Kanner's research in 1943 marked the beginning of a new approach to autism, which would, henceforth, be viewed as a special kind of impairment. Since then there has been a steady growth in the educational programmes for autistic children in developing countries, while not a single comprehensive programme exists in oil rich countries. The impetus for this study came from the failure of these latter countries to provide early intervention and adequate educational facilities to maximise the individual abilities of autistic children. The study focuses on identifying the educational and training needs of autistic children in Kuwait, designing a programme based on those needs, implementing it effectively and evaluating its outcomes. Kuwait was selected as a case study for other oil rich countries. The design of the programme will depend on identifying 'from the parents perspective' the educational and training needs of autistic children through a field survey. The evaluation of the programme's; impact will be made through detailed interviews with teachers and parents as well as by a panel of experts. The study will examine the existing facilities for special education, specifically those for autistic children, the level of awareness needs and public attitudes. Current trends in educating autistic children will be reviewed and major components of educational programmes will be identified. The study is intended to demonstrate the viability of establishing educational programmes for autistic children compatible with the society's cultural values. Implications for future development and suggestions for further enhancement of such programmes are discussed. The study will provide a model of an effective approach for meeting the education needs of autistic children.' It will show that it is possible to design and implement a successful educational programme in oil rich countries, such as Kuwait.

This interpretive, mixed methods study examines newly arrived, isolated bilingual children’s experiences of schooling in primary schools. Using a theoretical stance that draws on a sociocultural and socialization framework as a process of change, involving the complex interplay between identity, agency and power, the study explores the factors that contribute to bilingual children’s experiences of schooling, how their experiences change over time, and how the children seek ways to strategically manage their situation. It also explores whether or not experiences of schooling differ between bilingual and monolingual pupils. Questionnaires generating quantitative data were completed by 29 bilingual children from various ethnic backgrounds and 162 monolingual, White British children from 12 schools. Qualitative data were generated through questionnaires with the 29 bilingual pupils exclusively. The voice of the children is central, through interview based case studies involving the perspectives of five bilingual children, their parents, teachers and monolingual peers. The findings reveal a complex picture because, although there is a sameness between bilingual and monolingual pupils, there is a distinctiveness about the bilingual group. However, a variety of experiences are noted between individuals within this group as factors interplay in complex ways. Therefore, bilingual pupils can not be considered to be a unitary group. The socialization trajectories, which include transition into school, highlight that children’s experiences vary and change over time, and are evidently affected by their relationships at school. By choosing strategic management approaches children are seen to shape their own socialization process. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications for gaining greater insight into the schooling experiences of isolated bilingual learners through: categorisation of children, the unitary nature of bilingualism, difference and access. Recommendations are made including policy development, teacher development and further research focusing on the voice of the isolated bilingual child.

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The two main aims of the research presented in this thesis are firstly; to develop theoretically valid methods of distinguishing between dyslexic and non dyslexic poor readers (ND-PR) through the use of behavioural tests in a range of primitive skill areas and secondly; to develop and evaluate three intervention programmes for learning disabled children based on sound theoretical principles. The implications of these findings for the traditional discrepancy definition of dyslexia are considered. In the first set of studies, dyslexic and ND-PR were tested at 8 and 10 years of age on a battery of theoretically chosen tests of primitive skills. As expected from the literature, both the dyslexic and ND-PR showed difficulties in phonological skills (Bradley and Bryant, 1983; Snowling et al., 1986; Vellutino, 1979). However, by contrast the dyslexic children also showed difficulties in certain tests of cerebellar dysfunction, whereas the ND-PR did not. This dissociation presents evidence for the cerebellar impairment hypothesis (Nicolson, Fawcett and Dean 1995). Findings give early support for the supposition that the phonological deficit theory may be subsumed within a broader causal framework of cerebellar impairment. Findings also suggest that there is value in retaining the discrepancy definition of dyslexia. The second set of studies compared three types of training on skill acquisition for children of varied ability ages 5 to 6 years. The groups were given systematic training over a period of several weeks using a phonological, motor and arithmetic skill programme. Training was designed for administration by a relatively unskilled instructor. Parents successfully delivered the first training programme, the author the second. Promising results were reported for both small-scale studies. Persistent performance improvement in all training groups were shown in measures of reading and spelling age and IQ, together with cautious evidence of skill transfer. Interpretation of the results suggests that each of the training programmes had generic value for metacognition. The findings provide a demonstration of both the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this type of structured and regular training intervention with young children, particularly those with learning difficulties. Implications for both the phonological and cerebellar impairment hypotheses are discussed. It is proposed that a motor skill training programme in conjunction with a phonological training programme has potential in any home/school based intervention.

