ABSTRACT
Human rights apply to children and young people who experience special educational needs and disabilities as much as to anybody else. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states they still have the human right to have opinions and for these opinions to be heard and taken seriously, taking into account their ‘evolving capacities’, the ‘extent to which they can understand an issue and the possible outcomes of a decision’. This chapter looks at the experiences of a professional and considers their perspective of working in a team with others, in attempting to engage with and understand learners in a special school in England with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties so that they experience their human right to be heard. The focus is on the great variation in practice, based on individual differences, as well as the need to develop strong relationships with individual students, to understand their preferred and often idiosyncratic means of communicating in order to enable the pupils to access their right to achieve the ‘best possible educational and other outcomes’ (DfE/DoH, 2015, §1.1). The work also reflects on professional experiences, including more detailed reflections contained within three case studies that are written in the first person of the author. These show that to treat the individuals fairly and equitably in terms of social justice, teaching methods and tools of communication cannot be used equally or uniformly but instead require alteration on a personal level so that they may aid communication rather than dictate it.
The chapter raises significant issues of social justice and inclusion in the education system of this vulnerable group of young people as it:
examines the various tools of communication available to professionals and highlights the need for the training in and knowledge of these resources when wishing to create the most suitable environment in which the individual students may best learn and flourish;
demonstrates that a communication and learning package, which is tailored to the individuals – both students and those who engage with them – is a natural progression of the idea of social justice and the principle of equity in education – that is, allocating resources according to identified need;
notes the great importance of the relationship between communicators for young people to be best understood and assisted to participate in education, with professionals needing to gain an awareness of the nuances of their communication partner’s communication, interacting with them as the unique individuals they are so that they can experience their right to be heard.
