ABSTRACT
People with learning difficulties have become increasingly critical of the ways in which professionals underestimate their abilities and undervalue their views. An international organization 'People First' has been established and people with severe learning difficulties are now running their own International Conventions. The problem of 'labelling' is frequently raised in discussions by people with learning difficulties within the self-advocacy movement. Often pupils in schools have similar concerns and discuss the issues whether in personal and social education programmes or in informal discussions. Listening to pupils who have communication difficulties, or whose focus of interest is considered to be inappropriate to their chronological age, is difficult. Encouraging pupils to make decisions for themselves can lead to the challenging of the learning opportunities chosen by the teacher as the pupils may be in a position to make unexpected, or even unwelcomed, choices. The skills of self-advocacy, however, need to be developed and encouraged throughout a pupil's education.