This study examines the issues which arise for the parents of 'supported learners' in schools when they try to understand and become involved in their children's learning difficulties. 'Supported learners' are defined as those children in ordinary schools whose learning difficulties are not so serious that they need to be, in the British context, 'recorded/statemented', but who nevertheless fail to achieve as well as expected and therefore need 'learning support'. This thesis takes as its starting point that, despite the growing encouragement for parents to become involved in their children's learning and in schools, the parents of 'supported learners' are often 'the ones we never see'. The theoretical base of the study is ecological. The study was conducted in two settings: Aberdeen, Scotland; and Fort Collins, Colorado. The findings are based largely on interviews with 36 parents and 19 teachers in Aberdeen and 29 parents and 23 teachers in Fort Collins. Administrators in both settings were also interviewed. Sociometric data, estimates of self-esteem and observation data are also used to build up case studies of six children. The cross-cultural dimension of the study allowed mutual insight into the issues involved. The language and terminology of 'special education' are reviewed first and this is followed by an analysis of the main policy initiatives and practices in both settings. We then turn more specifically to some of their implications for parents and review some of the research literature which has examined the roles parents have played as 'special education' has evolved. An account is then given of how the methodology of the study allowed the researcher to 'listen' to parents. The parents' 'messages' are then outlined: first through a descriptive analysis of the findings; second through the six case studies; and third through the conceptual analysis which is the heart of the study. Broadly, it argues that parents of 'supported learners' fail to 'engage' in their children's learning because of three sets of obstacles. They find it difficult to make the Critical Compromises which would allow them to see their child positively as a learner; they find it difficult to make the Critical Connections which would allow them avenues to schools and teachers; and they lack many of the Critical Competencies which would allow them to communicate their problems.

Outcomes for looked-after children are generally poor in comparison to their peers. This includes educational outcomes. One route to improving outcomes for this population is improving their inclusion in schools. They experience more school changes and exclusions than their peers. Viewing people as experts in their own lives, this thesis used the views and experiences of looked-after children and care leavers to develop a model of the interrelating factors that support the inclusion in schools of looked-after children. A meta-ethnography was used to develop the initial model based on previous literature on the school experiences of looked-after children. An empirical study then provided support for and developed the model. It did this via focus groups with looked-after children and care leavers, as part of which a questionnaire based on the model was developed. The questionnaire was distributed to care leavers. Regression analyses were used on the respondents’ data to determine which of the factors from the model predicted feelings of inclusion and one-another. The five main factors identified from the meta-ethnography were: ‘agency’, ‘supportive relationships’, ‘consistency’, ‘others who support and value education’ and ‘looked-after status understood’. The empirical study found support for most aspects of the model. The importance of being treated as an individual with agency instead of a label, and therefore not being seen as ontologically different to other children, was found to be most important in predicting feelings of inclusion. In turn, this factor was predicted by having had supportive relationships and fewer school changes. Implications for supporting looked-after children are discussed. In particular, the need for a philosophical shift is described. This shift must redirect professionals’ objectifying gaze from looked-after children to the label ‘looked-after’.

This thesis considers family and professional perspectives on the lived experience of children with a learning disability and behavioural needs. The literature suggests that this group of children experience an increased risk of exclusion from their peers and their community due to their complexity of need and lack of appropriate support. Twenty semi- structured interviews were conducted to gather data from parents and professionals involved in the support of children with a learning disability and behavioural needs. A phenomenological approach was adopted to consider the lived experience of children through perspectives of the participants. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Attride-Stirling’s (2001) model of thematic analysis. A total of eight global themes were deduced from the findings. The parents’ data yielded four themes: finding our way; square services round needs; the price of behaviour; belonging. The four professional themes identified were: the behaviour of services; complexity of need; behavioural barriers; needing to know- knowing needs. The child’s experience of inclusion and exclusion ran through the findings as central tenets of the participant perspectives on lived experience. The study adds to the body of knowledge that considers the inclusion and integration of children with complex needs into mainstream and specialist provision. Perspectives on lived experience highlight current practice that can increase the vulnerability of children to the risk of exclusion from families, peers and ultimately their community. Recommendations call for proactive support to identify children in their early years at risk of experiencing exclusion due to their behavioural needs. Appropriate and effective provision will avoid the increased burden placed on families, and ultimately the state, of supporting children who remain vulnerable and at increased risk of exclusion from their communities.

