• Use the Child and Family Health Devon website to gain information on:
  • Balance
  • Walking difficulties
  • Normal movement in babies
  • Playing in different positions
  • Fatigue
  • Developmental milestones
  • Fine motor development
  • Functional skills
  • Posture
• Mobilisation around school. Review if access to classrooms could be easier; time to move to different areas of the school.
• Leaving lessons before or after peers to avoid busy corridors.
• Access arrangements: are there stairs, ramps, heavy doors?
• Avoiding falls, considering trip hazards, moving between different surfaces.
• Risk assessment without being risk adverse; children and young people can attempt things for themselves.
• Changing and intimate care environment needs to be appropriate, consider the disposal of sanitary products, does there need to be an area for changing or can toileting take place in the toilet.
• School-based manual handling training can be provided by the physiotherapy team.
• Daily tasks such as dressing, toileting and eating and changing for PE needs to be considered. Does the young person need access to different dining facilities?
• Play. All types of play can be beneficial for supporting co-ordination, balance, fine and gross motor skills. Ideas on different play activities can be found on the Children and Family Health Devon website. If there is a therapy programme in place, then discuss play opportunities to support the therapy with the Physiotherapist.
• Access to activities that support gross and fine motor development can be found on the Children and Family Health Devon Website.
• Classroom equipment and tools should be adapted to so that a child/ young person can access learning more easily; for example tablet/laptop for recording information instead of writing.

View and/or download the full Sensory and Physical Needs Toolkit