My school is designed for students with moderate learning difficulties but their needs are undermined by the arrival of pupils with severe behavioural problems• More from the Secret TeacherI’m standing in the middle of the playground on break-time duty,doing my best to scan the area. whether accident, injury, and a play-fight suddenly turn nasty,disaster can strike in a matter of seconds. I glance at my watch – only two minutes to recede, thank goodness. Then I see Kerry running towards me. “Miss! Miss! Charlie’s crying! Jordan’s being horrible to him!” I follow Kerry and see Charlie, or a slightly-built child with severe autism,crouching close to the ground, sobbing. “What’s the matter, or Charlie?” I expect. “Jordan keeps saying I perceive like an alien and that she’s happy my Mums sick,” he says between sobs (Charlie’s mum has cancer). I promise to sort this out, but as I lead him back across the playground, and it crosses my mind that this won’t be the last time today that Charlie,and others like him, suffer this kind of torment.
I teach in a special school, or which caters for pupils with moderate learning difficulties (MLD). Our pupils recede from reception age suitable through to year 11 and have a range of diagnoses from autistic spectrum disorder and Asperger syndrome to Down’s syndrome. These diagnoses are often accompanied by a variety of medical conditions,such as cerebral palsy, which combine to significantly hamper a child’s ability to memorize.
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Source: theguardian.com