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This thesis uses an exploratory, grounded theory methodology (GM) approach to seek, through constant comparison, an understanding of the extent to which dyslexia can be socially and contextually constructed. GM can be defined as an active, continuous systematic process of analytic steps, while simultaneously being open to proceed and explore a phenomenon. In this case, the phenomenon is dyslexia, including the support and inclusive practises in schools to legitimately adhere to Special Educational Needs policy in schools (both locally and internationally) to cultivate diversity in education. In this thesis, I used GM, which includes semi-structured interviews (SSI), field notes, observations on learning support departments, school websites and school inspection reports, rather than follow a guided deductive of being an expert in the field of dyslexia support and a directed approach of content or GT. I decided to use GM to focus on building social and contextual relationships between data, which unlike GT can lead to an eventual endpoint, using GM I hope that instead my contextual data findings can generate and develop new areas of research. In short, using GM does not lead my research to an endpoint, but provides a new point to start, expand, and develop new research on dyslexia support and inclusion. Five schools in Abu Dhabi, UAE, each with a different curriculum, were included in the study. Interviews were conducted with school principals, special educational needs coordinators, and support teachers. Besides, 9 mothers with children identified with having dyslexia and one parent with a daughter identified with having dyslexia from Dubai were interviewed. The hypotheses were developed in line with the purpose of this research, which was to identify and explore the barriers and obstacles that can hinder effective support for dyslexia and inclusion, using the process of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding through data analysis. This thesis concludes with suggestions for further, more extensive, and significant support for dyslexia, with active parental engagement, and schools being receptive to a community of shared practices and decisions on effective learning strategies that work for each child's dyslexia. Also, if schools say they are inclusive or follow the values underpinning inclusion, then they need to promote active awareness and understanding of dyslexia, with transparency and accountability regarding all concrete steps towards inclusion. This should include compulsory and continuous teacher training, which includes how to effectively screen for dyslexia and use an Individualized Education Program (IEP) effectively and investment in resource centres to support schools, teachers, parents, and learners within the community.

This research aims to develop knowledge of dyslexia from the subjective experiences of dyslexic students currently attending mainstream, state schooling in England. As the importance of identifying dyslexia early within a student's schooling, to prevent educational failure, is generally agreed (Rose 2009) research within the field of dyslexia remains predominantly concerned with neurological and cognitive studies of causation, identification, and remediation. Consequently, to date, there is limited research designed to gain an understanding of dyslexia through the lived experiences of dyslexic individuals. The current research draws upon twenty-one school-aged students and explores their lived experience of being identified and labelled as dyslexic and the effects of dyslexic difficulties within their schooling. The research was guided by the interactional approach to disability (Shakespeare 2014). The research was guided throughout by a qualitative approach to data collection. The data was derived using a digital communication aid entitled 'Talking Mats' and follow-up semi-structured interviews. The dyslexic students who participated in this research came from one mainstream state secondary school and three mainstream state primary schools in England. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis and three overarching themes emerged. These were: Diagnosis, dyslexic students' experiences of the process of being identified and labelled as dyslexic, Dyslexia, the difficulties experienced by dyslexic students in the classroom and Discrimination, dyslexic students' experiences of discrimination and the effects within schooling. The students' experiences suggest that regardless of the age of being identified and labelled as dyslexic, the experience of the assessment process remained a challenging experience, that did not aid their understanding of dyslexia. Despite their diagnosis, the students continued to experience a range of difficulties predominantly with reading, spelling, and handwriting. Although the students requested the use of reasonable adjustments to lessen their difficulties this was often denied. This research highlighted a multitude of barriers these dyslexic students experienced within school, for example, discrimination, humiliation, and punishments.

Background: Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is the leading cause of childhood visual impairment in the developed world. It arises due to damage to, or underdevelopment of the brain. Children attending special schools are likely to have a high prevalence of CVI due to the aetiologies surrounding the condition. Aim: The current project aimed to determine whether evidence of CVI could be elicited during a comprehensive in-school vision assessment for children in special schools. Methods: Children (n=200) attending the largest special school in Northern Ireland received a comprehensive vision assessment on the school premises. Systematic review of the literature facilitated decision-making when selecting which assessments to employ to probe for evidence of CVI. These included, in addition to a full eye examination, parental questioning using the Visual Skills Inventory (VSI) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), direct observation of visual behaviour, tests of visual perception and evaluation of crowding ratios. Following the assessment, parents and teachers were provided with jargon-free Vision Reports detailing the findings and highlighting action points to address vision needs. Evaluation of the in-school assessment and Vision Reports was conducted through feedback from parents and teachers. Results: The key findings from the present study are summarised as follows; • There is a lack of consensus in the reported literature regarding which assessments are used to investigate and diagnose childhood CVI. • The VSI was useful at identifying evidence of CVI and facilitated provision of management strategies to parents and teachers to account for CVI-related difficulties; almost 40% of the study population exhibited evidence of CVI. • Key features which differentiated between participants with and without evidence of CVI were; i) a medical history of deficits affecting neurological function/development, ii) impaired distance visual acuity and iii) parent-reported difficulties on the SDQ. • Observation of visual behaviour, crowding ratios and tests of visual perception were not useful at distinguishing between participants with and without evidence of CVI. • Parents and teachers value and utilise written Vision Reports of visual and CVI status, however they require additional support to implement suggested actions. Conclusion: This study has shown that eliciting evidence of CVI during an in-school vision assessment is possible and warranted. It is crucial that in-school eyecare models incorporate investigation of CVI to ensure associated vision difficulties do not remain unrecognised which could ultimately hinder a child’s personal and educational development.

