Description
Children with complex disabilities and cognition and learning needs are often overlooked in the provision of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) activities. Yet working with such audiences can be hugely valuable to all involved. Even where it will not lead to a career in STEM, STEM offers a unique way to inspire young people. Creating opportunities for disabled children to love and learn from these subjects has significant individual and social impact. In addition, working with these audiences isn’t just of benefit to the children involved. The process of developing suitable resources and activities challenges us as communicators to rethink our approach and work in collaboration to develop multisensory content that can benefit children across the educational spectrum.
In this short talk, we will describe our experience of working with the Lightyear Foundation, a charity that aims to break down barriers to disabled children taking part in STEM, and a special needs school to develop multisensory workshops themed around space exploration. Our approach used virtual reality headsets, dark dens, tactile objects of different temperatures and textures, dressing-up, and edible space food to create an immersive experience that gave the children the autonomy to choose how to engage with the session. We will share our learning around working in collaboration and integrating established practices from experienced practitioners into a new context, as well as lessons learned about how using the same practical techniques can improve our wider outreach and public engagement work.
