SIGNALING OF PAIN BY STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT SPEECH DISABILITIES IN THE OPINION OF PEDAGOGICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Associated disabilities can determine a student's quality of life, including how they communicate with others. Often, these children do not use verbal speech, and their health status can vary depending on their disease symptoms or stage severity. The multimorbidity they experience is often associated with experiencing Pain of various types and intensities, which can affect their role as learners. Prompt recognition of a child's behaviour that may be indicative of the Pain he or she is experiencing will allow measures to be put in place during class to calm him or her (for example, changing seating in the classroom to the last row where it is quieter, airing the room, informing the school nurse or parents).

The purpose of the research was to describe the communicative behaviour of a student with a coupled disability related to his or her experience of Pain as perceived by education students. The research was embedded in a quantitative strategy using a diagnostic survey method. According to the students, students with a coupled disability signal the feeling of Pain by using their bodies as a means of communication, such as lying down on the classroom floor, rubbing their eyes, or changing their behaviour by demonstrating irritability or excessive tenderness.