The increase in the number of students with special educational needs (SEN) studying in mainstream schools in Singapore has led to growing development in inclusive education practices. However, there are few studies that have explored these students’ views about their schooling experiences and the barriers and support that they experience. This present study sought to explore the perspectives of dyslexic learners, their parents and educators on their views on an ideal school environment and actual mainstream primary school experiences. It was hoped that by finding discrepancies between the ideal and actual, the study would raise gaps in the provision and promote positive change in students’ mainstream school experience. Six pairs of dyslexic child-parent dyads, seven pairs of non-dyslexic child-parent dyads and 5 educators who have been in the support of dyslexic individuals in mainstream settings were recruited. All learners had either completed primary education or were in their last few months of completing primary school at the time of research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that dyslexic learners had a greater emphasis on their physiological and safety needs to be met. In contrast, non-dyslexic learners placed a greater focus on developing mastery and gaining in-depth knowledge, while considering the physical aesthetic needs of the learning environment. Dyslexic learners sought to have schools that offered a safe and supportive environment where there are no bullies. Their parents sought for provisions that would build their confidence and school engagement. Dyslexic learners who were interviewed generally had a mixed school experience. Regardless of SEN, all dyslexic and non-dyslexic learners faced the cultural pressure to excel academically, and some experienced bullying and peer difficulties. While all learners found a significant adult at school, the overall support offered varied within and across school and was limited. As stressed by all participants (dyslexic and non-dyslexic) groups, joint efforts by parents, teachers, school leaders, the education system and the wider society is needed to improve inclusion and school experience for all learners. Implications for schools and educational psychologist practice, and recommendations for future research are considered.

This study explored the experiences of teachers who have worked with children and young people diagnosed with FASD in Northern Ireland. Qualitative methods were availed of as eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and subsequent analysis was completed using Thematic Analysis. The findings indicated that there were various factors that influenced teachers’ ability to educate young people with FASD. These factors were not clearly distinguishable as either a barrier or facilitator to teaching as they typically had the propensity to encompass both aspects. The findings focused on: the teachers’ personal resources; challenges from external systems; the nature of the disorder; the importance of systemic relationships, and practical barriers and facilitators. The study concludes with recommendations that highlighted: additional teacher training on FASDs, ways in which to foster systemic relationships, and practical educational strategies.

Different studies have shown that deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students face many difficulties in learning applied disciplines in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics. The development of videos or avatars to aid in the teaching of programming for positively affects DHH students. The use of sign language increases the understanding of DHH, therefore, it will be utilized in the proposed virtual and Augmented reality environment which will hopefully improve students’ performance in learning about computer programming as well as enhance their engagement and facilitate the accessibility of learning for learners suffering from deafness in Saudi Arabia. This thesis aims to help deaf and hearing-impaired students in Saudi Arabia to tackle applied subjects like computer programming and equip them for careers in the technological field. Computer programming is an integral component in this field that can greatly assist in developing technological solutions. The study reveals important considerations in the creation of a virtual learning environment for DHH students to learn computer programming and showed that DHH students performed well, understood the topics, and could write a small program. The research methodology shows how to create an avatar for teaching computer programming using Arabic sign language. This gives DHH students opportunities to join the scientific world as they were previously unable to do so. Three expert signers evaluated the proposed Arabic Sign Language (ArSL) dictionary with 450 technological terms and added 114 new signs to the signer dictionary. Therefore, to make an overall evaluation, Augmented Reality (AR) as a knowledge technology will be applied through the 6 unit of the proposed “Java programming” course. Accordingly, 6 designed flashcards will be used, one flashcard for each course unit to retrieve summarized knowledge discovery of this unit. Also, many tools will be used to support augmented reality such as Vuforia and Unity library.

Deafness can impact many different aspects life including the relationship between hearing parents and deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) children. Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is a video-feedback intervention, which aims to enhance communication and attuned relationships. This research explored the use of VIG with hearing parents of severe or profoundly DHH children aged between 6 months and 3 years. Case study design utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods was used to explore attuned interactions, parenting stress, parental self-efficacy (PSE) and parents’ experiences of participating in VIG. Three hearing parent-DHH child dyads participated in three VIG cycles. The Principles of Attuned Interaction, The Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and Tool to measure Parenting Self-Efficacy (TOPSE) were utilised as pre- and post-measures. Parents’ experiences of VIG were explored through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. For Rachel, Sarah and Elizabeth VIG appears to have positively impacted their attuned interactions and PSE as evidenced through descriptive statistics and analysis of parental interviews. Parenting stress was reported to be within ‘normal’ ranges pre- and post-VIG. Two themes ‘process of VIG’ and ‘outcomes of VIG’ with additional subthemes were identified from parental interviews for each parent. Qualitative analysis indicates that the parents of DHH children in this study perceived VIG to have some positive outcomes and to be a worthwhile intervention. Strengths and limitations of the research, and implications for families of DHH children, VIG and Educational Psychologists (EPs) and future research are discussed.