This thesis combines ideas from disability studies and inclusive education debates, as well as critiques of mainstream schooling from critical pedagogy (e.g. Freire, 1972a; McLaren, 2009) and progressive education approaches (e.g. Darling & Nordenbo, 2002; Holt, 1983) to suggest a framework of radical inclusive pedagogy. The imperative for developing this framework is based on two main arguments; firstly, I argue for the understanding of education as a political process that can serve to reify or challenge the social order (Freire, 1972b; Giroux, 1981; McLaren, 2009). This view shifts debates about (inclusive) education from technical issues of resources and teaching methods to political and value-laden questions about the goals and aims of education (Slee, 1997). Secondly, adopting the social model assertion that disability is not an individual trait but rather the result of social processes of disablement (Oliver, 1990a; Thomas, 1999), I argue that educational theories and practices that are geared towards social justice and inclusion need to recognise and value the diversity of human embodiments, needs and capacities, and to foster pedagogical practices that promote rhizomatic relations of interdependency (Allan, 2008; Goodley, 2007a; Kittay, Jennings, & Wasunna, 2005), rather than focusing on independence and rationality. A key aspect of the thesis is its prefigurative approach, which stresses the need to simultaneously resist the social order and build alternatives from within (Gordon, 2008). This leads to the argument that the disabled people’s movement is in itself a site of radical inclusive pedagogy, as it supports disabled people in analysing social structures in order to resist their oppression. Further, the insistence on prefigurative research meant looking for ways to engage with disabled students in ways that resist the adult-child hierarchies of the school. The use of playful creative methods (including art, drama and comics) in workshops that were aimed at designing “the best school in the world” allowed for more flexible power relations, and provided an accessible context to foster participants’ engagement in reflexive discussions about social norms and values, thus transgressing the primacy of language and rationality in educational research. Findings from interviews with activists in the disabled people’s movement and from the ethnographic work in a “special needs unit” within a mainstream school were synthesised to suggest four key aspects of radical inclusive pedagogy: the need to value difference and resist practices that seek to make all students follow a uniform, linear and predefined educational path; the need to understand education as a complex and on-going relational process that values interdependence rather than independence; the need to contextualise learning in diverse aspects of experience as a way of supporting conscientization and accessibility; and the need to promote dialogue between teachers and students and resist authoritarian school practices.

This thesis is a critical investigation of the issues around the exclusion of individuals described as having ‘learning difficulties’ from higher education participation. As a qualitative inquiry it is situated within a ‘real life’ contemporary, interpretive and rapidly changing context. Using a postmodernist conceptual framework it draws upon the work of Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari. Adopting a case study approach, it explores the insights and experiences of a group of individuals who attempted to develop an undergraduate degree programme in the performing arts. Using one-to-one interviews, focus-group interviews and participant observations, its principal findings relate to a range of exclusionary barriers; these being attitudinal, cultural, educational, employment, financial and modern higher education. Its contribution is to (critical) disability studies, research and a critique of ‘learning difficulties’. Its postmodernist framework offers a theoretical map, insights into discourses of power/knowledge, and makes transparent the competing and contradictory discursive practices, challenging dualism and tree like structures. It concludes, suggesting that ‘learning difficulties’ is a constructed and re-constructed discourse. Its relationship with higher education is a feature of modern times, which comes to light in the turn to postmodernism. It rejects understandings of ‘learning difficulties’ that have taken-on ‘beliefs’, ‘realities’, ‘practices’ and ‘truths’ associated with ‘deficit’, ‘personal tragedy’, and ‘abnormality’. Moreover, individuals labelled as having ‘learning difficulties’, despite the rhetoric of ‘widening participation’, are intentionally positioned, and beset by barriers, and silenced, and excluded from degree level participation. Therefore, it calls for a radical re-think of the notion of ‘learning difficulties’, segregated provision, access to employment in theatre, associated HE policy and legislation, and to critical questions of modern higher education participation.