Learn About Different Disability Groups
Explore information about different disability groups, what this might look like in dance, and their support needs
Autism
Note: How we speak about Autism is very important. While the formal diagnostic term is ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder,’ we mostly use the term Autism here, as it is preferred by many in the autism community. Some people may prefer a person-first approach (e.g., ‘person with Autism’); however, others may prefer an identity-first approach (e.g., ‘Autistic person’). We use both person-first and identity-first approaches to acknowledge and respect both preferences.
What is Autism?
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that is experienced differently by each person. Autism is a spectrum, and each autistic person has a unique combination of strengths and areas they require support with. Core traits include:
- Differences in social communication and interaction (e.g., how they initiate, respond to, and maintain social interactions, and the way they use eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures).
- Repetitive behaviours, strong interests, and sensory sensitivities.
- Preference for routine, logical thinking, and familiarity.
Around 4% of Australian children are autistic, with more males diagnosed than females. Autism often co-occurs with other conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disability, specific learning disorders, anxiety, and epilepsy. Children with an autism diagnosis may or may not identify as living with a disability.
What might this look like in dance?
Autistic students may have a strong interest in dance, communicate literally, and be sensitive to sensory input like costumes, lighting or loud music. They may enjoy repetition, which supports skill development, and may need help with instructions, transitions, and coordinating movements. Autistic students may also be more vulnerable to experiencing strong emotional or behavioural responses in response to, for example, unexpected changes or sensory overload. Providing options during the dance class that suit their unique thinking and movement styles can support their participation. This may include building in routine, predictability, and choice, and allowing behaviours such as fidgeting, repetitive movements, or access to predetermined regulation spaces.
To learn more about how Autism might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support autistic students in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students on the autism spectrum with:
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
What is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition involving differences in attention regulation, energy levels and impulse control. Symptoms vary across individuals and different life stages, although it is common for children with ADHD to experience:
- Inattentive behaviours. This can include distractibility, difficulty focusing, needing repetition of instructions, and support with organisation.
- Hyperactive/impulsive behaviours. These can include restlessness, an increased need to move, excessive talking, and difficulty waiting for their turn.
Children may show mostly inattentive, mostly hyperactive/impulsive, or combined behaviours.
ADHD occurs in approximately 8% of children and is more common in males. ADHD often co-occurs with other conditions like Autism, anxiety, or coordination disorders.
What might this look like in dance?
Students with ADHD may be energetic, speak loudly, be enthusiastic, quick to engage in activities, and show creativity and imagination. They may need to move while receiving information, act before fully processing information, appear distracted or easily bored during activities, and require support with focus and organisation. Students may display strong emotional or behavioural responses and have sensory processing differences.
To learn more about how ADHD might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students with ADHD in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students with ADHD with:
Intellectual Disability
What is Intellectual Disability?
Intellectual disability is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects cognitive (thinking) and adaptive functioning abilities.
- Cognitive abilities are broad and can include reasoning, problem-solving, planning, and judgment.
- Adaptive functioning areas can include communication, socialisation, and daily living activities (e.g., personal care, community participation, etc.).
Approximately 1-3% of people experience intellectual disability, with the diagnosis associated with other genetic/medical diagnoses and frequently co-occurring with other neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism, ADHD, and cerebral palsy. Intellectual disability may also co-occur with, for example, epilepsy, sleep difficulties, and vulnerable mental health.
What might this look like in dance?
Students with intellectual disability may be socially motivated, friendly, and enthusiastic about music, rhythm, and dance, often learning best through familiar, repetitive play. They may show differences in social awareness, express themselves with few to no words or many words, and benefit from extra time and repetition to learn and coordinate movements. Clear, simple, and visually supported instructions, along with consistent routines, can help support learning and engagement. Students may display strong emotional or behavioural responses due to changes, unfamiliarity, or feeling misunderstood. Students may also experience fatigue, sensory sensitivities, and difficulties sustaining their attention.
