Hi Phyllis,

Good to hear from you. This is an interesting topic and one that is under researched. I've no doubt you are familiar with Jean Ware's work in this area. Her chapter in Special Teaching for Special Children? Pedagogies for Inclusion (Open University) may be helpful. Jill Porter and Carol Ouvry had a paper in the British Journal of Learning Disabilities Vol 29, issue 1 (2001) Interpreting the communication of people with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Han Nakken and Carla Vlaskamp have done some interesting work in this area. They published Joining Forces: Supporting Individuals with Profound Multiple Learning Disabilities in Tizard Learning Disability Review (2002) Vol 7 issue 3. If I can think of others I'll be in touch

Best wishes

Richard

I think it is important to consider how these teachers change their perspectives over time. Many teachers are reluctant to include students with severe disabilities in their classrooms but their perspectives often become more positive over time when they gain actual experience.

I agree with the views of C. Lewis Kausel. We need to include children with severe disability within general education classrooms with adequate support. Teacher will not find easy to accommodate students with severe disability in general education classrooms, in higher grades. It is important to know teachers' perspectives of both special education teachers and general education teachers. One way to achieve successful inclusion of students with severe disability is to make the learning more meaningful. Are general education high school teachers effectively helping students with disability learn in their inclusion classrooms? Does the attitude towards including students with severe disability vary between elementary school teachers and high school teachers? javascript: