By the Book or Not? Balancing Structure and Individuality in Special Needs Support

What's your choice?

I always have very interesting conversations with parents, carers, and colleagues about the value of a more structured approach versus a broader mindset in how any kind of approach should be applied. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫; the answer is personal to each of us, depending on what we have been exposed to professionally and personally, so we tend to be more biased in one direction or the other.

Both personally and professionally, my experience working in the field of special needs - across diverse roles and settings - has given me valuable insight into how people behave and the belief systems they hold. This journey has fuelled my curiosity to continually seek out new perspectives and to help improve what was already there. This is why I oriented my career toward connecting the dots and going beyond what was taught and shown, as 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚. I guess it comes from the beauty of us all being different and unique.

Throughout my career, it has occurred to me that everyone responds in a different way to the same solutions. A communication strategy could help one child but not resonate with another. An emotional regulation tool might do wonders for a young person but have the opposite effect on another.

When I talk to parents and carers, I am impressed by the creativity they show in finding solutions for everyday challenges - most of the time, without any prior specific knowledge, they come up with the most creative and effective strategies to support their children or are able to mold an existing approach to their child's needs and preferences. 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.

Research on 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 explains why this matters. Adaptive experts don't just apply existing knowledge efficiently; they develop a conceptual understanding that allows them to invent new solutions to problems and even new procedures for solving problems. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.

But very often, the settings in which we work instruct us with too much rigidity in the way we apply our tools (A leads to B leads to C, and so on), but we can't forget that we're working with people, who are complex by nature. It is also fair to acknowledge that many settings face challenges such as time constraints, understaffing, and limited resources. As a result, it often becomes easier to train professionals to follow 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞-𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬-𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, rather than fostering a flexible mindset that truly considers the individual in front of them. A 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 involves first 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. It too often comes down to numbers: the standardised approach gets everyone in the picture, while the tailored one requires far more dedicated resources - both human and physical.

I'm not pointing fingers at any of the approaches out there; I'm just trying to reason about the 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭. The starting and ending point should always be the same: 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. But don't get stuck thinking that the path is just a simple ABC - maybe your child has a different way to reach those milestones, and 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

As professionals, I hope that many more of us will start wondering and practicing from a more flexible standpoint - 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 to new solutions, but also, within those solutions, allowing ourselves the opportunity to have an open mind and to recognise that maybe, with that particular person, the road to a better quality of life is different.

For our practice, this means referring to evidence-based frameworks as a foundation while maintaining the flexibility to adapt them thoughtfully to each client's unique needs. The goal is 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞: knowing when to apply standards and when to modify them for maximum therapeutic benefit. This means:

𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬

𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬

This approach honours both a sense of structure and creativity, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞.