Pupils with autism often present significant challenges to teachers. They seem to have real strengths in visual processing but a cognitive style that encourages them to focus on detail rather than the overarching connections between concepts. Veronica Roberts, currently undertaking doctoral training at the Institute of Education, University of…

Research and practice involving children and adults with dyslexia has tended to focus on identifying difficulties in developing literacy skills and associated cognitive variables. Comparatively few investigations have focused on affective factors or on finding ways of enabling those with dyslexia to express their own attitudes, thoughts and…

This article considers the impact of recent policy designed to define the roles and responsibilities of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos). The international drive towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs within the mainstream has led many schools to reconsider their structures and practices. In the UK, the…

The systematic assessment of the social and affective outcomes of inclusion has been lagging behind the assessment of academic outcomes. This is particularly problematic in view of research evidence supporting concerns about peer rejection and bullying. In this article, Norah Frederickson and Elizabeth Simmonds, of University College London, and…

In this article, Andrea MacLeod, lecturer in autism studies at the University of Birmingham, and Paula Johnston, a woman with Asperger syndrome who now focuses on writing and speaking about her condition, consider the function of specialist group interventions for individuals with Asperger syndrome. These authors report on one model--a discussion…

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, recent guidance on access arrangements for students with special educational needs taking public examinations such as the end-of-school General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) has signalled a commitment to the development of access arrangements in line with "best practice". In this article, Kevin…

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…

This article is based on the text of the Gulliford Lecture given by Professor Harry Daniels at the University of Birmingham in October 2005. Professor Daniels takes, as his starting point, Ron Gulliford's assertion that teachers need to learn from their experience of trying to teach children who are "hard to teach". He goes on to look at the…

Anthea Asprey and Tricia Nash both belong to the Children's Hospice South West Research Group, based at the University of Exeter. In this article, they report one aspect of a research project designed to determine the adequacy of support for young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in the education system. They describe here…

In this article, Anne-Marie Wright, lecturer at the University of Chester, considers the current situation for students with severe learning difficulties in general colleges of further education. She presents findings from a critical review of the literature and a small-scale preliminary investigation which set out to explore the idea that,…

Education in the early years is a key element in the Government's current strategy. Recently, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) funded a major study of Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE). The Early Years Transition and Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) Project developed from the EPPE research and was also funded by…

In this article, Andrew Martin, deputy head teacher at Greenside School in Stevenage, provides an outline of the development of the P scales as an assessment tool for pupils working below Level 1 of the National Curriculum. He recounts the difficulties his school found in using P scales to track pupil progress from year to year and describes and…

John Olav Myklebust is Professor of Sociology at Volda University College in Norway. In this article, he discusses his analysis of data emerging from a longitudinal study of 494 young people with special educational needs who have been followed over a period of six years. This analysis focuses on the attainments of these students during their time…

The importance of parental choice, and parents' participation in educational processes, continue to be highlighted in strategies, acts and policies around the world. Partnership with parents is given an even higher profile in relation to educational opportunities for children with special needs. Yet many trainee teachers have only limited…

This article discusses teachers' views of their own learning. Two groups of teachers attending graduate programmes in Seattle, Washington in the United States of America (USA) and Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom (UK), participated in a project that encouraged them to discuss examples of effective professional development. The teachers from the…