Age Appropriate? Let’s Make it Person Appropriate

As a teacher working in special education I have lost count of the times I have heard the term ‘age appropriate.’ It refers to whether an interest or an activity someone is undertaking is typically associated with a person of their age. For example, a young child playing with a soft toy or a teenager listening to rock music would be considered to be doing age-appropriate activities.

In my daily work, with young adults with learning disabilities, the term arises when people are expressing concern that the interest or preferred activity of the young person is not age-appropriate. Over the years I have met many students who enjoy activities typically undertaken by younger children. Currently, for example, I have two post 16 lads who are into Paw Patrol and one young lady in her early 20s who loves giving her dolls birthday parties. In age-appropriate terms these would be considered to be age-inappropriate activities for these young adults. 

The Educational Context

The type of activities I have mentioned above are the type usually carried out at home but the concept of age-appropriateness arises fairly often in college too, especially as students are often working on knowledge and skills more typically covered in primary classes. During break times students are free to pursue their own interests. For lesson times too, my focus is not on what is age-appropriate but on what is ‘person-appropriate,*’ that is, what might be motivating and engaging for my students given their preferred activities and interests. Some of the things we cover in lessons are skills the students have been practising throughout their time in education. I feel it is my job to offer students learning opportunities which allow them to build on their interests and practise and develop their skills in a way which will be useful to them now and in the future. 

Person-Appropriate Maths

For example, for a numeracy lesson about using money I might create an activity around a (very visual, symbolised) McDonalds menu: asking around the group who wants to order what menu item so that we can count how many and write it down; reading the prices (made up by me to match what we are working on); checking that we have ordered enough drinks and meals for everyone; totalling the price on our fingers (a handy tool and always with you) or on an interactive calculator.

Some might describe this as an age-appropriate activity. I prefer to think of it as person-appropriate – a lesson designed to engage my young adult students, who share many of the same interests as their mainstream teenaged peers even though they are working at different curriculum levels. My students all have experience of fast food restaurants. They don’t visit these independently, they go with their families or with carers, but I want them to be well informed and as independent as they want to be. We might have only utilised the numbers 1-20 (as you might do with a much younger class group) but this type of activity is of interest to my students, it is something they have experience of and can easily relate to, and something that is potentially useful to them. It supports understanding the processes of using money, the anticipation of receiving change etc. The lesson builds on what I know my students are interested in. It is person-appropriate to each of them – without exception their eyes light up when you say McDonalds! 

Building on Special Interests 

I apply the same idea of person appropriateness to gift hunting for my nephew, James, who is a young man with significant additional needs in his mid 20s. James loves nursery rhyme or photo books, matching cards, puzzles and his iPad. He will also engage with a drum if Grandad is around! Nothing that would be considered age-appropriate. He has been practising his puzzling skills for many years and can now complete 6-8 piece puzzles on his own when focussed, 12 with help. James has many, many puzzles. And because they don’t have many pieces they typically have child-like images – unnaturally coloured animals for example, or cartoon images of everyday objects. James loves these puzzles and plays with them constantly. We have, though, introduced other puzzles we have sought out with images that would be considered more adult – authentically coloured animals in natural settings or photos of everyday objects for example. These have not been specifically introduced to give James more age-appropriate activities. Our intention is to broaden his experience, to introduce him to new images and new vocabulary, to support the practise and development of his fine motor skills and his problem solving. 

Puzzles could be considered James’ special interest. Providing different imagery on the puzzles is a way of promoting James’ learning through engaging him with an activity he really enjoys and is highly motivated by. As James has grown up we have also introduced new books and new matching cards which include different images to those he received as a child. (See our reviews of the Places of the World or the Remember Food matching cards). Seeing James’ interests in a person-appropriate way has guided us to build on them and provide similar activities which have supported his development. Nursery rhyme books have lead on to rhyming short stories, and puzzles and matching cards with cartoon images have lead on to those showing photographic images with a much broader range of subjects. James enjoys these new things and they have, no doubt, introduced him to a wider vocabulary. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still have access to the books, puzzles etc. he had as a younger child. They are all still available to him and it is his choice what he engages with. James gets great pleasure from those activities which could be considered age-inappropriate; he gets a sense of achievement from being able to complete these tasks independently; he organises these tasks by himself taking them in and out of the box; and he experiences making real choices by selecting the activities for himself. They are definitely person-appropriate as James gets so much from those activities. 

In Conclusion

Whether planning for my students or looking for a gift for James I strive to find something that is person-appropriate – the thing that is just right for them. That activity will be the one which builds on their interests and, therefore, most motivates, most engages, brings the most pleasure, and the most progress. 

Your Thoughts? 

I’ve written about taking a person – appropriate approach from the point of view of a teacher. I would love to hear your thoughts on age appropriateness, person appropriateness or any other aspect of providing activities and resources for adults with additional needs from your viewpoint. 

*I found a really interesting article on person-appropriateness in the school context on the Inclusive Teach site. I have provided a link to it here. It is well worth a read. https://inclusiveteach.com/2021/01/15/the-age-appropriate-argument-and-send/?subscribe=success#subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-7   

Joan