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Part Two: Taking account of young people's views: FE and complex support needs
Introduction
In this part we consider how arrangements might best respond to the concerns expressed by young people, as described in Part One. We consider first, what the young people have told us about access to FE provision. Secondly, we outline a framework within which their support needs can be identified, addressed and resources allocated
While we do not wish to 'label' or 'categorise young people, simply looking at the complexity of needs, or the level of support needs does not adequately represent the distinctiveness of the needs.
The CALL Centre's contribution to the consultation exercise has highlighted five main groups of young people with complex support needs . We use the term 'Group' for the purposes of discussion only - needless to say, in practice, every individual student is different and has highly individual support needs. There is absolutely no 'one size fits all' about any member of any of these five groups. Mostly, they are very different from each other, although there are issues that resonate similarly across the different groups and a few areas of slight overlap.
A recurring theme is that of communication support needs.
In our view "communication" has been a confusing term / factor. Because each of the groups described below has very significant communication support needs, it could be easily assumed that 'on paper' at least, this need for communication support makes all of these young people into one group that is - at least in this one respect - homogeneous.
In fact, the five groups are very far from homogeneous, the type of communication support that each group needs is very different and provision to meet those needs will be very distinct.
It may help to clarify the issue if we describe 'our' five groups. The tables below are indicative only, not fully comprehensive. Many of the support issues are picked up again in more detail later.
Group A
Young people whose communication support needs arise primarily from sensory impairment - blindness, or visual impairment; deafness or hearing impairment; or deafblindness.
Group A |
|---|
Primary Issue: | Sensory impairments |
Possible Additional Impairments: | Physical impairments, mild learning difficulties, other |
Modes of Communication & Communication Support: | BSL, Braille, use of specialised technology both for participating in lectures and for writing, completing assignments etc. and for independence and life skills. |
Staff delivering communication support: | Only specialists can deliver/support FE staff |
Provision in Scotland: | Patchy, especially outside central belt |
Who might potentially benefit from cross-border specialist residential provision? | All, but this is a small group to start with |
Numbers likely to want to go? | Very small |
Group B
This group is composed of young people with very severe physical disabilities such that they have very limited or non-existent hand function and perhaps communication difficulties in addition to severe mobility difficulties and heavy care needs. Members of this group may be of average or above average intellectual ability and often have advanced skills in specific areas, eg. use of particular software. Or they may be beginners but needing to concentrate on developing such areas as a priority, in their FE programme. Their educational and specialised needs are often 'masked' by their physical issues.
Group B |
|---|
Primary Issue: | Severe physical impairment but not significant learning difficulties - heavy access and care needs |
Possible Additional Impairments: | Speech, language, communication impairments ( AAC use), range of milder perceptual or learning difficulties, other |
Modes of Communication & Communication Support: | All work completed with aid of technology, specialised computer access technology, hardware (eg. joystick, special keyboards, Headmouse, switches etc.) and software (eg. The Grid, WordWall, etc.), Voice output communication aid, connection to networks, |
Staff delivering communication support: | Heavy duty and ongoing technical support often required - specialised technicians/ computer support services / and lecturers? ? |
Provision in Scotland: | Very poor. Often inappropriately 'lumped in' with students with learning difficulties or disbarred from mainstream courses because of access difficulties |
Who might potentially benefit from cross-border specialist residential provision? | Not clear - Hereward College in Coventry used to specialise in this area but not sure if it still has a good reputation |
Numbers likely to want to go? | Very small |
Group C
An extremely small but very important group in that it is a group whose needs are currently barely even being recognised never mind met. Group C is young people who use augmentative and alternative communication ( AAC). By this, we mean that they have good language comprehension but little or no effective oral speech. Their cognitive and linguistic level is such that they are able to use another 'formal' language system to communicate, such as a symbol book or a high tech voice output communication aid (often both), commonly supplemented by unaided systems such as gesture and signing, facial expressions, Yes/No strategies etc.
Group C is almost a sub-set (or an extension) of Group B above, in that many members of Group C are also members of Group B, due to heavy physical involvement. But not all Group C members are physically disabled and not all are heavy technology users.