This thesis examines the schooling experiences of young people (between the ages of eleven and thirty years old) with Restricted Growth in the United Kingdom. Previous research on this topic was conducted predominantly through medical and psychological lenses and proposed that such experiences were negative due to a range of deficits young people with RG presented, including cognitive, social and behavioural ones. Hence, young people with RG were depicted as tragic, passive figures, with the problem lying in their bodies. Taking a Critical Disability Studies (Goodley, 2013) and a Disabled Children’s Childhood Studies (Curran and Runswick-Cole, 2014) approach, this thesis provides an insight into their schooling experiences through an engagement with their perspectives, which problematise both this deficit discourse as the underlying reason for such experiences and their depiction as passive. Twenty young people were recruited for this qualitative narrative research and became the storytellers of their schooling experiences, that is, they shared their stories in various forms and ways e.g. oral storytelling through narrative interviews in person/online and written storytelling via email interviews. These stories were then analysed through a narrative thematic analysis. The findings illustrate different aspects of their schooling experiences. For instance, participants’ stories demonstrate how they navigated and experienced various disabling and ableist school spaces, such as school classrooms, playgrounds and toilets. Moreover, their stories shed light on their experiences with teaching assistants and their mixed feelings towards the support they were provided. Furthermore, their interactions with teachers and the latter’s disabling attitudes towards them are considered. Additionally, the various forms of violence -real, cultural, psycho-emotional and systemic- the participants en/countered at schools are captured. The thesis closes with some recommendations, including for more attention to be paid on disabled young people’s insights into schooling and for educational practitioners to be more reflexive of their practice.

After a century of using schooling to denigrate Indigenous populations, Canada’s Indigenous communities were granted self-governance over schooling in 1982. In the wake of self-governance, special education remains largely unreformed, caused in part by assumed universality. This research therefore explores the conceptions of disability held by Anishinaabe youth within their communities, and school. Under Canada’s dual system of schooling, the federal government oversees Indigenous self-governing schools and allocates funding, while provincial governments control settler schooling. The federal system remains largely invisible because of a lack of policies, and exclusion from regional, national, and international assessments. This research occurred in a recently established, Anishinaabe self-governing secondary school that services six Anishinaabe communities. Uniquely positioned to examine disability, the students attending this school had all previously accessed special education provisions in their former provincial schools. This topic was examined during a 10-month multisite case study in Canada’s Sub-Arctic region. As a disabled, white, former teacher, and female researcher, I attempt to become an Anishinaabe-ally, by employing Indigenist methodologies. Centring the voices of the participants was demonstrated by using photovoice projects, Anishinaabe talking circles, and walking interviews. Maintaining three types of research journals, and ensuring participatory collaboration, led to the emergence of walking interviews as a data collection tool. The students expanded the research to include a student-led community powwow, which became a fascinating opportunity for data collection and community involvement. In seeking to contextualise the participants, data collection also includes recorded, semi-structured interviews, and casual conversations with students, teachers, elders, chiefs and family members, are recounted in my research journals. The role of schooling in Canada’s genocide, seems to cause the Anishinaabe self-governing school to be framed by the students, their family members, and elders, as a critical space for healing. In an apartheid-like state that segregates and isolates reserves, my findings highlight the significance of the school as a location for racial interaction in Canada. The school involved in this research became the central location for contact between settlers and Anishinaabe people. Thus, Indigenous self-governing schools seem to be a crucial space for convergence between settler and Indigenous worldviews. For instance, notions of disability enacted in the school’s programming attempted to align with Anishinaabe conceptions. Within my findings, conceptions of disability were intertwined with Anishinaabe spiritual beliefs, most significantly, interrelatedness. This belief caused Anishinaabe participants to conceptualise disability as an imbalance in the “medicine wheel”, which frames humans as seeking a balance in mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of themselves. The students engaged in myriad individual and community spiritual practices, for the purpose of seeking balance at home and at school. Repeatedly, the Anishinaabe participants considered their imbalances to be rooted in settler colonialism. As such, culturally-appropriate school programming for Anishinaabe students, seems to necessitate facilitating Anishinaabe spiritual practices related to healing, and addressing disparities stemming from settler colonialism.

