What do you think would have helped Frederik Haga to be included in education?

Fredrick Haga had to leave school when he began going blind at age 16.

1) If the Kenyan Government had Policies in place at that time for children with disabilities, then Fredrick Haga would have been able to attend regular school after becoming blind.

2) If Teachers at that time were trained to deal with ‘all’ children by having specially prepared worksheets, communication skills and various resources to meet each individual child - no matter what the disability – then Frederik Haga would have been included in the school for his education to continue.

 Adjustments that were made to support Senzo’s learning.

“A barrier to learning is anything that stands in the way of a child being able to learn effectively.”  Not just physical disability.

Senzo had a significant lisp, and his speech and vocabulary were extremely limited and difficult to understand. Although he could follow conversations and instructions, he could not respond verbally as he did not know how to phrase sentences.  His fine motor skills were extremely underdeveloped, and worksheets indicated that he was not ready to use a crayon. 

1) Senzo’s teacher then drafted a “Word Picture”, one of IESA’s support tools, and this clearly showed the areas in which he was experiencing challenges.  This tool also showed how support would benefit him too and an Individual Support Plan (ISP) was drafted for him in order to ensure that the specific barriers were addressed and supported.  

2) Senzo struggled with activities that required him to write.  His Teacher then laddered the activity by getting Senzo to start with tearing and pasting.

3) Based on these tools and careful observation, his teacher was able to identify that he needed more free-hand scribbling, playdough exercises, tearing and pasting in order to strengthen his fine motor skills.

4) He was placed at a table with only one other classmate, to minimise distractions and encourage paired learning and support. 

5)  His teacher also “laddered” activities for him, giving him only part of an activity to complete in his own time and at his own pace.  His small achievements are praised and his self-esteem and confidence rapidly improved. 

6) He was then able to participate in centre activities alongside his peeers.

The success of the Teacher and Senzo’s inclusive learning was possible because the IESA’s facilitator, Ashleen Marcus, who was engaged with the centre around training on identifying barriers to learning, provided input during her on-site support visits.