Group C |
|---|
Primary Issue: | Augmentative communication users |
Possible Additional Impairments: | Physical impairments, range of perceptual or learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorders other |
Modes of Communication & Communication Support: | Voice output communication aid, specialised access technology (eg. switch) for computer use, symbol books, low tech non-verbal strategies |
Staff delivering communication support: | Only specialists can deliver/support FE staff Technical support often required |
Provision in Scotland: | Virtually non-existent. Motherwell College for higher level VOCA users- |
Who might potentially benefit from cross-border specialist residential provision? | All, but this is a very low incidence group to start with |
Numbers likely to want to go? | Very small |
Group D
A large group, mainly composed of young people who have autistic spectrum disorders including significant speech, language and social interactional types of communication difficulties. It might include some with specific language impairment, or other low incidence syndromes affecting communication.
Group D |
|---|
Primary Issue: | Communication difficulties associated with autistic spectrum disorders. Maybe specific language impairment, severe dyspraxia, other |
Possible Additional Impairments: | Behaviour support needs Range of learning difficulties |
Modes of Communication & Communication Support: | Many communication support strategies needed. A full 'visual environment', using picture symbols throughout the day and across the curriculum, will be a basic requirement. PECS and use of symbol books important |
Staff delivering communication support: | Specialised experience needed to assess needs, develop materials and implement strategies appropriately / train other staff. |
Provision in Scotland: | Poor. Some are accommodated satisfactorily on existing courses of students with learning difficulties. Many cannot cope with / be well managed in, or benefit from mainstream college provision because of social communication and behavioural factors |
Who might potentially benefit from cross-border specialist residential provision? | ? Suitable/good provision not known/proven anyway? Might suit looked after children / cases of breakdown of parental home care. Need is for a small scale safe, calm and consistent environment Specialised residential provision capacity could be built in Scotland? |
Numbers likely to want to go? | ???? Probably many, if and when good provision was available / known about |
There might be overlap between this group and Group C, above (the absence of a high tech VOCA might be a distinction that indicates Group D is more relevant), or with Group E below (Group D, as a rule of thumb, might have the ability to understand and respond to sentences with two information carrying words and the ability to recognise pictures (and picture symbols) as representing meaning).
Group E
There is sometimes no clear dividing line between Group D above, and this Group E.
A large group composed of young people who have severe and complex learning difficulties, including difficulties understanding spoken language and little or no ability to use expressive language (through any medium of communication). To some extent this is a hidden group, in terms of FE, as up until now there has been little or no appropriate provision made for them.
Group E |
|---|
Primary Issue: | Severe and complex learning difficulties |
Possible Additional Impairments: | Physical impairments, visual and/ or hearing impairments, perceptual impairments, other |
Modes of Communication & Communication Support: | Communication at a basic functional level, at a concrete rather than abstract level, using single key words, pointing, real objects, gestures and signing, movement (maybe specialised on-body) sign, maybe single pictures or symbols. |
Staff delivering communication support: | Only specialists can deliver/support FE staff |
Provision in Scotland: | Poor. Young people in this group may be unlikely to be interested in or to fit in with existing FE provision. |
Who might potentially benefit from cross-border specialist residential provision? | Unlikely to be most appropriate course of action except in case of looked after children / breakdown of parental home care |
Numbers likely to want to go? | ?? |
These young people need very highly personalised programmes which might be an extension of the school elaborated curriculum (with an emphasis on communication) delivered in a more age-appropriate context. It is not clear that FE college is the most appropriate location for delivery of such a curriculum; it might be better delivered in other settings. There is a need for Transition Units (whether attached to schools or to colleges or to community education resources, or to adult resource centres?)
The views expressed by the young people in part reflect the range of needs represented in the consultation. These included those who are blind, communication aid users, those interested in a specific college course and those who were interested in Lifeskills (without always knowing what that meant). At least three different interest groups are represented: those who are capable of independent learning and want to study for qualifications and skills; those who would benefit from a form of specialist support; and those who would benefit from an extension of the school elaborated curriculum, combined with a form of Lifeskills / independent living support. To illustrate these three interest groups we consider two examples - young people who are blind or are severely visually impaired; young people who use AAC. These are sub groups of our earlier division into Groups A-E requiring different forms of communication support.
