ABSTRACT
Children with severe learning difficulties present a number of challenges to teachers:
the creation of a curriculum which is ‘broad, balanced and relevant to their needs’ (Ashdown et al. 1991; Carpenter et al. 1996);
communication with children who have a limited ability to understand and use spoken language (Harris and Wimpory 1993);
additional cognitive, sensory and physical impairments which are likely to have adverse effects on their development and learning.
Together these challenges make both accurate assessment and effective teaching a complex and demanding task.