THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERACTION COMMUNICATION FOR CHILDREN WITH PROFOUND AND MULTIPLE LEARNING DISABILITIES

The development of interaction communication for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities

The development of interaction communication for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities

CHAPTER I

Introduction

People with PMLD constitute one of the most vulnerable groups in society. There is little research reflecting the views of teachers of pupils with PMLD. The little there is reflects the negative way such teachers and pupils appear to be perceived in schools. This is exemplified in the work of Corbett (1994), in her recollections of her early work with pupils with PMLD. She vividly remembers the words of other teachers in her school. She recalls the language used by other teachers to describe her teaching and the pupils she taught:

The vocabulary being used in relation to this group was about 'care', 'nursing', 'comfort', 'respite for parents', 'occupy' and 'control'. This was the official language. The unofficial was expressed in terms such as 'dumping ground', 'sin bin', 'vegetables', 'shitty work' and 'baby minding'. (Corbett, 1994, p. 9)

Corbett explains that, at the time she taught, the official language used to discuss this group of learners was influenced by the legacy of the medical and care philosophy of the long-stay hospital provision. She asserts that there was also an unofficial language of prejudice, fear and unknowing surrounding children with PMLD. It was usual, in Corbett's teaching time, for special care departments to be marginalized in special schools with little contact between them and the rest of the school, and it is not surprising that a culture of fear and misunderstanding pervaded. Times have changed and the integration of children with PMLD into mixed-ability classes is now widespread. Contemporary understandings of disability are also reflecting a change encompassing our growing appreciation of the social model of disability (WHO, 2001). This paper sets out to explore the teachers' perceptions and how they may be reflecting developments in our understanding of disability and, more specifically, this small group of learners.

To contextualize the views of the teachers in this study we need to reflect upon how society has presented its understandings of this group of learners. One way to do this is to examine definitions and classifications. This is not the only way to explore societal understandings, but it does illustrate accepted trends in perception. In reflecting upon such definitions we will see that historical understandings of PMLD are directly related to the degree, intensity and multiplicity of disabilities present in an individual person, and the consequent levels of support needed for that person to function in society. This offers a paradigm of understanding that reflects a medical/individual model of disability where the person owns the disability (Oliver, 1996). However, we will see that more recent definitions acknowledge the role of society in compounding a person's disability, thus embracing a social model of disability. The paper will present the views of the teachers in this study in the context of this ...