Summer is a great time to be out and about in the sunshine. But all that out and about time can mean headaches for teachers and camp leaders too! Caring for special needs kids in summer means taking some extra care. Here are some summer safety tips to keep your special needs learners safe this year.
Think like a child on summer holidays! The captions with the images above are certainly not meant to be patronising - they are meant to help you think more like a kid and less like a sensible adult. Kids on summer holidays have a built in curiosity that is often sadly lacking in school times. And for special needs kids in particular, that idle curiosity combined with oodles of time to explore on summer camp or just playing at home or in a recreation program at school, can lead to big trouble!
Summer is about predicting risks and dangers for special needs kids. Think about what could happen ,and what you already know about the abilities, tendencies and possible worst outcomes that could match with a given child. This is not a matter of expecting the worst of kids, or about being negative. It is simply a practical way of avoiding the most easily seen dangers before they happen. If a child in your care is known for absconding, or has a fascination with water, think about how that tendency applies to an outdoor, summer situation. Work out the possible ways that things can go wrong, and then plan for them.
Water carries some significant risks, and often also holds a great fascination for many kids. Find out what skills children have prior to allowing them near water. Also do some investigating as to what behaviours or tendencies you might expect from particular children. This will give you an idea of the possibility of things going wrong, and what indicators there might be prior to a problem arising. Water accidents can happen in several ways - falling in, tripping, stumbling, not being able to see the water is there, having a wheelchair or mobility aid which rolls into the water, not being able to hear a verbal warning about water, or having behavioural issues which make it unlikely instructions will be followed. As a teacher, camp leader or worker with young people, it is important to think through all the possible combinations of kids and water, and then plan for avoiding the problems before they occur.
Do an audit of any summer camp venues (looking at the physical characteristics of the camp location) as well as the program (what activities are happening). Your audit should include:
- an identification of the risks
- an assessment of the risks and how they relate to the children
- present a plan for limiting risks
- a plan for dealing with emergencies and contingencies should they arise.