While working previously in a Special Class for autistic pupils, we discovered, almost by accident, how pupils with additional educational needs could access the curriculum when the materials presented to them were differentiated according to their needs and abilities.
We had downloaded a simple numeracy activity for a pupil that we came across online. This activity used clothes pegs to indicate an answer. It was a bit of a revelatory moment for us as it demonstrated to us that this was a simple idea that allowed the pupil to access one specific area of the curriculum.
This got us wondering if this same methodology would work for other aspects of the curriculum. This led us to start planning, designing and creating peg-based resources to allow some of our pupils, especially non-verbal pupils and pupils with poor fine motor control, to demonstrate their understanding of concepts.
Hence, we came to understand the power that the ordinary clothes peg held for the SEN pupil.
