How Can I Respond to a Child with Cognitive Delays?

To respond to a child with cognitive delays, use strategies to make directions and learning expectations clearly understood. Provide directions in language the student can understand. Make sure to use visual cues such as hands-on demonstrations and modeling, objects, and pictures as needed to help the child to better grasp the direction. Prompt and guide the child through the performance sequence. Check to be sure that you have the student's attention before giving directions. You can also gently touch the shoulder of a child to get their attention or give the child extra time to respond. Routines are very important. The best routines have a predictable beginning, middle, and end. Use visual supports such as pictures and props to teach children routines. Help them stay engaged and keep them from having a lot of time transitioning between different activities.

 

Also, for children who have cognitive delays, it is important to utilize peers who do not have disabilities that can model positive, pro-social, and communication skills and demonstrate everyday routines that young children with disabilities can imitate. Classmates can help children develop social relationships and increase their motivation to be part of classroom activities. It is also important to think about the noise level in your classroom. Managing noise in the classroom plays an important role in both learning and behavior. Loud classrooms affect a child's ability to understand increasingly complex language. Carpets and other sound-absorbing materials such as wall hangings or heavy drapes and chair legs with tennis balls on the bottom of metal legs all help reduce classroom noise.

 

Modifying materials in the classroom can have a big impact on independence and help children who have cognitive disabilities. One example is to add pencil cribs to crayons and markers to make them easier for children who also have motor difficulties to hold. Determine where individual children need more support. Children with cognitive disabilities might benefit from timers. Depending on the child, timers can be a good way to remind a child it is time to end one activity and begin another. Finding a timer that provides a warning before time expires is ideal, otherwise the timer might be anxiety-provoking and cause more problems than the benefit. Children with cognitive delays may benefit fidget toys in your classroom. A fidget is an item that the child can hold that might help with attention, calming, and focus, or depending on the fidget and a child, it also can be a distraction. Examples include a stress ball, string, or a small car with wheels.

 

I would like to share an example of a time I used a fidget with a child.  I was working with a child with autism in a preschool classroom setting. This child had a very short attention span. During group time, teachers provided this child with a little basket that held fidgets, such as squishy balls and strings. The basket had the child's picture on it and all the other children knew that this child needed special help. This child was able to quietly reach into the basket and pick an item to hold. We know that these toys can help them to stay engaged and also helps them focus.

 

This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Working with Children with Disabilities: Inclusion Works!, in partnership with Region 9 Head Start Association, presented by Piret Leonetti, EdD.