Children and young people with severe and multiple learning disabilities join others for the first time to create a priority list for the Children’s Ombudsman for Wales.
Every three years, Commissioner Rocio Cifuentes identifies issues that need to be addressed to protect children’s rights.
She was helped by a Rhondda Cynon Taf school to develop software that would allow more children to participate.
Ysgol Ty Coch’s students use eye-gaze technology to express their views.
Leigh Wharton, a teacher at the school in Tonteg, near Pontypridd, explained how it was tailored for pupils to answer the commissioner’s questionnaire for the first time.
The software allows students to use their eyes to “voice their opinions about what is important to them”.
“View [technology] picks up what kids are looking at, so when they linger over an icon, it then activates and gives accurate feedback,” she said.
“It means everything for the child and the family because it means their opinions and voices are and can be heard.”
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The school serves 210 students with severe and multiple learning disabilities, including complex autism.
Students use the eye gazing system to communicate about school matters and when they are feeling ill as it allows them to identify which part of their body is ill.
The survey, which comes in different versions depending on the children’s ages and needs, will help inform the Commissioner’s next priorities to be announced in April.
The Commissioner’s current work includes improving education for children in hospital settings and providing seamless health and social care support for children with complex needs.
Ms Cifuentes said it was important to ensure the survey, which ends on November 5, “is accessible to all children, including those with different learning and communication needs”.
She said it offers children, parents, carers and professionals a chance to explain in detail “what they think”.
“I’m really committed to making sure that the evidence and information that they give ultimately makes a difference,” she said.
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