This research focuses on how female students with vision impairment (VI) are educated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and, in particular, how VI education is conceptualised, implemented and linked to the professional backgrounds and training of teachers. The concept of an Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC), which includes a range of disability-specific areas (e.g., O&M, braille), is referenced directly to identify how teachers perceive VI education and determine important outcomes. This study addresses the research gap in Saudi VI education— there have been relatively few empirical studies addressing the additional curriculum approach in VI pedagogy. The findings are discussed in the light of international VI pedagogical theories and practices. A sequential mixed-methods design was employed incorporating 14 observations of routine daily activities, a demographic data survey and interviews of 32 female teachers from eight schools that cater to female VI students in Riyadh, KSA. The data was coded and analysed using Norwich and Lewis’s (2005, 2013) understandings of ‘commonality’ and the ‘differentiation’ of pedagogic positions, relating these classifications to the ECC framework. Teachers conceptualise and practice the ECC according to their qualifications and educational priorities. While qualified teachers of VI students (QTVIs) and special needs specialists (SENs) see the ECC as an ‘overarching skillset’, subject specialist teachers (SSTs) view it as ‘specific skills’. Teachers with greater training and experience have a stronger conceptual understanding of additional VI provisions. Most SSTs perceive success in terms of academic skills, while specialist teachers view success in terms of both academic and personal skills. The implementation of additional VI support varied among teachers interviewed, utilising both inclusive and differentiated approaches. Implementation is localised from one provision to the next, resulting in inconsistent methods even sometimes within one school. The QTVIs and SENs were more responsible for the delivery of braille and O&M as a separate entity, whilst the SSTs generally delivered some ECC areas through assimilation into the core curriculum activities. QTVIs and SENs approached the additional support more explicitly than the SSTs, as reflected by their training (and experience) levels. Some teachers made up for a lack of training with experience, intuition or due to the fact that some ECC areas are applicable to all students, not only those with VI. Implementation also varied between schools depending on additional factors, including time, space, resources, specialist teacher training, motivation, school collaboration and parental involvement. This research found that the ECC is followed partially (and mostly implicitly) in the KSA. The research concludes with recommendations for future policy of which the main strands are: standardisation (implementation of a broad framework), clarification (improving the level of teacher training) and providing a supportive infrastructure. It is hoped that the second recommendation will aid the implementation of the first, in that refining training will lead to a common understanding of a more standardised approach. Potentially, this study could have significant implications for the future of the KSA’s VI education by, for example, influencing teacher training, contributing positive changes to the existing additional skill provision, and in the improvement of SEN provision.

This thesis presents a series of design-oriented studies for investigating and describing communication involving children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPIs). The overarching goal is to inform how designers conceptualise communication that involves children with SSPIs beyond a widely cited view that communication centres around speech and happens at the level of the individual through the transmission of information. Instead, by positioning communication as co-constructed, situated and multimodal, the goal is to stimulate how one designs for digitally mediated communication by applying multiple, alternative frames that acknowledge these features. In order to achieve this goal, qualitative empirical fieldwork is undertaken that examines the everyday communication experiences of five children who have SSPIs. Drawing on theoretical influences from multimodal social semiotics and participatory design, study one and two investigate child centred accounts of communication involving children with SSPIs and their peers. The focus is on investigating communication, first in formal learning contexts involving existing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies, then in broader contexts beyond AAC use. Multi-layered perspectives are generated that consider: 1. a child's view, by attending to children's values and choices of modes; 2. an interactional view that attends to how communication is co-constructed in situ with other people and material objects, and; 3. a structural view, that examines the orderings of people, material objects and activities within an environment. These layered understandings produce research frames that are then utilised in study three. A design documentary is created and used to motivate design work for supporting face to face communication involving children with SSPIs and their peers with a team of designers who do not hold fixed orientations to designing assistive technologies. The findings of the three studies make three new contributions to the fields of HCI and AAC. First, the findings produce a theoretical perspective on communication, acknowledging multiple modes and displacing the taken for granted centrality of language. Second, the findings reveal design opportunities for new and existing technologies. Third, the studies contribute methodological insights for design work by considering ways of involving both children and designers when designing with and for children with SSPIs.

This study was designed to explore the perceptions of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students and specialist teachers regarding inclusive education and associated barriers and support in four mainstream pramry schools for boys in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. DHH students and specialists involved in inclusive schools have experienced mainstreaming since 2000; their experience, perceptions and understanding as members of these particular communities of practice can offer important insights into the development of practice towards inclusive education. This research aimed to help the Saudi education system to translate inclusive education principles into practice. Ainscow’s model (2005a) of inclusive education and an interactionist view of disability have framed the formation of study’s objectives and secondary research questions. Data were generated from a qualitative case study: semi-structured interviews with eight DHH students, twelve specialist teachers, and four parents, observations in mainstream schools, and documentary analysis gave a broad picture of the issues under investigation. The case study covered four main aspects: the experiences of students and specialists in four mainstream schools, specialists’ understanding of the term ‘inclusive education’, students’ and specialists’ perceptions of the barriers to inclusion affecting DHH students, and their perceptions of the support required to promote inclusion for DHH students. The findings suggest that practices of education in mainstream schools for DHH students mainly represent an ethos of integration rather than inclusion. This suggested a consensus that there has been a delay in implementing inclusive provision. Although specialist teachers demonstrated multiple understandings related to the phrase “inclusive education”, human- and physical-related factors constituted the main barriers to the support required. This study therefore opens a debate around issues of social inclusion within a sociocultural context that places Saudi and Islamic values in educational practice, which implies that change is not a simple issue of addressing participants’ perceptions of the social phenomenon of inclusion; rather, a comprehensive process is called for that should address all sociocultural factors that shape participants’ perceptions. While these issues were discussed with caution and are interrelated with other contextual issues such as the workload, the lack of engagement in professional development for school staff and ineffective arrangements for the provision of physical support, it was argued that the Saudi policies currently lack clarity in decision-making about inclusion and its practices. Recommendations are made to address this in order to work towards inclusive education for DHH students in the Saudi context.

