Children with physical disabilities study in normal schools along with their normal peers. Teachers should understand the physical and emotional needs of children with physical impairments. If a teacher adopts appropriate methods to provide support and assistance to children with physical impairments, their peers will also learn to help special needs children.
Before giving any assistance to the child in the wheelchair first ask him/her if he/she requires your help. It is better to ask the child how and when he/she requires your help. One to one conservation will help the teacher understand the special needs of physically disabled children in a better way along with their peers.
When a teacher is engaged in a conversation with a child in a wheelchair, he/she should kneel down to share the eye level with the child. Face to face level is appreciated by wheelchair users.
Walking space in the halls, classrooms, laboratories should be clear. Desks should be arranged to accommodate the wheelchair users. Proper ramps and walkways should be made in the school building for classroom accessibility.
Do not lean over or hang over on a child’s wheelchair. If you will lean or hang on the chair it means you are hanging or leaning on a child especially to the child in the wheelchair.
Proper adjustments should be made in the washrooms and transport services. Keep the wheelchair in close proximity which is easily accessible to the child when transfer occurs.
Children who spend their entire day in wheelchairs can be helped by providing stretching, massage and hydrotherapy. These therapies can give them a break from their wheelchairs.
Parents at home should try to provide an atmosphere of structure normalcy to their physically disabled child. Structured normalcy is nothing complex; it means simply to structure the environment as normal as possible with safety precautions for the child's disability. This will help physically disabled children to live their life independently. Treat your disabled child as you treat non-disabled children. Physically disabled children can do better in many fields as compared to their normal peers as every child is different in skills and ability levels.