Special needs workshop at Lighthouse School

Dr Maria Bove teaches a role-playing exercise at the 
Lighthouse School

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

The Education Department recently welcomed guest speaker Dr Maria Bove, who instructed a two-day workshop on pre-symbolic communication at the Lighthouse School.

Dr Bove is a professor of Education at the University of Vermont, and has travelled internationally to teach workshops on pre-symbolic communication. 

"I am thrilled to be in Cayman to help teachers learn different approaches for dealing with children who have multiple challenges such as blindness, deafness and mental retardation," she said.

During the training session, teachers participated in role-playing exercises and learned more about the Van Dijk philosophy on pre-symbolic communication, which focuses on how sensory deficits affect behavior, and describes strategies to help children make sense of the world and communicate their needs. 

The workshop also focused on different approaches for teaching children with multiple impairments as well as the communication rights of all children.

Commenting on the workshop, Senior Education Officer for Support Services Lillian Archer, remarked: "This workshop was long overdue; we have particular interest in expanding our knowledge about teaching children with multiple impairment. 

"We have several multiple impaired children who are severely lacking in communication skills in our system and in order to help them reach their full potential in life, thoughtful and unique education approaches are required." 

She added: "We were fortunate to have had this opportunity."

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