Group A: Young people who are blind or are severely visually impaired; 1
1
Pupil leaves school having gained qualifications and skills enabling him or her to attend university, enter into the workplace or go straight to a local college. The student is capable of independent study and learning, will be cognitively able and literate and could with support access the 'mainstream' curriculum in their choice of course and would be likely to acquire mainstream qualifications.
This is a relatively small group but important group. It comprises those who are most likely to obtain direct and more immediate benefit from FE and to go on to further / higher education and independent living.
In practice though, many if not most FE colleges will not be able to include such students (though accessibility strategy planning should, with appropriate monitoring, begin to expand capacity). The following are likely to be needed:
- Physical adaptations made to the facilities
- Provision of transport.
- Recruitment and employment of specialised staff (eg. Braille users, print accessible media through DAISY, MP3, Kurzweil 3000 etc. )
- Recruitment, employment induction and ongoing training of Support Workers with specialised skills (eg. able to manage computer and associated networks).
- Adaptations to the course curriculum, the teaching style, /method(s) of delivery and assessment of the course.
Group A: Young people who are blind or are severely visually impaired; 2
2
Often totally blind, perhaps with a high level of skills in one or a small number of areas e.g. perhaps advanced level skills in music or mathematics or English language or modern language(s). Will often have gained qualifications to standard or Higher grade in one or two of these areas. Without further specialist support would have difficult entering into the workplace or entering university for Higher Education.
A form of specialist provision and/or support needed to further develop:
- Independent living skills that are specific and specialised
- Household skills such as food preparation which presents major challenges to blind people who generally will have had little experience in independently preparing food and 'looking after themselves'.
- Learning how to follow recipes presented in Braille and/or in taped form that will then be used in situ for some years to come.
- Specialist computer skills, not just a generic, often obsolete screen reading system. Learning how to operate databases or spreadsheets using a specialist software package to develop advanced skills in a particular software package that is likely to be used following end of college placement, in workplace and/or at home
- Mobility training and support that is planned, regular, frequent and in context.
- Activities at weekends.
- 24- hour access to support via a named tutor or key worker. Where tutor is off e.g. different shift, holidays, ill, back-up specialist support is available to call on.
Group A: Young people who are blind or are severely visually impaired; 3
3
People with more visual and severe learning difficulties and /or more complex sensory and communication disabilities, who could benefit from both a transitional period in FE with specialist support to develop / improve / maximise their communication skills using whatever special medium *(eg. Moon, adapted signing systems etc. ) as well as basic level courses with large 'lifeskills' and practical components.
There are some independent specialist 'day colleges' in England specialising in supporting blind and visually impaired young people (eg. in Cheshire)
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Group C, Young People who use augmentative and alternative communication ( AAC)
In the first part of this section, we referred to groups A E as having various different types of communication support needs. Young People who use augmentative and alternative communication ( AAC) were designated as Group C . We now look more closely at this particular group They can be - as above for people with sensory impairments - very broadly - divided into one of three separate levels:
Group C, AAC users; 1
Young people who have, albeit with appropriate personal and expert support / technological aids, the capacity to access independent learning and study. In other words, they are cognitively able and literate and have attained a level of operational and linguistic competence with their augmentative/alternative communication system and/or personal writing aid(s) such that they can potentially access the 'mainstream' curricula in whatever course they choose to follow. Provided that appropriate financial and practical help is provided to support their attendance, they could be expected to follow a mainstream course and acquire mainstream qualifications. Having said that, it is important to emphasise that in practice it is still likely to be a major challenge for many / most FE colleges to include such students. Special resources and projects will help, eg. the development project currently under way by the consortium of Brite Centre, Donaldsons College, SASLI and others, to develop a pack providing guidance to Colleges, and a training programme for Support Workers, with regard to the support of deaf students,
Group C, AAC users; 2
People with good potential to learn but whose educational achievements so far have been limited, having been held back perhaps, amongst other things, by the barrier of severe communication disability and literacy difficulties. They may have appropriate augmentative communication systems (low tech or high tech) in place, but may be not yet at a level of full linguistic, strategic, operational, and/or social competence with their system.
