Long-time special educator and writer Anne Vize says when you scour the research and speak with teachers in mainstream schools, one thing that consistently emerges is that teachers feel positive about creating an inclusive classroom and welcoming students with additional needs, but are ‘fearful about getting it wrong’.

“They’re worried about things like having enough time to do all the tasks that they need to do, and meeting the individual needs of a child with a disability,” Vize says.

It’s often the case that learning tools like visual schedules, timers and a physical set-up that reduces the sensory load bearing down on autistic students offer benefits for all, she explains.

When it comes to behaviour management across different school settings, Vize says a positive approach that is used across the board and has buy-in from leadership is the aim.

“…so that a child knows that their behaviour will be supported, and their learning will be supported, in a really positive way no matter where they are in the school – so the same guidelines and supports are there, whether they’re in the playground or they’re in art class or doing a STEM activity or they’re in their regular classroom…”

According to Vize, teachers ought to be trained to understand that poor or disruptive behaviour is generally a form of communication. 

“It’s not a case of: a child behaves in a particular way, therefore you restrict what they’re allowed to do, or we impose some kind of limit for them,” she suggests.

“…behaviour means that somebody is telling you that the sensory environment is not right for them, or they’ve had enough of an activity and they need to do something else or they need a break.

“That kind of whole-school understanding means that behaviours that are problematic for learning are much less likely to occur.”

Since starting out as a physical education teacher in a specialist school some 20 years ago, Vize has published a string of educational resources and books spanning employability and life skills, literacy, special education and work.

It was while working in a TAFE with young people with intellectual disabilities that the educator picked up on a glaring issue. 

“There was a tendency to use resources with young people that weren’t really suited to [their age],” she reflects.

“So, literacy and numeracy-wise they were appropriate, but teachers often really struggled to find things that were suitable for the age of young people that they were teaching.

“They tended to be forced to use early primary content with cutesy little pictures and things that really didn’t work with 18-year-olds.

“That was sort of what started the writing journey.”

Vize began road testing some of her earliest stories in the classroom to great effect.

“I found it was actually really the first time that they could identify with some of the characters…

“I was writing about their real world of travel, training and having support workers help them with things around the house,” she says.

“Teachers are often pretty time poor … so it can become really tempting to just make an IEP meeting a ‘tick the box’ activity,”​ Vize says.

Her latest book, Partnerships with Families of Children with Additional Needs, hands early years and primary teachers who are supporting children with disability (or those whom come with trauma and/or English as a second language) a range of practical strategies to forge solid, mutually supportive links with their parents and carers.

There’s some common challenges special educators face on this front, she says. A lack of time thanks to a pressured workload schedule is the prevailing one.

“I think it probably comes down to having the time and the capacity and the confidence to work closely with families – to take that relationship beyond just inviting a family in to attend an IEP meeting, taking notes and moving onto the next task in the day, but actually having the [capacity] to focus on building a strong, positive relationship,” Vize says.

“Teachers are often pretty time poor … so it can become really tempting to just make an IEP meeting a ‘tick the box’ activity where you don’t have the time to dive a little deeper and find out what challenges a family has, and look at how you can support the family as a school...

“And also look at the capacity that a family’s got to support you as a teacher.”

Meanwhie, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability recommended that special schools be phased by out by the end of 2051 – but the states and territories have yet to commit.

Vize is wary of imposing her own value judgements on the schooling choice a family makes for their child.

“I would like to think that the system can be big enough and strong enough to provide both options and make it possible for families to choose and both systems to exist in a really high quality way,” she says.

“As a teacher, I only spend one part of a day with a child, but families are spending all day, every day, with their children and young people…”

Anne Vize is a freelance writer with EducationHQ. Read her recent articles and access her classroom resources here.