Learning to communicate with children with disabilities.

A positive incident during a placement in a special school is used to illustrate that reflecting on positive incidents helps the student nurse to recognise good practice and personal strengths. The incident involving a child's achievement in mastering new communication skills led to improved understanding of the role of the special educational needs teacher and the speech and language therapist and the positive effect of early professional intervention. It also emphasised the benefits of Makaton and picture aids for children with communication problems. A major benefit of the placement experience was that it improved the student's confidence in approaching and interacting with children with special needs and speech difficulties. It also highlighted the value of nurses learning basic Makaton in order to enhance their communication skills. Using reflection to review positive experiences can be as effective in highlighting strengths and weaknesses as reflecting upon negative experiences.