How are you doing? It is a question that we often open with as a version of a quick hello but an essential one. When we have asked it, we should take the time to listen carefully to the other person’s response. Especially as we experience our second national lockdown!

I’ve certainly tried to use my lockdown experiences to walk a mile in the shoes of others to hopefully feel more empathy and understanding. The initial and sometimes ongoing feelings of uncertainty about change and the unknown that lockdown causes has made me more aware of what some autistic pupils may feel on a permanent basis in life in general. The wearing of masks to share human interactions with others has made me more aware of the challenges our children and young people that experience difficulties with social communication on a day-to-day basis. Having to quickly learn how to deliver training and hold meetings online and not ‘getting it’ quickly without lots of help from others has made me even more aware of how the classroom might feel to some pupils with learning difficulties.

Despite the challenges of lockdown there are many strengths that I have noticed and try to reflect upon when I’m not doing so well. The biggest is the resilience of my colleagues and the children that they support in the many schools I have the pleasure and privilege to work with. No matter how quickly guidance changes and how suddenly new systems and approaches there is a constant ‘can do’ approach from you all and a determination to continue to provide the best possible quality education and happiest experience of school possible. The best bit of all of it as ever is the children. They continue to smile, laugh and do life! This drives us all on.

Keep doing what you are doing!

Beccie Hawes x

Dysgraphia is a specific learning difficulty that can impair handwriting, spelling, finger sequencing and the speed of writing. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), dysgraphia is described as a learning disability in the category of written expression when an individual’s writing skills are below those expected given their age compared to capacity for learning and age-appropriate education. The DSM is not clear in whether or not writing refers only to the motor skills involved in writing, or if it also includes orthographic skills and spelling.

Research to date has shown that orthographic coding in working memory is related to handwriting and can be impaired in those that experience dysgraphia. Orthographic coding is the ability to store written words in the working memory while the letters in the word are analysed for spelling or the ability to create permanent memory of written words linked to their pronunciation and meaning. Children with dysgraphia do not have developmental coordination delay (or dyspraxia), another potential cause of poor handwriting, but may have difficulty planning sequential finger movements such as the touching of the thumb to successive fingers on the same hand without visual feedback. Children with dysgraphia may have difficulty with both orthographic coding and planning sequential finger movements.

The following approaches can help pupils that experience dysgraphia to be more successful:

1. Building strength in the hands, arms, core and shoulders to develop a firm foundation of postural stability. Activities such as:

• Lying on the tummy to read and complete activities,
• Yoga,
• Playing on climbing frames,
• Dynamic seating such as sitting on a gym ball or seating wedge,
• Pushing and pulling activities,
• Playing with playdoh or Theraputty,
• Playing with resistive or snap together toys such as construction,
• Using writing a slope,
• Kneeling up and drawing/writing on a chalk board.

2. Use of Adapted Writing Tools:

• Short pencils, crayons and chalk to provide an easier grip and control,
• Explore smooth flowing ink pens such as gel pens,
• Use of pencil grips – offer a variety to find the most comfortable and impactful one.

3. Use of a different paper to record on to limit visual sensory issues:

• Darker, well-spaced lines,
• Double spaced lines,
• Explore the impact of different coloured paper,
• Guidelines that make clear where letters that are ascenders (such as l, b, d) and descenders (such as g, y,p) sit.
• Check that the paper feels smooth against the hand/arm.

4. Adopt a multisensory approach:

• Explore a variety of mediums to trace in such as sand, foam, cornflour, glitter, paint.
• Make letters three dimensionally out of pipe cleaners and Wikki Sticks.

5. Provide additional support for spelling linked to handwriting rehearsal. This could include:

• Offering a structured, cumulative and multi-sensory phonics approach.
• Exploring morphology.
• Learning spelling rules and their exceptions.

6. Limit cognitive load and processing demands when focusing upon writing tasks:

• Offer use of a voice recording device to ‘hold’ sentences/intentions for writing.
• Provide graphic organisers to support organisation and recall of content.
• Offer word mats with spellings of more complex/technical words on.
• Visual task timelines to support task maintenance.

Specific Learning Difficulties: current understanding, support systems, and technology-led interventions.

In January 2019, the Government Office for Science commissioned a series of 4 rapid evidence reviews to explore how technology and research can help improve educational outcomes for learners with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs). The findings were subsequently published in October 2020.

This review examined:

• Current understanding of the causes and identification of SpLDs.
• The support system for learners with SpLDs.
• Technology-based interventions for SpLDs.

A case study approach focusing on dyscalculia to explore all 3 themes.

The full document can be accessed via the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926052/specific-learning-difficulties-spld-cst-report.pdf

The authors identified the following key conclusions and recommendations.

Review 1: Current understanding of the causes and identification of SpLDs:

• There is a disconnect between the needs-based identification used in schools and the formal diagnosis required by universities and employers, and also the ‘identification pathways’ used by health services. It would be useful to align these systems more.
• As most children show difficulties in school as some of the early warning signs for SpLDs, teachers and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinators (SENDcos) need to be much better equipped to identify and support SpLDs. In particular, all teachers should be aware that SpLDs are very common, there are no clear dividing lines between typical and atypical learners with respect to SpLDs, cooccurrence of SpLDs is high, and all children should be supported according to their needs, which will change over time.
• No single method of identification of SpLDs is ideal. Identification needs to be an ongoing process, gaining information from multiple sources (parents, teacher, standardised measures) over a period of time.
• Further research is needed on the role of identification in the progress of SpLDs over time. This requires longitudinal approaches.
• Focus on a single area of processing for identification and diagnosis is not helpful, because of the interactions between different risk factors and the high levels of cooccurrence of different disorders.
• Early identification is useful but should be accompanied by regular updates and reassessments to understand how needs change over time.
• Recent research findings indicate that studies including multiple methodologies (e.g. combining genetic, neuroimaging and behavioural measures) and levels of explanation are a fruitful future research area in SpLDs.
• The National Pupil Database is a precious resource that should be used for largescale longitudinal data analysis of SpLDs. It also provides an opportunity to understand the divisions between research and practice in more detail.
• With respect to learners with SpLDs, more studies are needed to understand how and why response to intervention varies across learners, and it may be that genetic and neurobiological factors play an important role in this. One approach may be to combine intervention studies with longitudinal cohort studies to allow these types of analyses.

Review 2: The support system for learners with SpLDs

• Central government and local policy should clearly define expectations on parents in devising support programmes/interventions for their children. For example, alternative formats (e.g. video) for parents’ and children’s contributions should be supported.
• Need for procedural consistency in identification and support for young people with SpLDs across Local Authorities in England: it was impossible to outline procedures in England, due to regional/local operational, policy and accessibility differences.
• Support parents/teachers through workshops to provide training on interventions used to support learners with SpLD.
• For parents of children with SpLD, ensure interaction with schools is accessible.
• Initial Teacher Training (ITT) frameworks should include instruction about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), which specifically addresses the needs of learners with SpLD. This should be developed through liaison between the DfE, professionals and third sector bodies such as the British Dyslexia Association and the Dyspraxia Foundation, amongst others.
• PG (level 7) standard professional development for teachers relating to areas of need within the SEND Code of Practice, linked to SENCo training routes. SENCos locally could develop skills networks; this needs further research and development. This should be developed through liaison and appropriate research with third sector organisations, professionals and DfE, as well as education and training providers.
• Investment in accredited training for teaching assistants/working with pupils with SpLD to facilitate schools’ access to highly trained individuals to support pupils with SpLD.
• Training for professionals/parents/carers on accessibility features of information and communications technology already available in school such as MS Office, Adobe, inbuilt features of Apple devices, etc.
• Research into efficacy of intervention programmes, both technological and staff-led, to form a high-quality evidence base.
• Research into the efficacy of diverse technologies, with consistent language and methodology for comparability of results.
• High-quality research into experiences/views of parents/carers whose children have SpLD.
• Exploration with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) of development of regulations and hardware apps to facilitate use of pupils’ own technology in public examinations, such that the examination is not compromised (i.e. internet access blocked), but so that pupils ‘reasonably adjust’ materials congruent with their normal way of working. This will also support the efficient deployment of staff.
• Research on the use of mobile technology in the classroom whilst maintaining online safety but allowing for ‘reasonable adjustments’ to curricular materials by pupils.
• Encourage use of e-readers/eBooks through text-to-speech features already available e.g. Office 365, or mobile technology.

