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CHAPTER SEVEN Conclusions AND
Recommendations
7.1 Key Findings
Travel patterns
- The travel patterns of children with learning
difficulties are often more restricted than those
without, with travel to school predominantly by taxi,
bus or car
- Evening and weekend travel is also often restricted
due to parental concerns, and lack of suitable social
opportunities for many children with Additional Support
Needs
- Parents demonstrated a strong preference for
children to travel by car which is seen as safer and
more "controllable" than walking or public
transport
- There was some concern that due to restricted
travel patterns and methods, many children are missing
out on the basics of road safety education
- Road safety skills were seen as crucial to
increasing independence for children with Additional
Support Needs
Road safety risks
- Children with Additional Support Needs may be at
higher risk of road accident due to a variety of
factors, including lack of awareness, inability to cope
with change, difficulties putting theory into practice
or specific difficulties with spatial awareness
- The risks faced vary dependent on the needs of the
individual, but all believed that road safety was a
major issue for children with learning
difficulties.
Road safety education
- Individuals learn in different ways, depending on
the individual - there is no universal solution or
'magic trick' for improving
RSE
- Currently school based
RSE for children with learning
difficulties is strong in nursery and primary stages,
but reduces through secondary school education
- Children with learning difficulties generally
receive the same road safety messages as others,
although often with more support and practical
training
- Parents stressed the importance of
RSE for children with Additional
Support Needs, emphasising the links between
RSE and increased independence
- Parents exhibited varying levels of knowledge about
RSE at school, and desired better
links and information on the curriculum
- At home, parents focussed on practical roadside
education and leading by example, with little use of
resources
- RSE could potentially be improved by
promoting increased awareness of the importance of
RSE and the variety of ways in which
children learn; improving parental knowledge of road
safety; and creating better links between parents and
schools
Road safety resources
- While there are some resources targeted
specifically at
RSE for children with Additional
Support Needs, the majority of schools are adapting
mainstream resources
- Schools stress the need for assistance adapting the
resources, rather than development of new
materials
- Parents are making little use of resources
currently, as available materials are not seen to meet
their child's needs
- Parents clearly stressed the need for new resources
- basic information to assist roadside training, and
resources linking home and school based activities
7.2 Conclusions
Our research has explored the current provision of road
safety education for children with mild to moderate
learning difficulties, and potential ways of improving this
provision. Our study has identified a number of consistent
themes in consultation with parents, children, schools and
other stakeholders:
- All children are different: consultees
consistently stressed that all people - and
particularly those with learning difficulties - learn
about things in different ways. This means that road
safety education needs to focus on flexible,
individualised learning which offers a range of methods
of learning - including visual, practical and role play
opportunities. Improving
RSE for children with learning
difficulties is not about differentiating but allowing
all children a range of learning opportunities, with
additional one-to-one or group support available for
those who require this
- Children with Additional Support Needs are more
likely to display behaviours which make road use more
dangerous: while we emphasise individual
differences, children with Additional Support Needs are
more likely to have difficulties with: conceptualising
danger; spatial awareness; language and sign
recognition; maintaining attention and concentration;
all of which are crucial in developing safe road user
behaviour.
- Road safety is a key life skill: all
consultees emphasised the important role which road
safety awareness plays in promoting independence and
creating opportunities for children with mild to
moderate learning difficulties. Road safety had a very
high priority for all parents, who believed that their
children faced additional risks because of their needs.
This created some tension, as parents recognised the
importance of
RSE but were unsure how to provide
this in a way which ensured the safety of their
child.
- Road safety is a shared
responsibility: schools and parents stressed
the need for joint working to ensure that basic road
safety messages were conveyed consistently. This link
was seen as particularly important for children with
learning difficulties, who can often need repetition
and assistance putting classroom messages into
practice.
7.3 Recommendations
The final aim of the study is to put forward
recommendations on how the needs of children with
Additional Support Needs can be more effectively met
through the provision of road safety education.
General
7.3.1 It is clear that children with
Additional Support Needs are more at risk, especially when
travelling independently. There is a need for greater
public awareness and education in order that other road
users recognise that some children may not behave
predictably in road and travel related situations. Some
children may have other forms of disability, for example
hearing impairment, which make road use and travel more
dangerous. We are not recommending a particular campaign of
public awareness or education, but that the particular
circumstances of children with Additional Support Needs are
taken into account when road safety awareness programmes
are being developed, both by bodies such as the Scottish
Road Safety Campaign and local Road Safety Units. These
bodies may also wish to draw on the experience of road
safety campaigns such as the
"Mind that child - he may be deaf" in devising
future strategies.
Education resources and methods
7.3.2 The study found that there is
already a reasonably good resource base of materials
suitable for use with children with Additional Support
Needs, both in their current form and also with slight
adaptations. We would recommend that the
SRSC convene a working group to review
the materials available and recommend ways of
developing/adapting these. The working group should
comprise two or three road safety officers and at least two
teachers/advisers with expertise in working with children
with learning and behavioural difficulties, at least one of
whom is concerned particularly with "transition" from
primary to secondary school.
7.3.3 Teaching and Learning Methods: while
one of the main findings of this study has been the need
for individualised learning programmes for children with
Additional Support Needs, there are a number of particular
teaching methods which recur in this context. For
example:
- the importance (and difficulties) of using
real-life situations
- the importance of introducing children to varying
situations
- the importance of small group and individual
teaching and instruction
- the need for more repetition and reinforcement
- the need to reduce the reliance on written
text
- the awareness of the difficulties that some
children will have with visual sign recognition
We would recommend that the Working Group referred to in
7.3.2 are also given the remit of providing guidance for
teachers, parents and road safety staff. This guidance
would include some of the main learning and teaching
methods which would be appropriate for children with
Additional Support Needs, underpinned by the need for
individualised approaches.
Support for parents
7.3.4 Concern about road safety is
considerably greater for parents of children with
Additional Support Needs than for those parents of other
children. We would recommend that this group should be
considered a priority for both teachers of children with
Additional Support Needs and local Road Safety Units when
developing strategies for involving parents in road safety
education. It is particularly important that there is
consistency and reinforcement between the road safety
education, which is being undertaken in schools, and the
messages and approaches which parents use.
7.3.5 Information and Guidance for
Parents: In addition to 7.3.4, we would recommend that
specific information, in leaflet/booklet or another
alternative format
e.g.DVD, is produced which focuses on the
role of parents in developing safe road user skills. One of
the key aspects of this would be to assist parents to make
judgements about whether they can realistically expect
their child to be able to go about independently in road
related situations. This would help parents with the
process of "risk assessment" - whether the risks associated
with supporting and encouraging independent travel outweigh
the potential benefits that this might bring.
Training
7.3.6 We would recommend that
SRSC should, in conjunction with other
appropriate agencies
e.g.IRSO, develop and deliver a short (half
to one day) training workshop aimed at familiarising road
safety staff of the particular issues involved in
supporting the delivery of road safety education to
children with Additional Support Needs. The content of this
workshop would draw on both the contents of this report and
the recommendations of the working group.
Further research
7.3.7 This study has inevitably been
broadly based, looking at a range of learning and
behavioural conditions. We would recommend that any further
research focuses on children with specific conditions and
support needs
e.g.ADHD/ dyslexia. From this work it would
be possible to develop further the resources and methods to
teach road safety effectively to particular groups of
children. Any such research should involve the national
organisations involved in promoting awareness and research
into these varying conditions.
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