To learn more about how intellectual disability might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students with intellectual disability in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students with intellectual disability with:
Developmental Language Disorder
What is Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)?
DLD is a lifelong condition that impacts a child’s ability to understand and use language, impacting daily life. The term DLD replaces previous labels such as Specific Language Impairment, Language Disorder, and Language Delay. Children with DLD may have difficulties with understanding vocabulary, grammar, following instructions, and expressing ideas. DLD can impact learning, social interactions, and mental health. DLD is also common, affecting around 6% of Australian children, and often co-occurs with other conditions like ADHD, developmental coordination disorder, specific learning disorders, speech sound disorders, and anxiety.
What might this look like in dance?
Students with DLD may be creative and enjoy music and rhythm in dance, but can experience challenges with communication and language processing. They might use brief or simpler phrases and require time to find the words they are after, and need extra time to understand and follow instructions. Demonstrations and repeated step-by-step guidance can be of support.
Students with DLD may present as inattentive or withdrawn, which can be associated with language-related overwhelm. Students with DLD may also benefit from emotional regulation support, as our ability to regulate emotions often requires language skills. Their ability to engage socially and confidently in dance can be impacted by how well they are understood and supported.
To learn more about how DLD might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students with DLD in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students with DLD with:
Cerebral Palsy
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a group of conditions affecting movement, caused by injury to the brain that occurs before, during, or shortly after birth. It can result in stiff muscles (spastic cerebral palsy), shakiness (ataxic cerebral palsy), or involuntary movements (dyskinetic cerebral palsy), and may affect different parts of the body (e.g., impacting all arms and legs or one limb). Severity varies and is classified from mild to severe using the Gross Motor Function Classification System. Children may have mixed types and often need support tailored to their specific movement challenges.
Cerebral palsy can co-occur with other conditions, for example, intellectual disability, Autism, ADHD, low vision, deafness, and epilepsy.
What might this look like in dance?
Students with cerebral palsy may walk independently or use mobility aids, and may communicate in different ways (e.g., full sentences, short phrases, or using assistive technology). Some students with cerebral palsy may also experience drooling or excess saliva or require support for eating and drinking if the muscles around the mouth and tongue are impacted.
Students may perform movements that appear stiff, shaky, or jerky, which can affect balance and result in unique timing. They may benefit from extra time, repetition, and creative options to learn and coordinate dance movements that allow them to make their own movement choices. Support with spatial awareness, communication, and understanding/following instructions can also be beneficial, as well as having consistent routines.
Fatigue, pain, sensory sensitivities, and co-occurring medical conditions can influence participation, and strong emotional or behavioural responses may arise from these difficulties. Their experience of movement may also differ on different days (e.g., more pain on some days compared to others).
To learn more about how cerebral palsy might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students with cerebral palsy in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students with cerebral palsy with:
Developmental Coordination Disorder
What is Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)?
DCD, also known as dyspraxia, is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects motor skill development. It can impact both fine motor skills (e.g., adjusting the position of our fingers and hands) and gross motor skills (e.g., jumping movements), as well as speech (e.g., movement of the mouth). It affects about 5-6% of school-aged children. People with DCD may require support with everyday tasks like dressing, handwriting, or playing. DCD is more common in boys and typically persists throughout life. It often co-occurs with other conditions such as ADHD, autism, and learning or language disabilities.
What might this look like in dance?
Students with DCD may show determination and resilience in dance, but may benefit from extra time and support to learn and coordinate dance movements. Some students with DCD may have stronger intellectual abilities, which may contrast with their motor abilities, making it hard to physically perform tasks that they understand. They may prefer creative, familiar, or routine-based activities that allow them to move in their own way. They may also experience fatigue more easily and sometimes struggle with speech, attention, or social engagement. Students may display strong emotional or behavioural responses that may be linked to experiences of frustration, low self-esteem, or difficulty adapting to new or complex tasks.
