Early years support and advice

Ideas, strategies and resources to help children with SEND

Communication and interaction

We all have different ways of communicating and it is important to recognise this and support our children and young people with opportunities to communicate. Communication does not always have to be verbal, communication can be through noises, body language, visual cards, pointing, eye contact and more.

Milton Keynes Speech and Language Therapists (SALT):

Milton Keynes Early Years Speech and Language Therapy Team - working with pre-school-age children with speech and language difficulties in addition to feeding and swallowing difficulties.
Milton Keynes Early Years Complex Needs Speech and Language Therapy Team - a specialist team which develops the communication, eating and drinking skills of pre-school-age children with longer term difficulties.
Milton Keynes Schools Speech and Language Therapy Team - provides services to all primary and secondary schools within Milton Keynes, including some with specialist education provision.

How to make a referral, resources and support can be found on each of the above links. For further advice and support (for example, visual helpers, objects of reference and choices) from Speech and Language, please see our Speech and Language pages.

Using visuals to support understanding

Sally Ahmad, Specialist Teacher for the Inclusion Specialist Teaching Team, presents these two videos about how to support understanding through the use of visuals.

Supporting Siblings and Encouraging Socialising

Chris White, Specialist Teacher with the Inclusion Specialist Teaching Team, presents this video about how to support the siblings of children diagnosed with ASC or with SCN, as well as how to encourage socialising, while recognising the individual personalities of our children

Supporting Siblings and Encouraging Socialising

The Hanen centre:

The service offers two highly successful training programmes for parents to help their children’s communication development:

It Takes Two to Talk, for parents of children with speech and language difficulties
More Than Words, for parents of children with social interaction and communication difficulties

Now and next boards

The issue

Children with SEND can often find it stressful not knowing what is going to happen next and/or moving on from an activity they are enjoying.

A solution

Now and next boards are a visual support which are often used prior to the introduction of a visual timetable. They are used for a short sequence to help a child to understand what will happen now and then next (sometimes called first and then). Using them can help:

children understand a sequence of events
support understanding about what is going to happen now and then next - remember to use motivating activity as ‘next’ as the child is more likely to carry out the ‘now’ activity if it is less appealing to them and they know a treat is coming ‘next’
children understand when something is finished
alleviate frustration
language skills by supporting vocabulary with pictures (word finding)
children associate a picture with the corresponding activity - this supports auditory/visual memory and cognitive association
support a child’s focus at an activity or sequence of activities

Keep and display the board at the child’s level in the same place or have it with you when you are doing the activities, preferably in a quiet area. This is so that the child knows where to find it in the future and may be in future access this independently. A quiet area allows limited distraction to aid concentration.

To start with a child will need adult direction to learn what it is for and how to use it, with possible hand over hand assistance to pull off the picture when finished (one at a time) and post it into a finish box/pouch.

use simple language and point to each picture explaining what will happen ‘Now and Next’ - remember to always use motivating activity (what the child likes) as the Next, it will be a reward for the child and likely to be successful next time you use it
then, show the first picture and carry the activity out
when it is complete encourage the child to remove the picture and post it into the finished box/pouch (optional)
continue with the sequence until it is complete

The Occupational Therapy team have put together a now and next advice sheet for parents and carers.

Visual prompts

Children can feel anxious about what is happening next when they are out and about or on the move.

Visual prompts are pictures, photos or symbols of activities that are a handy size worn on a Key Fob attached to a belt or a lanyard that are very useful for staff or parents organising their daily routine. The visual prompts can be used to:

help children understand what is about to happen next when out and about or on the move
help children to feel less anxious and alleviate frustration
help language skills by supporting vocabulary with pictures (word finding)
associate a picture with the corresponding activity - this supports auditory/visual memory and cognitive association
support a child’s focus at an activity

How do I use them?

Keep the cards on your person, either on your belt on a key ring or on a lanyard. Communicate to a child what is about to happen by showing them the card a few moments beforehand. This gives the child a moment to process what you are about to do.

Communication cards can also be used as a now and next strategy by showing a card of what is about to happen and then what will happen next. Remember to show motivating activity (what the child likes) as the ‘next' so that the child is more likely to follow the sequence.

Download some commonly used visual prompts.

