Teachers can be great allies in keeping your child with cerebral palsy safe and successful in school, but you'll need to make sure they have all the knowledge they need to help. Use these suggestions to create a information packet to bring educators up to speed.
Five Things Teachers Need to Know
1. Please be mindful of things in your classroom or school that present mobility problems for my child. Remove or rearrange anything that might keep her from getting around safely and easily.
2. Assistive technology can make a big difference for my child. If there is something he needs that you're having trouble obtaining, let me know so that I can help you get it.
3. It's okay to let my child's classmates know about her condition as long as it is done in an appropriate way; I'd be happy to help prepare a program.
4. My child has a serious health condition, but he is still a child with ordinary interests and hope and dreams. Please help us keep his life as normal as possible.
5. Please keep the lines of communication open between our home and the school. My child needs all the adults in her life working together.
Tips for Teachers
[The following tips are excerpted from Cerebral Palsy, a publication of the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. Fact Sheet 2, January 2004.]
Sometimes the "look" of CP can given the mistaken impression that a child who has CP cannot learn as much as others. Focus on the individual child and learn firsthand what needs and capabilities he or she has.
Tap into the strategies that teachers of students with learning disabilities use for their students. Become knowledgeable about different learning styles. Then you can use the approach best suited for a particular child, based upon that child's learning abilities as well as physical abilities.
Be inventive. Ask yourself (and others), "How can I adapt this lesson for this child to maximize active, hands-on learning?"
Learn to love assistive technology. Find experts within and outside your school to help you. Assistive technology can mean the difference between independence for your student or not.
Always remember, parents are experts, too. Talk candidly with your student's parents. They can tell you a great deal about their daughter or son's special needs and abilities.
Effective teamwork for the child with CP needs to bring together professionals with diverse backgrounds and expertise. The team must combine the knowledge of its members to plan, implement, and coordinate the child's services.
Printouts to Share with Teachers
Cerebral Palsy: What the Teacher Should Know
Source: Government of British Columbia Ministry of Education
Cerebral Palsy - A Guide for Teachers
Source: SCOPE
Tips for Gym Teachers
Source: Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance
Strategies for Teaching Students with Motor/Orthopedic Impairments
Source: Inclusion in Science Education
Accommodating Students with Cerebral Palsy (download)
Source: Job Accommodation Network
