Working with young people with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)

A good colleague of ours is a teaching assistant in a secondary school supporting (mainly boys) with SLCN. They have a really positive approach to behaviour support and use a restorative approach to the behaviours that the students present. Comic Strips are something that are used regularly. After an incident, the student spends time with an adult that they have a good relationship with, drawing parts of the comic out as to the incident. This challenges the student to think of the moments leading up to the incident, as well as the outcome itself. A key component is writing down what people said, and exploring what they may have been thinking at the time. This approach supports the students to think more reflectively about the interactions that they have with people, and try to establish better coping strategies for when things do not go their way. This isn’t for everyone, it is personalised based on the individual learner and part of their behaviour plan, and if they don't want to draw, then the adult steps in scribing for the student.

More information about Comic Strips, developed by Carole Gray, can be found here http://www.autism.org.uk/about/strategies/social-stories-comic-strips/comic-strip-conversations.aspx