The Equality Act 2010 further enshrines the duties on organisations set out in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 to safeguard the rights of vulnerable children. However, disability is a complex phenomenon, which makes the collection of data, and the subsequent identification of children who might be classed as disabled, problematic. This…

As trends in favour of inclusion continue, questions arise concerning the extent to which teachers in mainstream schools feel prepared for the task of meeting pupils' special educational needs. Little previous research has considered how the subject taught impacts upon the attitudes of mainstream teachers towards pupils with special educational…

This article examines how the new British National Special Educational Needs Specialist Standards might be used as an audit tool and the consequences for teachers, line-managers, and training providers. It considers the role of the standards, core standards, extension standards, the standards as an audit tool, accessing resources, and future…

Describes a survey of services provided by schools for pupils with learning difficulties and challenging behavior in Britain. Analysis of the responses of 80 teachers indicated a need for in-class staff support, curriculum access, and additional facilities and resources for such pupils. The value of teacher collaboration in solving problems is…

Offers a critical response to the British Teacher Training Agency's two consultation documents on special-educational-needs-specialist teachers. The critique addresses the proposed standards, the definition of a specialist teacher, the value of standards, effective services, core standards, the deficit model of specialist standards, and delivery…

This article considers implications of two British government initiatives for training teachers of children with sensory impairments or severe learning difficulties. The first is the draft Code of Practice which provides guidelines on the identification and assessment of pupils with special educational needs. The second is an Education Bill which…

This study of 15 pupils (ages 7-10) with severe learning difficulties found that mental age (as measured by the British Picture Vocabulary Scale--a measure of receptive language ability) was correlated with counting performance. The study also found that being able to count accurately did not automatically lead to understanding the principles of…