Based on UK Department of Education annual report 2017, seven percent of preschool children experience speech and language developmental delays. The report goes on to argue that these delays negatively impact success at school. Such delays are more common amongst children with cerebral palsy or autism. Early intervention therapy is recognised as being vital in minimising the long-term impact of such delays and the responsibilities for delivering such therapies most often lies with parents or primary carers. Therapists typically support parents by providing speech and language therapy sessions. The primary goal of these sessions are; to teach the parents techniques to promote the children’s communication skills, identify communication opportunities, and adopt and adapt learned communication strategies in their everyday interactions with the children in their natural environment. While parent-delivered therapies can alleviate the demand on therapists and healthcare services by reducing the amount of professional contact time, they can also create an overwhelming burden on parents. This thesis is an in-depth exploration of early speech therapy programs and identifies the values and support needs that can used to understand the parents’ and therapists’ experiences as well as identify indictors to improve therapy adoption in this context. Additionally, this research investigates the role of coaching technology in improving communication and collaboration between parents. New parent-driven coaching technologies to support reflections on home practices and address the challenges of home therapy delivery is also presented. A case study approach is undertaken to explore this area with two different clinical partners and therapy protocols. Each study commences with a contextual investigation and moves toward co-design and evaluation of digital solutions with therapists and parents. The first case study, eSALT, presents the design of KeepCam, a parent-led selective data capture and sharing tool to support parents of children with cerebral palsy. The second case study presents the design of ePACT, a self-reflection tool to support parents of children with autism. This thesis reports on how mobile video coaching tools can be used as an external drive for continuous engagement with therapy programs and facilitate social support. It also identifies opportunities for technology to play important roles in supporting early therapy programs. The thesis draws upon these case studies to inform the design of a responsive model of support for indirect therapies, through which the role of design and power relations in healthcare are explored.

This thesis examines the profiles of difficulty seen in three groups of impaired children (10 – 15 years), those with language only impairment (DLD), literacy only impairment (dyslexia) and comorbid literacy and language impairment (D-DLD). The aim of the project is to establish whether or not distinct profiles of difficulty can differentiate between groups. Performance of the impaired groups was compared to both a chronological age matched group (CAs) and younger literacy and language ability level groups. Performance was assessed for literacy, language, phonology, processing, short-term memory, working memory, executive function, attention and central executive measures over two time points. The three groups showed qualitatively different profiles of impairment. They did however share an overlap in certain difficulties which may explain their high rates of comorbidity. The DLD group showed mild difficulty in spelling, phonological awareness and severe difficulty in language but were unimpaired in executive function, processing speed and short-term memory. The dyslexic group showed difficulty in word level literacy, phonology and verbal short-term memory. The D-DLD group showed difficulty in word level and text level literacy, phonology, language, executive function and verbal short-term memory. This is the first project to include DLD, dyslexic, D-DLD, age-matched and ability matched groups simultaneously. It is also the first project to compare these different groups simultaneously over an extensive battery of working memory measures. It reveals distinct patterns of difficulty, in each of the impaired groups, that has implications for models previously conceptualising the overlap between the disorders. It also has implication for intervention in the classroom based on the strengths and weaknesses revealed for each group. Objectives: To establish the patterns of impairment in each of my groups, and to suggest implications for current conceptualisations of overlap, and methods of classroom intervention.

In this anthropological study of deaf children and youth’s relationships with adults that are familiar to them, the multiple identities they agree or refuse to take on as they move between various places and communities are discussed. Centring on an ethnographic sample of hearing mothers of deaf children as well as deaf children and youth attending mainstream schools with deaf provision and their specialist staff, the study highlights the very different ways in which deaf children and youth are included in and excluded from opportunities for participation, and ultimately, learning. Explored through notions such as co-presence, collaboration, community, participation, boundaries, and communicative repertoire, the study captures everyday processes in which deafness is perceived and constructed socially as they are played out within broader ideological contexts such as language planning and deaf education.