Review 3: Technology-based interventions for SpLDs

• The challenging teacher recruitment situation in the UK can be ameliorated for learners with SpLDs through the leveraging of technology to support both early diagnosis and effective learning support. • The evidence about the way that technology can be used to support education for people with SpLDs summarised in this review is still relatively embryonic, patchy and lacks consistency and scale. Unless this paucity of evidence is addressed, there is a risk that the potential benefits of technology will not be effectively expedited for people with SpLDs. More evidence needs to be generated and a set of widely accepted methodologies agreed.
• If developments in AI technology and in our understanding about how people with SpLDs learn continue to progress as they have in the last decade, and we leverage them effectively, the potential for increasing educational achievements for people with SpLDs is great.
• A clear SpLD educational technology ontology, as described in section 5 of this review, will enable the application of data science and help the government to leverage technology effectively for the education of people with SpLDs.
• If academic researchers were required to make their findings accessible both to educators and to technology developers, there would be an improved prospect for technology suitable for learners with SpLDs to be developed and effectively applied in education.
• The generation and accessibility of large datasets about people with a SpLD is a challenge, but as more people are diagnosed earlier in their lives, datasets should be collated and made available to those developing machine-learning AI techniques for both screening and support of those with SpLDs.
• The potential and increased use of AI presents ethical obstacles to the widespread data collection and algorithm design involved in using machine learning AI. These obstacles must be addressed in order to ensure that the education of learners with SpLDs benefits from advances in science and technology.
• Early intervention and support for reading and writing difficulties should be given priority.

Circle of Friends

A Circle of Friends is an intervention approach designed to enhance the inclusion of a targeted individual who is experiencing difficulties in school by setting up a peer support network. Designed to mobilise the young person’s peers in providing support and engaging in joint problem solving, a successful circle will tackle isolation whilst developing empathy and identifying the strengths of all who participate.​

The main aims of a Circle of Friends are:

• To create a support network for the focus young person.​
• To provide the targeted pupil with encouragement and recognition for any achievements and progress made.​
• To identify difficulties and devise practical ideas to help deal with these difficulties.​
• Putting ideas into practice.​
• To facilitate inclusion.

How does it work – The introductory session?

Consent is sought for and from the focus pupil and an introductory class meeting is held. During this meeting the whole class but not the focus pupil are present. Ground rules concerning confidentiality, respect and good listening skills are established. Relationship Circles are completed and explored:

The ‘missing person’ is sensitively discussed to identify their strengths and areas for development.

How does it work – intervention session one?

The selected group and the focus person meet with an adult facilitator. In this session the following takes place:

• The purpose of the group and the principles of confidentiality are restated. ​
• A group identity is established – a name and supportive ground rules.​
• A unifying group game is played.​
• The focus young person’s strengths and areas for development are shared.​
• An area for development is selected and support strategies that the group will use are agreed. A target for the coming week is set.​

The group work to support and met the target over the coming week.

How does it work – follow up sessions?

In each weekly follow up session the following takes place:

• Group rules, purpose and confidentiality needs are restated.
• Unifying games are played.
• The week is reviewed to explore what went well and what support was needed. A judgement about how and if the target was met is arrived at.
• Areas for development are revisited and, based on this, a new target and supportive strategies are agreed for the coming new week.

Fading out the Group

Gradually the group can be faded out in line with success. The adult facilitator will work to encourage more independent application of strategies. The group can continue to meet informally but the adult facilitator role should decrease.

Measuring Success

The following approaches could be useful in measuring the impact and success of a Circle of Friends:

• Group meeting minutes.​
• Before and after pen portraits.​
• Look at the young person’s academic progress, engagement, participation, attendance and punctuality.​
• Scaling activities. ​
• Pupil voice and family voice.​

Further Reading:

https://inclusive-solutions.com/circles/circle-of-friends/what-is-a-circle-of-friends/

https://www.edplace.com/blog/send/how-to-create-a-circle-of-friendship