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Disability specialists to lobby IDS
Nov 7 2002
By Shahid Naqvi, Birmingham Post
Managers at a pioneering special needs centre in Birmingham will challenge Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith today to help them radically change the way disabled people are taught in the UK.
Mr Smith is due to visit the National Institute of Conductive Education, a charity based in Edgbaston that aims to promote a more flexible approach to learning, similar to that of the US.
The organisation's director Andrew Sutton claims provision in the UK is at least 15 years out-of-date.
"In this country we seem stuck in a futile debate between 'inclusion' and 'segregation' which fails to meet the needs of children, parents and teachers alike," he said.
"In the 21st Century it is time to move on from such simplistic ideas and open ourselves up to other, more dynamic, ways of thinking such as the American concept of Least Restrictive Environment."
The model advocated by Mr Sutton would see children move from setting to setting depending on what stage of learning they are at, making use of a variety of facilities.
"We need to have a range of provisions that are most advantageous for a child at a given point," Mr Sutton said.
"There should be choice and there should be flexibility. A child may be at an ordinary school and going to some sort of out unit at certain times or they could be at home and going to specialist school."
The Conservative Party is in the process of gathering evidence before presenting its policy in the New Year on special educational needs.
"Special schools play a vital role in providing excellent and specialist care for some of our most vulnerable children, and integration between these schools and other community groups is also an important part of children's education," said Mr Smith.
"I will be interested to hear Andrew Sutton's views on what the best way is to achieve this."
Focus has increased on special needs education since the publication of an Audit Commission report this summer calling on the Government to launch a national debate on the quality of its provision.
The Foundation for Conductive Education, formed eight years ago, has been at the centre of discussions due to its pioneering work with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.
