Tag Archives: SEN

The text-based Chats on I’m an Engineer and I’m a Scientist can work particularly well for students for whom face-to-face communication is inaccessible. This was demonstrated when Daniel, a child with selective mutism, entered Vicky Heslop’s classroom.

In a recent article for Tes magazine, Vicky says that Daniel “would talk through his friends, who would ask questions on his behalf” but was unable to communicate with adults and teachers. Vicky, a teacher at Westbury Junior School in Wiltshire, explains that it was a “huge challenge for me to understand Daniel’s inner world, his interests and passions.” Continue reading →

Jo works at a large comprehensive school in South Wales in the Autism Spectrum Condition Unit. She explains, “We used I’m a Scientist as a social skills lesson. Yes, there’s interest in science, but really it was so they could talk to the scientists without any pre-judgement.”

The text-only format of I’m a Scientist meant that the key focus was on the questions students were asking, and not on the students themselves. “The scientists didn’t know the students were on the spectrum, and the conversation flowed.” Continue reading →