Young people in this group can benefit greatly from a specialised 'transitional' period in FE during which, with focussed input from specialist staff, they may develop and perfect their competence and confidence in communication system use. Following that, or alongside that, they may go on to access other FE courses (or parts thereof) - possibly core skills, possibly courses designed for students with additional support needs, possibly mainstream courses (or a combination). Students like this will need a Personal Learning Plan and an individualised curriculum tailored to their needs. The City Lit. Module in AAC, or an updated/ modified form of it (known as the 'Core Curriculum') as outlined and updated in the Scope document 'Supporting Communication through AAC: Module 8 - LifeLong Learning1 is a good 'skeleton' on which to base courses for this group. At present only Motherwell College are known to use this approach (Motherwell staff contributed to its original development).
This group is currently very poorly catered for. Suitable communication support is seldom provided for them. They are commonly found 'lumped together' with students with global learning difficulties, on 'one size fits all' courses at college. In many cases, they are bored by such courses, as their cognitive ability is beyond them, while at the same time being frustrated and discouraged by them, and even failing to gain even the most basic of awards (as such courses are often practically based and students with physical disabilities cannot 'perform' independently to provide evidence of achievement). Or they may try to access more mainstream courses, but be unable to keep up the pace of learning and output.
Group 3
There are many young people who have complex additional support needs, including severe learning difficulties and speech, language and communication difficulties, such that any form of FE as it currently exists might be inaccessible, inappropriate and/or meaningless to them. It might be impossible for them to enter and stay inside an FE establishment (ie a large and unfamiliar / potentially frightening place busy with strangers who do not know how to interact with them), or to behave appropriately or find any interest there. Currently, they are more or less facing an educational void, when they leave school.
Some colleges may say that they cater for this group, but usually on closer examination, most are talking about young people with less severe and complex difficulties. Several professionals and parents mentioned the 'walking the streets' syndrome whereby young school-leavers are regularly seen out and about in the community (in all weathers!) with carers provided by Social Work services. However these carers have no specialist training and no educational remit and activities may be accessed in an aimless and unstructured way, with little social contact and no progression.
And yet these young people have as much right as everyone else to post-school education, and indeed have more need of it than many. At 16 or 17 they are still learning. In many cases, they are just hitting a peak learning period in their lives. They may only just have acquired basic skills (eg behaviour control, sign or symbol vocabulary, switch access to control their environment) needed to permit access and progress to core educational experiences. However, they do not 'fit' into either FE college programmes or Adult Resource Centre provision.
In brief, they not adults but are at a transition stage. They need age-appropriate, highly supported, specialist provision, to build on the learning begun at school, in order to develop their skills and reach their full potential, and to become as independent as possible. Communication is key element of the individualized curriculum needed.
A few authorities are attempting to create transitional educational provision. Voluntary organisations also have a role to play here. The brand new Teens+ pilot project just about to open its doors in Edinburgh will provide a safe specialist educational base from which young people will also access provision by community education, leisure and recreation, social work and, potentially, FE colleges. Accreditation isnot necessarily considered a priority. Parents feel this is incomprehensible and irrelevant to their children and that programmes based around accreditation may risk being curriculum-led instead of being the preferred 'student -led/person centred' provision.
With one exception, parents of young people in this group that we spoke to did not necessarily wish to send them away to specialist residential colleges far from home, whether in England or Scotland, as this is felt to be a potentially traumatic experience all round. For many parents, however, the need for some kind of provision outside the home for their child is urgent for both the young person and for the family carer. One mother detailed how her daughter's aggressive behaviour increases markedly when she has to stay at home, whereas she is generally amenable, cheerful and sociable when she is out and about, especially around people her own age.
Specialist Residential Colleges for AAC users
We were interested to know which features of specialist residential colleges might have to offer were potentially most valuable for AAC users. Our preliminary research indicates these to be as follows:
- A 24/7 curriculum, providing consistency and intensive input across residential and educational components
- Highly individualised, student-centred educational programmes ( IEP) geared to progression
- Staff who are highly specialised and experienced with AAC approaches and systems and with this kind of student
- Implementation of good practice in particular specialised areas (behaviour and communication were most commonly cited)
Nobody that we interviewed felt that these qualities were currently available anywhere in Scotland in the FE sector, for students with complex support needs. One felt that they could only be found in a residential college such as Beaumont. The other said they felt they could be adequately provided elsewhere, on a less than 24 hour basis, but that this could only be created 'from scratch', in a special environment built/adapted for purpose.
