Janet O'Keefe

This book is essential reading for anyone currently involved in the upbringing and education of a child or children with special needs. In this well documented and skillfully edited volume, our current process for ensuring a ‘special’ child is appropriately educated is clearly and comprehensively explained. 15 real life stories of special needs children illustrate perfectly the many facets of the problems that face those who are intimately involved with educating children with special needs. We have all known the frustration and coldness of bureaucrats who count the pennies and tick the boxes with scant regard for the identity and needs of the individual’s life they are affecting. The personal accounts in this book bring home the difficulties many have experienced in understanding exactly what was wrong with their child, what effective and positive steps could have been or were taken to address their child’s needs and how these were (or were not) applied (promptly or otherwise). No punches are pulled. There is no kowtowing to those authoritative officials who have learned to become more efficient in their job by making hard and fast decisions that have ignored the human, emotional needs of the people involved. Reading such stories should give new heart to people who may be struggling to cope with a cumbersome, and seemingly cold and indifferent system. They are not alone. I write not as an entirely uninvolved individual, for I have had my own 19-year battle with authorities in seeing to the needs of my husband who has had increased requisites as his health has deteriorated and I have been observing the difficulties my own daughter has been having with her severely disabled child. To return to this excellent book: by way of essential contrast, it also highlights the positive side of the children’s achievements, no matter how small. It makes clear how it is important for us to change our attitudes in dealing with our children’s individual impairments and with the authorities that seem to be at odds with their statutory role to support these needy children. The final mission statements exhorting us to be the instigators of positive reform in this field are inspiring and worthy of adopting. It is not ‘the system’ but ‘we’ who can effectively improve matters. Armed with the expert knowledge and lists of supportive organizations and people in this book, and driven by our passionate involvement, we should be able to ensure that the future of our special needs children will be much improved.

Written by Dr Rosemary Westwell PhD, MA TESOL, MA Ed, B Mus, BA Hons

PhD thesis “The development of language acquisition in a mature learner” : http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/48/

www.reviewsrjw.wordpress.com

www.elyforlanguage.wordpress.com

We have a great line up of presenters and speakers at this years ‘Towards a Positive Future’ conference in October 2011 and we hope that you as parents and professionals living and working with special needs children will sign up quickly for a place so as not to miss out on this opportunity to learn:

• what the health, education and social care reforms will mean for your children with SEN;
• how Academies can find ways to meet the needs of students with complex needs;
• what social enterprise is and how it can benefit children with SEN and those professionals working with them;
• what Big Society really means for SEN children and their families – the threats, opportunities and challenges;
• the legal implications for children with SEN including current and future funding arrangements;
• how you find people to advocate, represent or support you in getting an assessment;
• how you can access independent experts;
• what the difference is between professional and expert opinion;
• how you use that information to get your child the support services they need in school;
• what Tribunals are like;
• how to prepare for a Tribunal hearing.
• transition to University for students with SEN

There are only 252 delegate places available each day and there are only 140 places available at the conference dinner to launch the book of the same name on the Friday evening.

In addition to the auditorium presentations you can attend 2 seminars from a choice of 12 about the specific needs of the children you live and work with.  These seminars will be lead by university lecturers and researchers, teachers, psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, young people with SEN and parents.  We are delighted to have the support of Mary Hare, Shapwick School, Dyslexia Action and the Child Brain Injury Trust and are sponsored by Field Fisher Waterhouse Solicitors Anthony Collins Solicitors and SEN Magazine amongst others.

The topics covered will range from Applied Behavioural Analysis, social skills programmes (Talkabout and SCAEP), what is working and what isn’t in the area of undiagnosed problems of students with emotional, behavioural and social problems in mainstream schools, Facial Oral Tract Therapy, how victims of injury ensure that funds are in place to enable their rehabilitation, what it takes to get better children’s social work services and how we can work together and network better and negotiate better to ensure children with SEN grow into independent and successful adults … towards a positive future.

You need to come to this conference if you live or work with children with:

• Autistic Spectrum Disorder including Asperger Syndrome
• Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD) including ADHD
• Specific Learning Disability (Dyslexia)
• Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) including hearing impairment/deafness
• Moderate or Severe Learning Disability/Complex Needs including physical disability and head injury

‘Towards a Positive Future’ is a two day conference which will focus on providing encouragement, information and hope for parents of, and professionals working with, SEN children.  Attendance at the conference will encourage parents to take control, to share, inspire each other and make sure SEN children get the support they need and launch a new professional network that will empower, enthuse and enable practitioners to be heard and shape the future.

‘Towards a Positive Future’ takes place on 14 – 15 October 2011 at Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury.  Our early bird rate ends on 31st August 2011 – don’t miss out – BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!