Introduction and Aim: This is a qualitative study which explores how speech and language therapists (SLTs) make decisions. The purpose is to investigate the factors which influence SLTs' decision-making processes when they engage with children with developmental language disorder (DLD). There is a lack of research and evidence about how SLTs come to a decision to administer a particular therapy session. SLTs' therapy practices might vary for similar cases and such diverse practices might stem from SLTs' clinical reasoning processes. Methodology: This research was based on an interpretivist paradigm. In accordance with a qualitative case-study approach, multiple data generation methods were used in order to gain an in-depth understanding of SLTs' decision-making processes from various perspectives. An inductive data-driven approach was employed to analyse the data generated from sixteen Turkish SLTs. Results: The findings of this study suggest that there are three main steps by which Turkish SLTs' decisions are formed. The first step is the evaluation of cases. The SLTs' decisions relied on formal evaluation methods such as formal tests and clinical guidelines, and informal evaluations such as the SLT's informal observations, self-made tests, beliefs and intuition. The second decision step which affects the flow of the therapy is whether to administer a child-centred or a therapist-driven approach. The SLTs' past experiences, beliefs, research evidence of which they were aware, and cases with which they had engaged were found to influence the way in which they designed the therapy. The third and final decision step is whether to involve parents in the therapy. It was found that the SLTs' decisions were affected by the presence and attitudes of parents. Although the SLTs' past practices and their evidence-based knowledge affected their approach to parents, the level of motivation and the willingness of parents did have a significant effect on the SLT's intervention decisions. The findings of this study resonate with the cognitive continuum theory (CCT). This suggests that professionals' reasoning is of a dynamic nature and continually changes on a continuum, rather than a static process which is completely, for instance, intuitive or analytical. These findings underline that the SLTs' decision-making process drifted within this continuum according to various factors, such as the use of formal/informal resources, parents' motivation, and SLTs' past experience or beliefs. It is recommended that in order to enhance the quality of therapy, SLTs' awareness should be increased by studying the advantages and disadvantages of the steps within the cognitive continuum theory which is formed in this thesis.

A Mixed Method Study Focusing on Adult Dyslexic Higher Education Students and their Experiences with Anxiety and Coping. Background Adult students with dyslexia can apply for support for their cognitive needs but may also experience anxiety, which less is understood. This thesis aims to test the hypothesis that adult dyslexic learners in higher education (HE) have a higher prevalence of academic and social anxiety than their non-dyslexic peers and will explore the wider emotional consequences of studying with dyslexia and the ways in which adults with dyslexia cope both cognitively and emotionally. Methods The study utilised a mixed method approach and was in two stages. Stage one involved a survey of HE students with dyslexia (N = 102) and without identified dyslexia (N = 72). Students completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory measuring academic and social anxiety. Stage two used an exploratory approach to investigate emotional consequences of studying with dyslexia and types of coping strategies used through the method of semi-structured interviews with 20 dyslexic students. Results The results for stage one revealed a statistically significant effect for academic anxiety, but not for social anxiety. The main findings for stage two showed that: (1) Students' emotional consequences of studying with dyslexia were characterised by a mixture of negative and positive emotional responses, yet negative responses were more frequently used in response to questions about academic tasks than positive responses; (2) Participants had a lot less to say with regards to coping emotionally, than coping cognitively. However, coping emotionally identified a mixture of coping methods including avoidance; through to participating in exercise; and developing mental resilience. Conclusions Dyslexic students in higher education show anxiety levels that are well above what is shown by students without learning difficulties. The implications of this for practice and for the dyslexia practitioner is that the delivery of strategies to deal with the negative emotional consequences of studying with dyslexia and ways of overcoming avoidance on academic tasks should be seen as just as important, if not more so, than the teaching of interventions to deal with cognitive difficulties associated with dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can have a long-term impact on the academic attainment and psychosocial development of pupils. The present study involved foregrounding the pupil voice regarding their views, experiences and aspirations as learners with dyslexia. This is in line with the current interest in legislature, educational research and the Educational Psychology (EP) profession to listen to the views of pupils as the evidence base suggests that the insights gained from ascertaining pupils' views can help adults working with them to develop a better understanding of their needs and promote better outcomes for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mainstream secondary pupils with dyslexia from two different legislative and social-cultural contexts, that is, a London borough and Singapore. The interviews covered the pupils' perceptions of dyslexia, and their experiences and aspirations. The views of their parents and of educational professionals working with secondary pupils with dyslexia were also included to provide a holistic perspective. Analysis of the qualitative data was conducted using thematic analysis. The key findings from the study showed that most pupils had high aspirations, were aware of their strengths and difficulties as learners, gained confidence and made friends from their involvement in clubs and activities and valued the support of their family and friends. The study also found that pupils from the London borough and Singapore had differing perceptions about their strengths as learners and the impact of dyslexia on their aspirations. There was a consensus amongst parents and educational professionals regarding the importance of supporting pupils' self-esteem and confidence as learners, and the need to guide their post-secondary aspirations. The implications for EP practice and recommendations for future research are considered.

This thesis seeks to link the theory of assessment with the practice of dyslexia specialists in the UK. The studies outline the development of an alternative approach to the assessment of spelling in children with dyslexia that incorporates a dynamic assessment approach. The thesis presents four studies that build on each other to provide evidence for a Dynamic Assessment (DA) in the curriculum domain of spelling. The first study reports on the current assessment practices of 299 dyslexia specialists in the UK, identifying that while conventional static testing provides a measure of spelling accuracy compared to same-aged peers, further information is needed to inform intervention/support. As a foundation for an interactive (dynamic) assessment approach, Study Two builds on research by Critten et al. (2007) and Rittle-Johnson and Siegler (1999) to determine whether children with dyslexia are able to explain their spelling choices in a similar way as same-age and spelling-age matched groups (66 children aged between 6;3 and 9;9) and to investigate the spelling strategies they use. Study Three outlines the development of a Dynamic Assessment of Spelling (DASp) using the theoretical framework of Lidz (2014) for curriculum-based DA. The assessment developed for this thesis utilised a teach-train-teach format incorporating a graduated prompt procedure at post-test. Fifty children with dyslexia between the ages of 8 years and 9 years 11 months participated in this study. Information collected from the DASp procedure allowed the assessor to develop spelling profiles that revealed differences in the children's spelling abilities even when they achieved similar spelling scores on a static spelling task. Finally, Study Four reports the outcome of a pilot study with 6 qualified dyslexia specialists who used the DASp to develop an intervention programme for 12 children (mean age 8;8). All of the specialists reported improved outcomes for the children in the study and overall evaluations were positive. Implications for practice, limitations of the studies, and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

