ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I shall begin by suggesting why I feel that an analysis of language itself, as a means of power and definition, is of value in an evaluation of ‘special needs’ in the mid-1990s. In order to contextualize this discussion, examples of the relationship between the language of patronage and provision for those with ‘special needs’ will be examined. I shall then present what I term ‘The Warnock model’, being an assessment of the impact that Warnock has made on ‘special needs’ language and concepts over the last twenty years. Warnock represents for ‘special needs’ in the late twentieth century, the voice of enlightened modernity. As such, this voice dominates the special needs’ discourse and needs to be challenged by competing voices in new and diverse discourses on special language.
