Page 80 - SEN116 January-February 2022

Seating / furniture
Specialist seating in schools
A guide to the key features of specialist seating
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By providing special needs seating, schools can ensure children are supported and comfortable. This allows students to better focus on learning and socialising. Specialist seating can also reduce the workload for
teachers and other support staff. The right chair will prevent a child from slipping or falling out of their seat and help with repositioning, meaning there’s less need for hands-on support.
There are four key things that should be included in chairs for SEN schools – easy cleaning, mobility, adjustable support and positioning, and adjustable sizing.
Easy cleaning
Furniture that’s easy to wipe down and clean at the end of the day is important in any school setting. But in SEN schools where students may have additional coordination issues, it is critical that any seating is easy to clean.
A good chair for SEN schools will have fabric that is strong to avoid tears and waterproof to avoid ingress and bacteria growth. Ideally, it will also be wipe-clean so staff can quickly clean up after any spills or accidents to keep the chair comfortable and hygienic for the student.
Mobility
For children with limited mobility that require assisted or hoisted transfers, moving between a classroom chair and their wheelchair throughout the day can be uncomfortable and time-consuming.
Choosing a chair that has wheels and is mobile can significantly reduce the number of transfers needed each day. It gives students the option to stay in the same chair all day if they prefer.
A mobile special needs chair can easily be used to move children between classrooms, to the bathroom, and even outside!
Sizing
Seat sizing is crucial in special needs seating. If a chair does not fit the user correctly then they won’t get the full benefit of any other features – like tilt-in-space or lateral supports.
In some cases, incorrect seat sizing can even cause new problems. The user may start to lean and develop poor posture, or the chair might rub against their hips or knee bend causing pressure damage.
Special needs seating with adjustable seat sizing can be extremely cost-effective for schools. A single chair can grow with an individual child over several years. Then it can be cleaned, resized and used again for another child.
Having a chair with wheels makes it far easier to get around the school. But it can also help children with special educational needs to get more involved in the classroom. A student that is confined to a static chair may feel isolated or excluded from activities in other areas of the classroom.
By providing a chair with wheels, their chair can easily be repositioned. This means the student can engage with others more freely.
Adjustability
The support students in SEN schools require can vary greatly from one child to the next.
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■ Correct seating for the need of the child and task.
A child with cerebral palsy might experience stiffness or muscle weakness and require a tilt-in-space function to reposition them in their chair throughout the day. Whereas a child with spina bifida may well have curvature of the spine, so they require lateral supports to protect their posture and avoid leaning where possible.
By opting for chairs that offer flexibility and adjustable options for support and positioning, schools can ensure they have specialist seating that meets the needs of most of their students.
Choosing a flexible chair also helps SEN schools prepare for the potentially changing needs of their students. Throughout childhood, how conditions present can change. Different issues may emerge, improve or deteriorate. A chair that allows you to adjust levels of support and positioning can accommodate many of these changes.