Warm-up Activity
In institutions, textual records are created to facilitate the actions of workers and to approve resources. One example of a textual record is an Individual Education Plan (IEP, used in school contexts), or an Individual Support Plan (ISP, used in early childhood environments). These documents are required in provincial policy and are required by governments to approve support for some children or students. In this activity, we examine an ISP (attached) and consider how disability is constructed in the text. While textual records are used for institutional purposes, they also influence how children, families, and educators think about or understand disability. As a result the textual record t can affect children’s relationships and interactions.
Instructor Information
Create small groups of 2 to 3 people and read through the Individual Support Plan. Ask students to discuss the following questions:
- After reading the ISP what do you know about the child?? What information is recorded in the forms that are used?
- What other information would be important to have if you were to recognize disability as a social and relational phenomena?
- What other information would you need to identify social and relational barriers?
- How does the document impact the way in which you think about the child? Is the document oriented toward a medical, social or other model of disability?
- How does the form itself, shape the way the child is described?
- Are differences in cultural understanding of developmental differences apparent in the document?
Come back together as a whole group to share the discussion ideas and to re-iterate the social and relational aspects of disability. Each small group can report back key ideas.
Resources
Page updated May 2026.