Access to education

In this step, Professor Tom Shakespeare (LSHTM and Lead Educator) considers the right of children with developmental disabilities to education.

Professor Shakespeare will start by describing the barriers to education faced by many children with developmental disabilities, before discussing the move towards inclusive education. To end, Professor Shakespeare will consider the role healthcare professionals have to play in helping children with developmental disabilities access education.

In this presentation we have briefly discussed inclusive education, but we should recognise that many children with developmental disabilities will benefit from specialised support, which is often provided at a special school. Ideally, parents and children should have the choice of which school best suits them, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. This brings us back to the idea of needing a twin-track approach.

• What do you think of the twin-track approach and the provision of both inclusive education and special schools?
• In your setting do healthcare professionals collaborate with teachers and schools to support the health needs of children with developmental disabilities?
• How could this collaboration be encouraged in the future?