In this thesis, semantic and phonological fluency tasks were used to investigate the lexicon in sixty-six children with dyslexia and/or DLD (hereafter DDLD group) aged 7-12 years and in 83 typically-developing (TD) children aged 6-12 years, all monolingual Greek speakers. In semantic and phonological fluency tasks, responses are often produced in clusters of semantically- or phonologically-related items, respectively (e.g. "cat-dog" is a semantic cluster; "flag-flower" is a phonological cluster). Once the retrieval of items within a cluster slows down, children tend to switch to another cluster. In both groups, productivity in semantic and phonological fluency tasks correlated strongly with the number of clusters and the number of switches, but not with average cluster size. Regression analyses showed that the DDLD group retrieved significantly fewer correct items in semantic and phonological fluency tasks compared to the TD group, but average semantic and phonological cluster size did not differ significantly in the two groups. Furthermore, the two groups did not differ significantly on the number of correct designs generated in the design fluency task. Poorer semantic fluency performance in children with DDLD is attributed to slower retrieval processes while children's semantic structure is intact, as proposed by the Slow-Retrieval Model. Consistent with the Deficient Phonological Access Hypothesis, children with DDLD showed impaired explicit access but intact implicit access to phonological representations. For both verbal fluency categories, slower retrieval processes originating from deficient access to intact semantic and phonological representations, and also inferior language and literacy skills, explain poorer verbal fluency performance in children with dyslexia and/or DLD. The specificity of DDLD children's verbal fluency deficit is supported by evidence showing that children with DDLD showed poorer semantic and phonological fluency performance relative to their TD peers even after design fluency performance was controlled. The underlying causes of slow lexical retrieval still need further investigation.

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) affects the development of phonological, semantic, morphological and syntactic aspects of language, putting children with DLD at risk of spelling difficulties. Despite a growing literature on the literacy outcomes of children with DLD, spelling difficulties in children with DLD and their underlying mechanisms are still under-researched. Furthermore, research in this population has largely focused on word-level spelling skills, on English spelling and on children who are in the early stages of learning to spell. In the present study, the spelling skills of 17 English children with DLD in grades 3-6 were compared to those of 17 children matched on chronological age (CA), and 17 children matched on spelling ability (SA). Likewise, 17 French children with DLD in grades 3-5 were compared to 17 CA and SA peers. The two language groups were also compared overall. Spelling was measured using a task of word dictation and a task of text production. The spelling errors and strategies of children with DLD were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively to identify potential markers of languages difficulties in their spelling. Another aim of the study was to characterise the skills underpinning spelling in these two languages. This was assessed using correlation and regression analyses between spelling skills and proximal measures, within and across languages. Results point to differences in the rate and type of errors across languages and ability groups. Strategy analysis further supported the hypothesis of differentiated spelling strategies in French and English and ascertained that children with DLD have difficulties using more elaborate and efficient spelling strategies. Predictor analysis revealed that underlying processes may be similar across languages, despite differences in the linguistic units being processed. The results are discussed with regards to current theories of spelling development and spelling markers of DLD across languages in late primary school.

Conductive Education (CE), a psycho-pedagogic approach to working with individuals with neuromotor disorders (Sutton,2002), is practised in Statutory and Third Sector health and education provisions within the UK. This fact alone raises the need to explore the role and professional accountability of the conductor as the professional delivering this programme of education. Whilst there is a Professional Body (Professional Conductors Association) (PCA) and a requirement for validated Continuing Professional Development (CPD), there is no benchmark for expertise, or identification of the characteristics, skills and knowledge associated with it. This thesis as an exploratory study of conductors' perceptions of expertise is the first of its kind to be undertaken with conductors working in the UK. CE, underpinned by both constructivist and constructionist methodologies (Grundtvig, 2012), fits well with Personal Construct Theory (PCT), the chosen methodology for this study. This study is undertaken in two main phases. In the first, Repertory Grid Technique (RGT), as a research method associated with PCT (Hagans, Neimeyer, Goodholm, 2000), is used to interview 20 Conductors working in the UK. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to construct a quantitative analysis of individual grid findings, a process that serves to underpin subsequent thematic analysis. An iterative process of thematic analysis, influenced by Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2006), facilitates synthesis of the conductors' perceptions of expertise. Expertise is perceived by the conductors to be holistic in nature and comprised of belief, personality, knowledge and skill. With reference to the pragmatist underpinnings of Positive Psychology, (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), items generated in phase one are subsequently used to construct a 92-point questionnaire. This questionnaire as a self-reflective measurement tool serves to complete the aims of this study. This exploratory study broadly fulfils its aims and addresses expressed need for greater accountability, academic justification of practice, desire for professional development and pragmatism within CE (Kozma, 1995). Weaknesses are identified, however the findings of this study serve to raise awareness of expertise, impact practice and conductor training.

