Hi, my name is Teachingassistant!

Teachingassistant
Teachingassistant Community member Posts: 3 Listener
in Start here and say hello!
Hi I'm a teaching assistant in a primary school. I work with a little boy aged 6 who has cerebral palsy. It would be great to be able to talk to parents, carers etc with knowledge of cp for advice

Comments

  • Noah
    Noah Community member Posts: 420 Empowering
    Welcome to the online scope community. Your certainly in the right place to get help and advice on cp. Loads of experience on the forum. Do you have a particular question in mind or something that we can help with? Noah :)
  • Teachingassistant
    Teachingassistant Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Hi Noah thank you for writing back. Ok, where do I start! The boy I teach has over the past 3 months become very emotional, aggressive, anxious, lots of involuntary movements (what I call flapping and clapping). I'm getting really worried. Am I pushing him to hard in lessons? How do I calm him down? Help please!
  • Noah
    Noah Community member Posts: 420 Empowering
    From my experience muscle spasms are def worse in cp when tired or stressed. Is he able to hear and see everything correctly? Is he less stressed when working in smaller groups or when there are less distractions? Does he have the correct supportive seating etc and is he comfortable? How does he respond to arty and creative tasks? Have you observed if he responds to music? Does he have the right support to engage in some level of PE and sport activities such as swimming? Sorry lots of questions, you don't have to answer them, just, thinking out loud really. CP effects everyone differently so difficult to sometimes provide specific help. Rather its a matter of trying lots of different things and discovering what works for this lad. I'm very impressed with you for your diligence and resourcefulness in trying to find answers. Much patience, hard work, and a will not give up attitude and I'm sure you will have a large part in helping this lad unlock his potential.
  • Teachingassistant
    Teachingassistant Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Hi Noah. Thank you! I know he is tired. Mum has said that he wakes up very early. He is able to walk. His speech is ok but we do speech and language therapy to help. Is has weakness in his left side both arm and leg. I think maybe I will do short activities of lessons for a max of day 10 mins then take him out of class to have some free time or just read a story somewhere quiet. Thank you for your support. I was beginning to feel quite useless
  • Noah
    Noah Community member Posts: 420 Empowering
    Your most welcome. You or his mum may find our "ask a community adviser" section helpful. We have many specialists including a sleep practitioner, educational psychologist, occupational therapists to name just a few. The importance of good quality sleep for mental and physical well being, can not be over emphasised especially with someone that has CP and often uses 3 - 5 times more energy to do everything.

    Wish you all the very best, it sounds like you are trying all the right things.

    Noah

Categories