Access

Teaching Children to Access Tactile Diagrams

Including Those Relevant to KS2 SATs

Peter Lumley & Adrian Farnsworth

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Tactile Diagrams are NOT intuitive and children need to be introduced to them systematically if they are to become meaningful.

	Children should have a wide and varied experience of real objects and experiences before moving on to models.
	Models can be used to illustrate stories and concepts making them meaningful, interesting and enjoyable.
	Textures, which relate directly to the thing being represented, can be used to represent things two dimensionally and integrated into books. Child begin to learn that things can be represented by something flat. Shape is not important at this stage.
	Children can have access to a range of tactile picture books and begin to develop book and Braille concepts.
	Symbols, which do not relate directly to the thing being represented and will need to be taught, can be introduced and used as a focus for language and concept development.
	Children will want to create their own tactile pictures including drawing on German/plastic Film.

Tactile diagrams are NOT always appropriate and models or descriptions may be easier for the child to access and some things represented by perspective drawing cannot successfully be adapted into 2d tactile diagrams.

To be meaningful tactile diagrams need to be underpinned by experience and may need to be supported by verbal descriptions/explanations &/or maodels/objects. the more actively a child is involved in interpreting a diagram the more useful it will be.

Tactile diagrams are NOT visual and should be accessible by touch.

Children need to be shown how to explore diagrams systematically before trying to interpret them. Swell paper exercises can be provided to:

	develop the child's ability to dicriminate between increasingly similar textures, shapes and lines;
	teach systematic scanning of the whole page;
	teach a versatile way of tracking from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and bottom to top, etc.
	develop the child's ability to estimate angles;
	teach symbol recognition and discrimination.

Children should have access to a Braille or verbal explanation of the diagram before they use it.

There should be a consistent use of textures/lines/symbols in tactile diagrams to facillitate accessibility and independent interpretation. Critical features should be used to help in the recognition of different symbols.

Tactile perception is individual and should be assessed as different lines and textures need to be able to be discriminated between by the child if they are to be used to represent different things.

Children may need more than one diagram if there is too much information to be represented tactually on a single sheet.

SATs - apply to open papers ONE DAY EARLY

	Are explanations included, are the adequate, what additional explanation is required to make the diagram useable by the child?
	Would the diagram be better replaced by objects/models or a description or would these help to make it clearer?
	Does the diagram need further adapting, is it too complicated, does it require too much tactile sensitivity and skill for the user to access?
	Does the diagram use symbols the child is NOT familiar with, will these need explaining?
	Can the diagram be simplified - by cutting it up, using bump-ons, Blu-tac, Wicky Sticks, other textures or low tec adaptations - to make it less confusing?

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