There are specialist FE colleges in England that offer an education emphasising the development of communication skills,)
"Everyone is encouraged and supported to communicate in the most appropriate way for them. Our speech and language therapy team has extensive experience of communication aids of all kinds, from the latest technology to word and symbol books and care staff and others throughout the organization are trained to help you make yourself understood."
Treloar college in Hampshire (www.treloar.org.uk/college/)
"The Speech & Language Therapy Department works across all areas of the college. We liaise closely with our colleagues in the Education Department, Support Services and the Youth Team.
Our aim is to ensure every student has a means, a reason and an opportunity to communicate and that they are helped to understand their environment through the use of signs and symbols. We work collaboratively with the AAC Department, which supports and develops students' use of both 'high and low tech` communication aids.
Staff training is an important aspect of our role within the college."
Portland College in Mansfield, Notts. (http://www.portland.org.uk/
- effective and imaginative teaching
- well-planned integration of literacy and numeracy teaching
- good opportunities for improvement of students' literacy and numeracy skills
- a good strategy for developing communication skills
- effective use of information and learning technology.
From OFSTED Report on Beaumont College, 2002 (for pictures, seewww.djclark.com/2000/days/beaumont/index.htm)
One of the features of such colleges is that they have in-house services from speech and language therapist(s) ( SLT) who are specialists in AAC (or employ SLTs or other specialists in AAC, eg. communication support teacher, on a consultancy basis), and train Learning Support Assistants in specialist communication areas (eg. signing), or in some cases employ people already skilled in the such areas.)
There are also some independent specialist 'day colleges' in England specialising in communication (eg. Bridge College in Stockport, Cheshire) which might be useful sources of inspiration for any colleges in Scotland wishing to upskill and specialise in this area.
There are a few colleges in England that are starting to offer specialist SLT/ AAC support (from the NHS adult disability services team) to students in local FE provision (cf. Davies, C. (2005) and Loughborough College http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?printable=1&resID=1997 which is an interesting model to consider. A difficulty here is likely to be the existing 'thinness on the ground' of SLT services.
Identifying complex support needs: a possible planning framework
Examples of interest groups are outlined above - young people who are blind or severely visually impaired and those who are AAC users. We could have cited examples of young people whose support needs are due to being Deaf, deafblind (though see case studies which do include a deafblind young person), or other. The examples are though instructive as they illustrate that:
- Support needs do not feature on a continuum but represent more an array of need. One young person may require a high degree of support in one area but not in others. Another young person may need a high degree of support in several areas.
- In order to identify, address and make provision for this array of support needs a complex set of factors needs to be taken account of. To be successful, it needs to be detailed and provide individual responses to individual needs.
- Strategic planning needs to reflect this complexity.
Below we describe a possible approach that reflects complexity of support need, in both the range of support needs and the degree of complexity in any individual young person. At the same time the approach can be used as a helpful tool for planning and inter-agency discussion.
Matrix of support needs
In the late 1980s, early 1990s Prof. George Thomson and colleagues at University of Edinburgh proposed a framework based on a matrix of need as a way of achieving greater equity in resourcing children and young people with special educational needs - who should get a Record of Need, how their needs should be identified and assessed. The framework could also be used to achieve greater equity in allocating resources.
On the matrix each row represents support needs in a graduated series of levels from 'I' indicating minimal support needs to 'IV' (some prefer 'V'), representing an extensive range of support needs and how they might best be met.
The matrix reflects the reality that there is no single dimension or continuum of support .The emphasis is instead on providing steps that colleges could take to support the young person's learning. The two examples below draw heavily from Thomson et al's original work, to give a flavour of how the matrix can be implemented.
Case 1 - specific learning difficulties
Case 2 - complex/pronounced learning support needs
Case 1 is a young man who has 'specific learning difficulties' The completed grid is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Case 1 - Specific Learning Difficulties
Needs relating to | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|
Transport and Physical Environment | 4 | | | |
Courses and curriculum adaptation | | 4 | | |
Level of Support | | 4 | | |
Special Resources | 4 | | | |
Specialiist Staff and training they require | | 4 | | |
Type of Communication | 4 | | | |
In this case 'significant differentiation' to the courses and/or curriculum may be needed in at least one area with a degree of individual support needed to access specified technologies e.g. a text to speech system to support reading.
Case 2 is a young man with complex communication and other support needs. He is on the autistic spectrum, and requires a high level of adult support with consistent, clear and specialised management of his behaviour. Support from a speech and language therapy would be of benefit.
Table 2: Case 2 - Complex communication and other support needs
Needs relating to | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|
Transport and Physical Environment | | | 4 | |
Courses and curriculum adaptation | | | 4 | |
Level of Support | | | | 4 |
Special Resources | | | 4 | |
Specialiist Staff and training they require | | | 4 | |
Type of Communication | | | | 4 |
The young man would benefit from a specialist facility that offers a 'high level of specialised differentiation' of the curriculum. Very experienced Specialised Resources and Agents were seen as important in order to promote his interaction with courses and curriculum. He was considered as requiring a one-to-one level of support in most areas.
The assumption behind the matrix of support needs is that 'Level I' represents the minimum level of support and resourcing that may be available in all colleges. Little particular specialist support is needed on any one or more of the strands.
Appendix 2 (see Part Four) shows how one of the original matrices looked in blank form and Appendix 3 (Part Four) completes the considerations that would be taken into account of when determining level of support need. While the approach was not adopted at the time, and the legislative framework has in any case since moved on, the model did attract many favourable comments. Clearly, the same model could not simply be transferred from school and applied to a college setting. In our view, however, it has a number of benefits which make it worth further consideration within the FE context. These include:
- Perhaps most important of all, the matrix offers a planning framework that is both person-centred, in terms of needs, and inter-agency focused, in terms of which department is responsible for funding. As such it can be used by both.
- Perhaps by coincidence, or by design, the 'rows' or areas of support needs used in the matrix fit the Executive's criteria for complex needs 2.
- For planning purposes, areas in which support will be required have to be made transparent so that a common language can be adopted and the suitability of resources to meet these needs can be agreed.
- Any form of capacity building needs first to identify the areas in which capacity has to be built and know when it has met objectives.
- In the absence of anything more suitable it is a 'good start'.
Although the matrix represents a good start, a number of changes are needed for it to be more useful within the context of FE and Complex Needs. We describe these next.
Matrix of support needs: the FE context (with cells blank)
The blank matrix shown in Table 3 overleaf reflects more an FE context than school, with areas of support need coming under:
- Transport and the physical environment
- Type and level of communication
- Student's ability to learn and to access independent study
- The curriculum and how courses are structured and delivered
- Personal care and support required by student
- The level of specialised resources, facilities and technologies required
- The level of specialised support agent(s) involvement
With transport brought within the physical environment, and personal care designated a specified form of support, identified inter-agency funding streams are made transparent.
Variation in capacity for independent study and learning is not only one of the reasons some colleges give for accepting students or not, but also a key component when ascertaining what kind of college course is likely to be appropriate: award bearing at HNC, NC, Access level versus developing life skills for example.
Assessed or resourced on its own, each area of support need contributes to better understanding of what FE can be for in the case of any one student. Taken together however, the matrix offers a relatively straightforward way to:
- Identify, assess and record the complexity of any one student's profile
- Highlight areas of strength as well as where more in-depth support may be required.
- Plan an integrated service response that requires funding from multiple budgets
- Inform education institutions' future accessibility strategies thereby contributing towards future capacity building over 3 year planning cycles.
- Should dovetail with emerging transitional planning arrangements as identified in the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004 and Code of Practice - in which Careers Service is identified as an "appropriate agency" for planning purposes.
