Preparing the co-design activities

Description

The success of a co-design process relies on creating engaging and accessible activities that enable children with disabilities to express their creativity and contribute meaningfully. Well-designed activities focus more on individual strengths of learners rather than on pre-existing deficits, labels, or diagnosis; offer children a starting point to build upon and explore new directions.

Suggestions

Find various ways to know the learners

A simple questionnaire for parents and caregivers completed at the beginning of the school year can help align knowledge and expectations between home and school. This knowledge is especially important for working with learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but can benefit all students and make a big impact on instructional effectiveness and for authentic assessment and evaluation.

Apply a “capability-based” approach

Following a capability-based approach enables educators/researchers/designers to plan for inclusive and just instruction for all students. It allows them to focus on the strengths of individual learners and address all aspects of students’ selves, including their identity, autonomy, personal goals, and human dignity.

Plan a scaffolded approach

Work with the parents and teachers to to develop a sense of children’s capabilities: what they can do now, what they are almost capable of doing, and what they are not yet ready to do – and design activities that strike a balance between the first two and are also responsive to unique and variable skills. Be adaptive and have a few possibilities for subsequent stages of the scaffold to help address a variety of engagement needs and child interests. This gradual progression helps children build their ideas with support and confidence.

Start with tangible elements

Engaging kids in purely conceptual activities with no tangible elements might be challenging, particularly for those with limited verbal communication. Providing a starting point, such as a basic prototype or model is critical to encourage engagement. Using low fidelity prototypes such as paper or clay prototypes, gives your team the flexibility to change the proposed design/idea if children are not interested or engaged.

Leave room for creativity

Don’t bring a polished or final solution to them and ask for their feedback, involve them in the gradual creation and development process of an idea. Even your co-design material, such as worksheets can look like an unfinished sketch or work in progress model to encourage kids’ participation.

Address communication challenges

For children who may face challenges in verbal communication, adapt your questions and activities accordingly. Break down complex questions into simpler ones and present a limited set of options (usually two) for them to respond to. Observe their reactions and choices to better understand their preferences.

Multi-sensory activities

Incorporate multi-sensory elements into activities to allow kids to express their ideas in diverse ways. Use audio, sound, light, and texture to stimulate different senses and facilitate communication. For those who may have difficulty directly manipulating objects, provide printed images or objects they can use to communicate their choices.

Consider a varied approach

If you are working with a group of children that each has unique needs and preferences, actively consider what methods are the easiest for each child to take part in. This could mean taking a varied approach across individual children, for example offering audio cues to one child while creating a tactile set of options for another one.

Implement principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Whether students are in integrated or congregated school settings, the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) should be implemented in all learning environment to foster an inclusive classroom. UDL provides multiple means of presenting and representing information, allowing students to express their unique understanding and offering multiple ways of engagement. Teachers committed to UDL perceive all students as equal and as active learners not defined by their special needs or requiring special treatment.

Symbol-based communication

Consider using symbol-based communication systems, such as pictographs or other visual aids, to offer alternative means of expression and gather responses from children with specific needs.

Dry run and feedback

If possible, rehearse the activities with one or more children or their teachers before the collaborative event. This practice allows you to fine-tune your approach and identify potential improvements in the interaction process.

Be mindful of framing your questions

The language and questions you use may impact the results you get. For example, if we only ever asked whether a child “likes” something, we may only gain a very narrow sense of what the child is really thinking about a prototype. Explore ways to ask questions during the interaction that are focused on the child’s perspective and how they see the world, what they would do with a design prototype, what makes them excited about it, and what doesn’t interest them at all, or how they would do it differently.