With more schools able to handle the needs of physically disabled students, teachers are seeing wheelchair-bound students in their classes more often. How can a teacher assist the student in a sensitive way, and what adjustments should he or she make?
A good first step may be to call the student’s parents and ask if there are any particular issues the teacher should be concerned about. Is the student self-mobile, or is an aide required to maneuver the wheelchair? How mobile is the student within the chair? Can he or she pick up items dropped on the floor? Does the student have vision or perception problems that require special classroom placement?
Once these questions have been answered, the teacher can make some simple changes in his or her classroom to better accommodate a wheelchair. Most of these changes simply require moving furniture or actions of that kind.
The first adjustment should be to the classroom doorway. The teacher should clear any movable furniture away from the door frame, so the student can roll the wheelchair easily into the classroom, without having to maneuver around a corner or through a tight space.
For classrooms with cubbyholes or lockers for the students’ supplies, the teacher should assign a space that may be easily accessed from a wheelchair without the student having to bend over, or reach over the head. If this requires exchanging with another student, the teacher should explain to the student that the wheelchair-bound individual has special needs and needs a space at that level. The teacher should also stress to the student what a generous thing it would be to give up the space and how it will make the student feel welcomed and wanted.
Where the student sits in the classroom may also be an adjustment. In general, the student should be placed where he or she can get to the classroom door easily in an emergency. The teacher should also assign a responsible student to be the one to automatically escort the wheelchair-bound student out, in case of fire.
The teacher should make sure that the path to the student’s seating area is unobstructed, and should ensure the other students know that area is to be kept free of personal possessions and books, so the wheelchair can go through the path easily. In fact, the paths to all major areas of the classroom: the teacher’s desk, the path to the door, the path to the cubbyholes, should be kept clear at all times.
Occasionally, a wheelchair-bound student will have a service dog. As excited as the other students may be about having a dog in the classroom, the teacher should make sure they know the rules to follow with a service dog, such as no petting. It might be helpful to have the student explain what a service dog does and the do’s and don’ts of having one in the classroom.
If the student does not have a dog, then the teacher needs to assign a “buddy” for the student. This is usually an assignment for a dependable, well-behaved student who understands the responsibility. This may be an opportunity for a teacher to help a withdrawn or socially awkward child make friends, and perform a necessary job that will help him feel part of the classroom environment. Part of the “buddy’s” duties will be to take charge of getting the student safely out of the classroom in case of an emergency, to pick up items that may have fallen out of the floor and out of reach, to share his desk space, if the student needs to store or rest books or papers. All of these duties should be based on what the wheelchair-bound student is willing, and able, to do independently. Neither should they intrude on the buddy’s learning environment.
A teacher who is open-minded can seamlessly integrate a wheelchair-bound student into the classroom, usually with only a few simple adjustments. A conference with the parents and some common sense are generally all that is needed to accomplish this.