We have a pupil in a wheelchair who has very limited mobility. He doesn’t often engage with the teacher or other pupils in the class unless he has a PSA who helps him. During Roots of Empathy he cannot have access to a PSA all the time, and every week he smiles when he knows it’s on that day, especially when he realises it’s the family visit. We set his chair next to the baby and mum at the end of the blanket, and almost every visit the baby has smiled at him and has tried to reach over and touch him. She started waving at him during the last visit, and he came out with the biggest, loudest, most sincere laugh and smile. The whole class joined in and was encouraging them to wave at each other. It was lovely to see, and the teacher said afterwards that it had been the only time since August that he had felt part of the class and belonged there.
Roots of Empathy Instructor | Scotland