Review by Frances Akinde

SEND adviser and neurodiversity champion

21 Sep 2024, 5:00

Blog

The Conversation – with Frances Akinde

This week, I thought I’d focus on navigating what I refer to as ‘the digital dilemma’.

On Saturday, instead of having a lie-in, I decided to get up early to get some work done. What I ended up doing was scrolling on my phone for two and a half hours. Despite having blockers, time limits and other restrictions in place (as I’ve mentioned in this column before), it’s still easy to waste time on our devices. 

The excuse I gave myself was that I needed to search the internet for blogs and articles to use as research for this piece.

Phone-free settings

The first article I came across was one from The Guardian about Ormiston Trust implementing a smartphone ban across all of its 42 schools. I shared the article on Linkedin and it started an interesting debate.  

As an SEN specialist, I was intrigued. We know phones can be a major distraction in the classroom. We also know the danger of cyberbullying and the effect excessive screentime has on sleep patterns.

At the same time, I thought about the challenges faced by students with anxiety and/or SEND who may rely on their phones or specific apps to manage their day. We also need to recognise the difficulties that arise when students who need their phones for reasonable adjustments are unable to use them.

As a father to a child with disabilities, Ormiston CEO Tom Rees has personal experience of the need to be mindful of this. He is passionate about the need for better support for children with SEND, as he has written about in these pages more than once.

Learning assistance

Wherever you stand on smartphones, we can all agree that reasonable adjustments are key to the success of students with SEND.

And on that topic, I recently attended a fascinating CPD session as part of my role as an assistive technology trainer for diversity and ability with a university. This session, led by the university of Dundee, was really helpful in supporting me to train university students on how to use assistive technology to support them with their studies. 

But while the power of assistive technologies is acknowledged by universities and colleges, it’s surprising how few schools still do not incorporate them into their quality-first teaching strategies.  

The discussion on banning phones is pervasive, but we seem hesitant about embracing technologies designed to support our students, particularly those with SEND. So if we are not allowing them to use their phones, what are we offering as an alternative?

Many cite a lack of budget to implement assistive technology. This is concerning, as they overlook the fact that their existing systems have free accessibility features built in.  

Appositely, the Chartered College of Teaching has just published a themed collection of articles and resources on supporting children with SEND aimed at teaching assistants that makes no mention of assistive technology either.

There may be mention of it in one of the articles contained therein, but you’ll have to go looking for it. Having said all that, there’s plenty there that will be extremely useful for school staff at all levels.

Just mind your screen time in the process.

Learning from a legacy

Digital dilemma aside, I end this week’s column on a sombre note – but one all should hear.

Marking world suicide awareness day this week, Hidden 20% podcast host Ben Branson spoke with Jonathan Scott Lee, whose 16-year-old autistic daughter, Caitlyn, died by suicide at her boarding school.

It’s a moving interview, in which Scott Lee drives home the need for much greater awareness of the increased risk of suicidal ideation among autistic people – a point he’s on a one-man global mission to share.

Caitlyn died a day before her first ever school detention, and two days before playing in a concert at Eton College. The interview ends with a beautiful unfinished string composition by Caitlyn.

It’s a poignant piece that ends abruptly, like an echo of Caitlyn’s life.

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