The Routledge Companion to Severe, Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties

The Routledge Companion to Severe, Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties is a timely and rich resource with contributions from writing teams of acknowledged experts providing a balance of both academic and practitioner perspectives.

The book covers a myriad of topics and themes and has the core purpose of informing and supporting everyone who is interested in improving the quality of education and support for children and young adults with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties and their families. Each chapter contains careful presentations and analyses of the findings from influential research and its practical applications and the book is a treasure chest of experiences, suggestions and ideas from practitioners that will be invaluable for many years to come. The chapters include many vignettes gathered from practitioners in the field and are written specifically to be rigourous yet accessible.

The contributors cover topics related to the rights and needs of children and young adults from 0-25 years, crucial features of high quality education, characteristics of integrated provision and effective and sensitive working with families to ensure the best possible outcomes for their children. Crucially, the voice of the learners themselves shines through. Historical provision that has had an impact on developing services and modern legislation aimed at improving provision and services are also discussed.

The contributed chapters are organised into six themed parts:

• Provision for learners with SLD/PMLD.
• Involving stakeholders.
• Priorities for meeting the personal and social needs of learners.
• Developing the curriculum.
• Strategies for supporting teaching and learning.
• Towards a new understanding of education for learners with SLD/PMLD.

This text is an essential read for students on courses and staff working in and with the whole range of educational settings catering for children and young adults with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties, not just for teachers but also for support staff, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, social workers and other specialists.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction Penny Lacey, Rob Ashdown, Phyllis Jones, Hazel Lawson and Michele Pipe

SECTION 1: PROVISION IN ENGLAND FOR LEARNERS WITH SLD/PMLD

2. Learners with SLD and PMLD: Provision, Policy and Practice Dawn Male
3. Changing special educational needs and disability legislation and policy: Implications for learners with SLD/PMLD Christopher Robertson
4. An historical reflection on education for learners with SLD/PMLD – 1800 – 1970 David Stewart
5. Priorities, Products and Process – developments in providing a curriculum for learners with SLD and PMLD David Stewart
6. Further Education: Personalised destinations and outcomes for students with SLD/PMLD Caroline Allen, Kathrine Everett, Janet Sherborne, James Stonard, Joanne Yarlett
7. Building secure foundations in the Early Years Michele Pipe, Fiona Smith and Lesley Mycroft

SECTION 2: INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS

8. Joint working for learners with SLD/ PMLD Penny Lacey with Julian Brown, Fiona Holmes, Helen Burnford, Kate Jones and Rosie Jones
9. Working with Families: partnerships in practice Barry Carpenter & Hollie Rawson
10. Provision for Children with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties from Ethnic Minority Families Sana Rizvi and Peter Limbrick
11. Participation, citizenship and voice Sana Rizvi and Peter Limbrick
12. Participation, citizenship and voice Hazel Lawson and Ann Fergusson with Miranda Brookes, Trudy Duffield and Anthony Skipworth
13. Training and Developing the Inclusive Teacher for Learners with SLD & PMLD Melanie Peter
14. Teachers talking about their work with learners with SLD & PMLD Michael Riley and Phyllis Jones
15. Ups and Downs: how learners with SLD/ PMLD view their school experience Elizabeth Henderson, Julia Barnes and Nicola Grove

SECTION 3: PRIORITIES FOR MEETING THE PERSONAL AND SOCIAL NEEDS OF LEARNERS

16. Learners with Severe and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties and Sensory Impairments Liz Hodges and Mike McLinden
17. Care as an educational concept Peter Imray and Lana Bond
18. Sex and Relationship Education David Stewart, Angela Mallett and Tom Hall
19. Physical contact experiences within the curriculum Julia Barnes and Dave Hewett
20. Challenging Behaviour and the curriculum
21. Hidden behind a label, an uneasy relationship between mental health and special needs. Ann Fergusson, Marie Howley, Rachel Allan and Richard Rose
22. Spirituality and Severe Learning Difficulties Jean Ware and Erica Brown
23. Death, Bereavement and Loss Erica Brown

SECTION 4: DEVELOPING THE CURRICULUM

24. Curriculum Models, Issues and Tensions Hazel Lawson and Richard Byers with Matthew Rayner, Richard Aird and Laura Pease
25. Recognising progress – assessing outcomes for young people with SLD and PMLD Richard Byers and Ann Fergusson
26. Communication Juliet Goldbart and Jean Ware
27. Intensive Interaction: Fundamental and Early Communication Abilities Dave Hewett, Graham Firth, Lana Bond and Riana Jackson
28. Inclusive Talking: Language Learning Carolyn Anderson and Penny Lacey with Suzanne Kavanagh and Kalvinder Rai
29. The Teaching of Reading to Pupils with SLD Sarah Mosely
30. Literature and Stories in the Lives of Pupils with SLD/PMLD Nicola Grove, Jane Harwood, Elizabeth Henderson, Keith Park and Rosemary Bird
31. Using number in everyday life Jill Porter
32. Physical Education for All Learners Steve Cullingford Agnew with Nigel Carter, Anne Craddock, Chris Rollings, Barbara Dowson and Hannah Brighton

SECTION 5: STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING TEACHING AND LEARNING

33. Technology Supporting Learning Chris Abbott and Ann Middleton
34. Playing to Learn or Learning to Play? Ideas on Ensuring that the Opportunity to Play is Continually Accessible for Learners with SLD/PMLD. Peter Imray and Robert Orr
35. Supporting Playfulness in Learners with SLD/PMLD: Going Beyond the Ordinary . Debby Watson and Margaret Corke
36. Creative Teaching and Learning for Learners with SLD and PMLD
37. The Learning Environment Penny Lacey with Yvonne McCall, Jodie Dunn and Lisa Watson

SECTION 6: TOWARDS A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF EDUCATION FOR LEARNERS WITH SLD/PMLD

38. Engaging with Research Jill Porter
39. The Way Ahead Rob Ashdown

"This text is an essential read for students on courses and staff working in and with the whole range of educational settings catering for children and young adults with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties, not just for teachers but also for support staff, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, social workers and other specialists. An authoratitive work which makes an excellent reference guide for all aspects of helping children and young people with severe learning difficulties."
- Parents in Touch, May 2015