ABSTRACT
Visual material is rich both in suggestions for language activity and as an aid to the understanding of concepts like imagery and symbolism which are crucial in learning to respond to poetry. Far from being too adventurous for children with special needs, it is by using visual material as a preliminary that discussion opens up for children with learning difficulties to enable them to make tentative steps to exploring written texts with imagery. However when describing the language of children with learning difficulties, one is forced to depart from neatly structured models of development, as for them learning through reflecting is possible only when they are freed from their own earlier emotional fetters. It calls for careful, longterm planning from the teacher to create a classroom climate where this mode of learning encounter can be anticipated. During these encounters of reflecting, the supportive presence of the teacher, more than at any other time, needs to be felt.