Matrix of support needs: completed example
On subsequent pages we present a completed example (see Table 4)
Table 3 Adapted matrix of support needs for FE students with complex needs (Blank)
Needs relating to: | Level I Needs | Level II Needs | Level III Needs | Level IV Needs | Level V Needs |
|---|
Transport and the physical environment | | | | | |
Type and level of communication | | | | | |
Student's ability to learn and to access independent study
The curriculum and how courses are structured and delivered | | | | | |
Personal care and support required by student | | | | | |
The level of specialized resources, facilities and technologies required | | | | | |
The level of specialised support agent(s) involvement | | | | | |
Table 4 Adapted matrix of support needs for FE students with complex needs (completed Draft)
Transport and the physical environment | The ordinary college facilities are appropriate. Student is able to travel and access college facilities independently. | May require taxi transport or disabled parking space. The student's needs are such that some (relatively minor) adaptations are required to the college facilities and accommodation. For example, lift, ramps, rails in toilets, and other aids. Access to a resource base may be required for certain functions (eg. printing out written work from personal computer). | May require wheelchair transport and/or escort. More specialized adaptations and aids may be required, eg. hoist, toilet chair, adjustable height tables Use of a specialist facility within the mainstream setting may be required, eg. a resource base, for a substantial portion of the student's time in college. | A highly specialized environment, is required for all the time the student is in the college, to cover support needs relating to profound sensory loss, severe physical disability and/or disruptive behaviour. For example, hearing aid 'loop' system, Braille and/or symbol signage, Fully accessible workstations for practical and technological subjects required. Adjacent adapted and fully staffed residential accommodation available | An even more highly specialized environment is required, including adjacent adapted and fully staffed residential accommodation, and such as specialized transport and escorts 'on-call' for trips out, multi-sensory room, hydrotherapy pool, Life Skills room, etc. Secure facilities may be required to keep students safe. |
Type and level of communication | Ordinary, oral / aural methods of face to face communication ie. spoken language. Any adaptations needed are minor, eg. staff awareness, lighting for lip-reading etc. | Spoken language is main means of communication. Reading and writing can be supported with appropriate aids. Aids are already in place or easily acquired. Student already relatively competent in their use. | Specialized communication methods in use by student, eg. symbols, signing/sign language, Reading and writing may need to be supported with pictures, symbols, text-to-speech feedback etc. | Highly specialized communication methods used by the student
eg, Braille, signing, symbol communication book, voice-output communication aid, personal computer etc. (or combination of these). Aids may be in place but student not yet fully independent / competent in their use and seeking specialized instruction and support to develop communication skills | Highly specialized methods required by student, as at Level IV. Student may need specialist assessment and purchase of appropriate devices, Student not independent / competent in their use - Specialized instruction and support to develop communication skills is a major component of their educational needs |
Student's ability to learn and to access independent study The curriculum and how courses are structured and delivered | Support for Learning Dept. in-house identifies and deals with any support requirements Ordinary mainstream courses perhaps with minor features of differentiation. Alternative methods of presentation within the group, as necessary | Help may be needed on an ongoing basis to enable student to read, and/or access course and study materials. Student may require 'taster' trials in different courses to establish interests and assess abilities and competences. Significant differentiation is needed in one or more areas of the curriculum requiring planned and structured programmes. | Unable to access large parts of mainstream courses effectively; student may need special 'package' composed of elements of such courses, that can be completed with help, Alternatively, student likely to need special course(s) radically different from the mainstream, ie. EITHER eg. 'LifeSkills' and/or 'Work Skills' type provision for students with learning difficulties OR eg. package composed of core and specialist skills for more able students with severe sensory or communication disabilities, using specialized methods and technology. | Student requires a full assessment of need and ability, and exploration of educational aspirations. Results will shape creation of an individualized and highly personalized curriculum. Students may need transition period working on core skills and specialized methods of communication before tackling more elements of mainstream subject courses leading to accreditation, ie. may need longer period in college. College needs to step out from 'one size fits all' approach to create unique packages; may need to research alternative curricula eg. City & Guild AAC module | As at Level IV, student requires a totally personalized and specialized curriculum, based on assessment of need, and student's requests. Having attained the necessary competence in basic skills eg. communication, independent mobility etc. student may then go on to access and complete a more mainstream college course in a particular subject. Different colleges may specialize and develop new courses and curricula in particular areas, eg. BSL support, AAC support, or autism support |