Sensory

Sensory Play

Sensory play is a great way to support your child's sensory needs through fun and engaging activities. Sensory play can be added through out your child's day to help keep them regulated. We have produced some ideas and resources to support with sensory play, which you will find below.

sensory play activities - a booklet full of sensory play ideas
sensory toy box ideas - images of types of toys to include in your child's toy box
play strategies - exploratory play - produced by NHS Hillingdon Talks
messy play - sensory activities to support children speech, language, communication and interaction skills
play time - five tips for talking

Sensory processing

Some children experience sensory processing difficulties which impact on participation and function in everyday activities. Many children with Neurodevelopmental difficulties including ASC and ADHD experience these difficulties. If you think your child has sensory processing difficulties, please talk to any healthcare professional already working with your child. They can help you to unpick your child’s behaviours and whether they are sensory or have another cause.

The Milton Keynes Occupational Therapy Service have created some free information and resources to support parents, carers and professionals to understand sensory processing. For example, chew toys, head banging, planning wheels and videos to support different sensory needs.

Milton Keynes Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy Team support children and young people (CYP) who have significant difficulties with everyday functional skills due to a physical, motor or sensory-based need that impacts on their independence and ability to participate in everyday activities.

Sensory sensitivities

If you think your child may have sensory sensitivities, please use this this checklist to determine the area of need, alongside this you will find a list of strategies to support your child and their sensory sensitivities.

sensory sensitivities checklist - an editable checklist to support sensory sensitivities
sensory sensitivities strategies - Sensory integration issues and strategies

New- Health’s Occupational Therapy Professional Lead delivered a really informative 1.5 hr presentation on Sensory Needs as part of CNWL’s Year of the Child. This training gives a great insight into sensory needs, strategies to use and how sensory needs affect anxiety levels.

The information pack and recording for sensory awareness are available on our website. Find out more, and watch back the recording here

A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is also available.

Social, emotional and mental health

Supporting behaviour

Think about a child's behaviour a bit like an iceberg - you can only see the tip but there’s a lot more underneath that you can’t see. There can be underlying reasons for challenging behaviour. So, you need to ask why is the child behaving like this? Not, what is the child doing.

Reasons for challenging behaviour can include:

sensory issues
communication difficulties
frustration
fears and phobias
misunderstanding of social rules
literal understanding
too much language being used by someone
not enough time to process what’s been asked - some children can take up 2 minutes to process a single instruction
lack of knowledge or understanding of how to behave appropriately
pressure to do tasks which are too difficult at the time
fear of the situation
difficulties with making themselves understood
difficulty in understanding what’s being asked of them
environmental influences
changes in routine

A solution

Use an ABC chart to find the trigger points for the behaviour:

A - antecedents - what happened before?
B - behaviour - what was the behaviour observed?
C - consequences - what happened next and how did the adult deal with the situation?

Behaviours of Concern - Chris White, Specialist Teacher with the Inclusion Specialist Teaching Team, presents these videos looking at behaviours of concern, why you may see them and strategies to support.

Calming box

A full day can be stressful and difficult to manage for some young children especially if they have additional needs and they may need quiet time for themselves at different points of the day.

A quiet space can be set aside for a child to use when he or she feels overwhelmed, upset, or tense. This serves as a protected place where children can be taught to go to in order to relax, calm down, or take a break. A parent or carer or, if in an early years setting, a teacher, can join the child, if he or she needs support in calming down or feeling secure.

This is particularly important for children with Social Communication Difficulties or Autistic Spectrum Condition when they become over stimulated by the busy, noisy, bright environments.

A solution

Here are some simple and quick suggestions to create a quiet area:

a table with a cloth over it with some cushions and a box with calming sensory toys/toys the child likes to play with
a small tent with some cushions and calming sensory toys/toys the child likes to play with

Take a picture of the calm area or box of calming toys and show it to the child as they use it. Eventually they will link the picture to the area or box. Once this has been established they learn to go to the quite area or box when shown the picture.

This space must not be used as a consequence area or timeout.

The child can choose when to use the area or be encouraged by an adult when they are becoming anxious.

Emotions

Your child may find it difficult to understand their emotions or how they are feeling. We would always advise you to speak to your SENDCO at your school or setting to see how they can support your child whilst at school.

Below you will find some resources that can be used to support your child in understanding their emotions and feelings.

As adults it is important to role model our own feelings and emotions. Use your feeling template or zones of regulation check in to tell your child how you are feeling, don't be afraid to say that you aren't feeling happy all of the time.

Understanding and Managing Anxiety

Amy Segui, Specialist Teacher with the Inclusion Specialist Teaching Team, presents this video about how you can support your child to manage their anxiety

Supporting Your Child To Manage Their Anxiety

Activity Breaks

Activity breaks are an opportunity to be physically active for a short period of time. Activity breaks might be used between learning, or when you feel your child needs a sensory break.

Here are two examples of activities break you could use: