Creating Together! The Creation of Learning Tools for Students with Severe and Profound Intellectual and/or Multiple Disabilities

The study aimed to solve the problem of learning tools for pupils with severe or profound intellectual and/or multiple disabilities (SPIMD). The aim of the study was to evaluate existing learning tools and to create, in cooperation with designers, prototypes for learning tools. The study has been structured as design research. The principle of user-centered design is applied. The existing learning tools and new tools were assessed by specialists working with pupils with SPIMD on a daily basis. The data collection involved observation, a focus group study, a questionnaire The responses were analysed by performing qualitative content analysis. It appeared that the existing learning tools cannot provide clear and strong stimuli for the pupil. Toys designed for babies and infants are being used as learning tools. The tools are often of poor quality and unreliable, and they cannot be adapted to the special needs of the pupil. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that a learning tool which has an unsuitable design (visual, tactile as well as auditive) does not support the understanding of things being taught. In creating new learning tools, it should be taken into account that the product has to be of high quality and reliable; it has to consider the special characteristics of the cognitive processes and the underdeveloped motor skills of the pupils with SPIMD; it has to be universal, allowing adjustments according to individual special needs; it has to be easy to clean.