Personal care and support required by student | None, or minor adaptations eg. small group work. May need occasional help from 'general' classroom aide, eg. to access complex equipment or to facilitate participation in groups. | 1:1 support required sometimes to allow participation in groups, access materials eg. reader, scribe, turning pages, moving around, toilet etc. Perhaps short-term behaviour support to avoid causing stress to self/others. | 1:1 support needed regularly/often throughout the day eg primary care needs (transport escort, moving from place to place in college, toilet, eating & drinking etc.); help with reading/ writing, access to materials & equipment, participation in groups etc, | 1:1 support needed continuously - all those mentioned at Level III, and more, May need specialized care (eg, familiarity with communication system and/or equipment), and/or nursing care. May need 2 helpers eg. for lifting. May need behaviour support. | As at Level IV, continuous 1:1 support (or 2:1) essential for all aspects. Specialized care staff needed. May need behaviour support and care to protect self and others. 24 hour care if residential. |
The level of specialized resources, facilities and technologies required | Ordinarily available resources, facilities and/or technology shared with groups of other students eg. word processors/personal computers, internet access. | Needs assessed and identified by Brite /Access Centre, specialized technology /settings needed available in-house. May require exclusive use of computer (specialized workstation or own laptop?) & special access peripherals eg. joystick, BigKeys | Special hardware and software may be needed to produce/'adapt specialized resources eg. educational materials in Braille, in symbols, or in computer accessible format | Highly specialized resources, facilities or technology not normally available and deployed/designed for the student's specific use eg. communication aid (& wheelchair mounting), switch & scan access to computer, digital hearing aids | Very highly specialized resources, facilities or technology not normally available and deployed/designed for the student's specific use on a continuous basis. Specially trained and skilled staff to support and develop student's use of complex communication technology, to achieve progression, ie. better levels of operational, linguistic, strategic and social competence. |
The level of specialised support agent(s) involvement | Needs identified, monitored, and met by in-house Support for Learning Dept. | Most needs can be met by Brite /Access Centre trained staff, in-house. Information and advice may occasionally be sought from external agencies eg. sensory services | Specialized support needed from external agencies, eg. Braille services, Brite/Access, Assist- IT, transition projects, sensory services, etc. at key points or on regular basis. Training for college staff needed. | Highly specialized support provided by an internal and/or external agent to student continuously eg. aides with special training and experience in behavior support, and/or intensively 1:1 (eg. BSL interpretation) or in a specialized setting, eg. special base staff team | Specialists from various disciplines (eg. SLT, AAC or BSL specialist, autism specialist, physiotherapy) may need to be employed as consultants (or on staff) by college to provide support of very highly specialized nature to students and to provide ongoing advice, training and support for other college staff, on an ongoing basis. |
Applying the matrix
Having set out areas of support need, as well as indicating how each area might feature in terms of complexity we can now turn to examples. To do this we use the case studies presented at the end of Part One to illustrate how their individual support needs might be represented using the table.
Case study (viii)
Table 5: Case study(viii)
Needs relating to | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V |
|---|
Transport and Physical Environment | | | | 4 | |
Courses and curriculum adaptation | | | 4 | | |
Level of Support | | | | 4 | |
Special Resources | | | | 4 | |
Specialiist Staff and training they require | | | | 4 | |
Type of Communication | | | 4 | | |
In this case differentiation to the courses and/or curriculum was needed in several areas with a degree of individual support needed to access such as mobility training on a regular basis.
Case study (vi)
Table 6: Case study (vi)
Needs relating to | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V |
|---|
Transport and Physical Environment | | | | | 4 |
Courses and curriculum adaptation | | | | | 4 |
Level of Support | | | | | 4 |
Special Resources | | | | | 4 |
Specialiist Staff and training they require | | | | | 4 |
Type of Communication | | | | | 4 |
Case study (iii) -
Table 6: Case study(iii)
Needs relating to | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V |
|---|
Transport and Physical Environment | | | | 4 | |
Courses and curriculum adaptation | | 4 | | | |
Level of Support | | | | 4 | |
Special Resources | | | 4 | | |
Specialiist Staff and training they require | | | | | 4 |
Type of Communication | | | | 4 | |
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