Here are 5 tips from an SLP to teach students to be more inclusive of classmates with communication disorders.

Each year, groups of students in British Columbia begin classes after their peers because schools aren’t sure where to place them. Administrators and teachers often spend the first weeks of school finalizing classroom placements. It can take nearly a month, and often happens while students with disabilities stay at home.

Teachers need to be sensitive to the reality that there is usually more than one visual thing happening at one time like a teacher talking while expecting students to take notes of the lecture. Expecting a hearing impaired student to read lips and take notes at the same time is not realistic.

At McKenzie Towne School in Alberta, students are learning through touch, scent, and sound with the Indigenous Sensory Box Project.

The free digital tool by Understood.org uses simulations, videos, and expert resources to start conversations and challenge assumptions about learning and thinking differences.

As the assistant head of special education at Vaughan Secondary School in the Toronto area, Tim Wesson describes his professional learning journey as one driven by the desire to improve the standard of living for autistic students and to seek ways to build partnerships in the school community.