To learn more about how DCD might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students with DCD in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students with DCD with:
Anxiety
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety involves persistent, excessive, and uncontrollable worry that can interfere with a child’s ability to participate in activities, socialise, or attend certain places. There are many types, including separation anxiety, selective mutism, social anxiety, specific phobias, generalised anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and panic disorder.
Anxiety is more common in children with disability, such as those with speech, language, attentional, social, sensory, or motor difficulties, and can often stem from unmet or unsupported needs in these areas. Supporting a child’s overall needs can help reduce anxiety.
What might this look like in dance?
Students with anxiety may be hard-working and connect well with trusted adults and peers, but can experience perfectionism, fear, withdrawal, and avoidance. They may need extra time to feel comfortable, prefer familiar routines, and seek reassurance to manage worries. Anxiety can affect focus, memory, and participation, and sometimes lead to physical symptoms or strong emotional or behavioural responses. Students with anxiety may avoid group activities or social interactions due to fear or overwhelm. They often benefit from support in regulating emotions and strategies that prioritise their sense of comfort, safety, and wellbeing.
To learn more about how anxiety might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students with anxiety in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students with anxiety with:
Blind and Low Vision
What is Blindness and Low Vision?
Blindness and low vision involve ongoing challenges with sight. This can vary widely between individuals. Children who are ‘legally blind’ may not be able to see beyond 6 metres or 20 degrees in diameter, while those with ‘low vision’ may have some sight, but experience permanent vision loss that cannot be corrected with glasses.
Children may use tools such as braille, magnifiers, closed-circuit television, tablets that magnify images, or large print to support daily activities. Some may also experience difficulties in other areas, such as motor functioning.
What might this look like in dance?
Students who are blind or have low vision may rely on touch, sound, and verbal cues to navigate and participate. Some students might see objects in front of them but not around them, or vice versa.
Students may benefit from guided walkthroughs of the space and clear verbal instructions. Students may also need support with movement coordination and spatial awareness; however, it’s important to always ask before offering physical assistance. They may also require help remembering new information, as visual cues are less accessible.
To learn more about how blindness and low vision might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students who are blind or have low vision in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students who are blind or have low vision with:
d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing
What is d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing?
There are several terms used to describe a child’s hearing, and it’s important to use the correct one based on how the child identifies.
- ‘Deaf’ (capital D) refers to individuals who use Auslan and are part of the signing Deaf community, which has its own language and culture.
- ‘deaf’ (lowercase d) describes the physical condition of not hearing and can be used to describe individuals who are physically deaf but may not identify as part of the signing community.
- ‘Hard of hearing’ applies to those with mild to moderate hearing loss or who lost hearing in late childhood or during adulthood.
- The term ‘hearing impaired’ is generally not preferred, as many do not view their hearing as an impairment.
Children who are deaf may have some residual hearing and might use assistive devices, but these devices do not benefit everyone. It is important to avoid making assumptions about a child’s hearing.
What might this look like in dance?
Students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing may be strong visual learners with great attention to detail, but they can show differences in the way they process spoken information and use language to communicate. They might use speech, Auslan, lip reading, and visual cues, or a combination of these methods to communicate. Differences in communication can also affect other areas, such as attention, regulation, and social interactions. Students may find it harder to focus and sustain concentration or experience frustration, overwhelm, or fatigue due to the extra effort required to access and process information, particularly when auditory cues are unclear and not supplemented visually. Students may also be sensitive to sensory input beyond sound, requiring thoughtful support to fully engage in dance activities.
Students may benefit from clear visual supports, reduced background noise, and a direct line of sight to the teacher.
To learn more about how being d/Deaf or hard of hearing might inform your students’ experience, enrol in our AllPlayTM Dance: Teacher Professional Learning for Disability-Inclusive Dance course.
Support needs and teaching strategies
Every child is unique. While the same approach may not work for everyone, the links below offer helpful information and teaching strategies to support students who are d/Deaf or are hard of hearing in specific areas.
Click the links below to find strategies to support students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing with: