language used - but how it is said, and the non-verbal messages sent through tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and body language.

II. NON-VERBAL When two or more people are in the same place and are aware of each other’s presence, then communication is taking place, no matter how subtle

or unintentional. Without speech, an observer may be using cues of posture, facial expression, and dress to form an impression of the other’s role, emotional state, personality and/or intentions. Although no communication may be intended, people receive messages through such forms of non-verbal behaviour.

III. VERBAL Verbal communication is the act of sharing information between individuals by the use of speech. Any interaction that makes use of spoken words is considered as verbal communication. Here the sender gives words to his feelings, thoughts, ideas, and opinions and expresses them in the form of speeches, discussions, presentations, and conversations. The effectiveness of the verbal communication depends on the tone of the speaker, clarity of speech, volume, speed, body language and the quality of words used in the conversation. In the case of the verbal communication, the feedback is immediate since there are a simultaneous transmission and receipt of the message by the sender and receiver respectively. It is an integral part of the progression and positive outcomes when teaching swimming. It must be noted here that if the desired result is not being accomplished maybe it’s in your delivery......

IV. VISUAL Visual communication is the transmission of information and ideas using symbols and imagery. Visual communication is believed to be the type that people rely on most, and it includes signs, graphic designs, films, typography, and countless other examples. This form of communication should be practiced in all our lessons. Teaching tools include visual board, visual feeling/communication book, visual cue cards and a clock. With these tools I can set the scene for structure in my lesson.

As you can see communication comes in many forms. If at first you don’t succeed try and try again, feel free to experiment with combined formats. Please remember each student has individual styles of communication therefore you need to adopt their style to become an effective communicator.

5. BEHAVIOUR

When working with students that present with additional learning needs behaviour management can be trauma free or catastrophic. Knowledge plays a significant role in the choices of strategies being used to produce a positive environment. There are 4 Common Functions of Behaviour.

I. SOCIAL ATTENTION A person may engage in certain behaviour to gain some form of social attention or a reaction from other people. For example, a child might engage in a behaviour to get other people to look at them, laugh at them, play with them, hug them, or scold them.

While it might seem strange that a person would engage in a behaviour to deliberately have someone scold them it can occur because for some people it’s better to obtain “bad” attention than no attention at all.

II. TANGIBLES OR ACTIVITIES Some behaviours occur so the person can obtain a tangible item or gain access to a desired activity. For example, someone might scream and shout until their parents buy them a new toy (tangible item) or bring them to the zoo (activity).

III. ESCAPE OR AVOIDANCE Not all behaviours occur so the person can “obtain” something; many behaviours occur because the person wants to get away from something or avoid something altogether.

For example, a child might engage in aggressive behaviour so his teachers stop running academic tasks with him or another child might engage in self-injury to avoid having to go outside to play with classmates. Have you ever said to a student “do you want to sit out of the pool?” and they said ”yes”......

IV. SENSORY STIMULATION The function of some behaviours does not rely on anything external to the person and instead are internally pleasing in some way – they are “self-stimulating”.

For example, a child might rock back and forth because it is enjoyable for them while another child might rub their knee to sooth the pain after accidentally banging it off the corner of a table. In both cases, these children do not engage in either behaviour to obtain any attention, any tangible items or to escape any demands placed on them.

6. REINFORCEMENT AND CONSEQUENCES

The reason for a behaviour occurring can be described in terms of the function it serves or the reinforcement that i s maintaining it. When we say the “reinforcement that is maintaining it”, this just means we can describe the reason the behaviour occurs in terms of the favourable outcome that the behaviour creates for the person. It doesn’t really matter whether you choose to describe the function of the behaviour or the reinforcement maintaining the behaviour because either way you are saying the same thing but just using different terminology. That said, it can be useful to use both terms when describing the function of behaviour. For example, you could say: “the behaviour is being maintained by positive reinforcement; he is hitting other students with his kickboard in the pool and the function of this behaviour is to obtain the teachers attention”. How you respond with your reinforcement and consequences has an impact on the present and future behaviour of the student.

CONCLUSION

We hope that after today you will understand the importance of constantly gaining further knowledge on your student’s condition, communication skills and behavior strategies. Our philosophy at WWSS and Laurie Lawrence Swim School is that everyone is entitled to a positive aquatic experience and the way in which this can be achieved is by continuing with personal development.

MORE INFORMATION

Join the WWSS Swim School Hub for Swim Schools or PD Academy for Swim Teachers to get more training videos and resources on this topic area. Go to https://worldwideswimschool.com/ usssa-about