Increasingly in recent years, the involvement of disabled people as co-researchers has been regarded as "good practice." This has been informed by growing participatory and emancipatory research paradigms as well as user-focused policy imperatives. The benefits of these shifts apply to the research itself (improved definition, direction,…

We are entering a new phase in learning about childhood disabilities. While we have found out much of what we need to know about their causes and aetiology, solutions to many of the challenges we will face in the future will come from the evidence base held by practitioners. Practitioners are ideally placed to carry out "real world" research but…

Many practitioners are now grappling with the practical realities involved in collaborations between mainstream and special schools. Colin Gladstone is a teacher at Greenside, a special school in Hertfordshire. In this article he describes his experience of running a Young Enterprise Scheme project linking teenage students with severe learning…

A total of 274 British youth and adults with handicaps were administered the National Independent Living Skills assessment. Cluster analysis suggested that handicapped persons could be classified into four groups from lowest functioning to highest functioning, using independent living skills variables relating to living, work, and educational…

The use of Makaton signs was investigated with 49 British children (ages 4-13) with severe learning difficulties. Teacher-directed settings were associated with more use of signs but limited pragmatic functions. Free play settings were associated with less sign use but more varied functions. In both settings, most spoken and signed language was…

This paper describes the implementation of goal attainment scaling at the Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments. Goal attainment scaling was chosen because of its accommodation of the heterogeneity that exists among children with movement difficulties and their variation in rates of progress. Advantages and problems with the…

Comparison of 15 English children (mean age 7.5 years) with specific language difficulties and 12 similar children with mathematical difficulties found few differences in their ability to process 2- and 3-digit numbers. Results suggest that a language difficulty may underlie delayed performance in mathematics. (DB)

Questionnaires documenting self-injurious behavior (SIB) among 113 elementary students were returned by 21 London schools. Cluster analysis found patterns of behavior associated with each other, indicating that SIB may not be a homogeneous condition but may comprise a number of distinct syndromes depending on sex, age, mobility, communication…

The literature on the critical role of parents in the education of children with severe learning difficulties is discussed in the context of playgroups and nursery schools, language training, home-school contacts, teaching by parents, and school leaving. (DB)