Developing A Responsive Social And Learning Environment

Developing a responsive social and learning environment

The environment and language development

Understanding of your environment is fundamental to the way you interact and access it:

determines they way you behave

helps you make sense of your world

how you adapt your social skills from setting to setting

increases security and reduces anxiety

The way you interpret your environment determines how you interact with it and manipulate it for your own benefit

environmental cues exist within all level s of society

Introducing an analogy for language development . The way we have made sense of our environment depends on our perceived reality Soil = environment

A compatible environment?

Very often we put students in an environment which, by its very nature they can’t access

We can make environmental adaptations to ensure understanding across a range of settings

What are we aiming to achieve?

Adults relinquishing control – giving children more control over their environment

Increasing children’s independence and problem solving skills

Increasing security, understanding of role and expectations within a routine

Providing a stable,secure, predictable and meaningful environment

A decrease in ‘ negative communicative behaviours ’

An environment that children need, and want , to interact with

Connecting with your environment Relationship with your physical environment Relationship with your symbolic environment Relationship with your social environment How you respond to environmental prompts Ability to attach meaning to symbols Awareness of how time is represented Understanding of your role within a given setting

- TEACCH: Organising the environment into clearly defined areas -play, ‘office’, work, putting down mats to indicate where students should sit etc. - Physical prompting and backward chaining - Labelling the environment - Written/symbol commands - Base boards - Floor markings - Menu boards - Accessible communication systems (AAC)