Background - Speech or Language Impairment (SLI) is highly prevalent in the preschool years. 5-12% of children aged 2-5 years have an identified SLI. Considering the pivotal role of Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and Early Childhood Special Educators (ECSE) in diagnostic and interventions procedures, having confidence and a clear understanding how to support young children with SLI is of critical importance. Aims – The present study examines the confidence and knowledge of early childhood professionals by exploring what role these providers play in supporting children with SLI, and how they perceive their pre- and post - training experiences. Design and Method- A mixed methods two-phase design was used. Quantitative data was collected during the first phase using online questionnaires (n=22). In the second phase, qualitative data was obtained through semi-structured interviews (n=9). Results- Many children on ECSEs and SLPs caseloads receive service for both Developmental Delays (DD) and SLI. In general, ECSEs receive little to no training in SLI, during their pre-service programs and SLPs receive little to no training in early childhood DD during their pre-service program. SLPs and ECSEs are offered post-qualification trainings from various sources, covering various topics, suggesting a need for targeted professional development programs. The number of Pre- and Post- training hours did not have an impact on early childhood professional’s knowledge in relation to the case studies provided within the present study. Conclusion- Early Childhood professionals consistently report feeling more confident in supporting young children with SLI or DD when opportunities to collaborate with members of the special education team are made available. SLPs and ECSEs agree that their most effective post-qualification training is time spent collaborating with one another. The results of this study encouraged efforts of collaboration to be viewed as a networking model inspired by the foundations of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. Using this model guides further professional development for Early Childhood professionals by exploring how multiple microsystems work together and achieve highly effective teaching and intervening for a young child’s development, whilst including collaboration among professionals.

This thesis reports on a study carried out in Malaysia, my home country. The Malaysian government supports the inclusion of children with disabilities in education in line with United Nations initiatives, however the main focus so far has been on children with physical and learning disabilities. This study focuses on the inclusion of deaf children, where improved access to hearing aids, including cochlear implants, has led to more deaf children developing spoken language and being included in mainstream classrooms. Little is known in low and middle-income countries about the status and development of inclusive education in primary schools for deaf children, their parents and the education stakeholders involved. The Malaysian context provides a particularly interesting case study because of the rapid increase in the availability of technology which is enabling the inclusion of larger numbers of deaf children in mainstream schools.

Physically disabled children and young people (PDC&YP) face many challenges when participating in out-of-school activities. PDC&YP should have the same choices and opportunities as other C&YP; to forge friendships locally and to access out-of-school activities (Knight et al., 2013). However PDC&YP have fewer opportunities than their non-disabled peers due to challenges such as access, support and suitable provision. This multi-method qualitative study examined the factors affecting participation of PDC&YP in out-of-school activities in Cheshire. The perspectives of PDC&YP, parents and service providers who plan and run mainstream activities were sought using a range of data collection tools. This included interviews, focus groups and creative focus groups with 63 participants across two studies. Study one included the service users: 13 PDC&YP and 19 parents, whilst study two comprised of service providers: 11 activity planners and 20 volunteers. Play-based creative focus groups were specifically designed for PDC&YP aged 7 to 17 years. Study one demonstrated that PDC&YP enjoy specialist disabled activities to meet others 'like them' but want more local opportunities to do this. Some PDC&YP and parents felt they were not disabled enough for 'disabled' activities but not able enough for mainstream. PDC&YP requiring personal care were a 'hidden' group who are certainly at risk of missing out on experiences that they are entitled to. This group of PDC&YP across the UK need significant attention as the picture in Cheshire gives only a snapshot of the possible limited provision nationwide. Findings from study two highlighted that service providers had a mix of experiences but most lacked disability awareness but wanted and needed training. Collectively the two studies show that independence, health benefits and role models are facilitators in to out-of-school activities but there are still several challenges to overcome such as access, communication issues and a mismatch of expectations. The study concludes by presenting the need to improve provision in Cheshire through disability awareness training and a co-ordinated partnership approach to be employed by the local authority to raise the profile of disability and 'bridge the gap' between service users and service providers.

In the current academic climate, the concept of dyslexia is being increasingly questioned. This thesis aims to contribute to this debate by focusing on the dyslexia label, how it is acquired and the real impact it can have on both the individual and those around them. It examines the various factors that may be involved in influencing a dyslexic individual by looking, not only at the individual, but also at the environment in which they are situated. Thus, the term 'dyslexic system' is defined to describe how the individual and their environment interact. The research involved the use of two datasets. Firstly, the Millennium Cohort Study was used to examine what socio-demographic and individual level factors influenced whether the cohort member had a diagnosis of dyslexia at ages 7, 11 and 14 in England and in Wales. Using this information, the impact of the dyslexia label on academic self-concept was then investigated. Secondly, primary survey data from teachers in England and Wales was used to investigate how teachers understood dyslexia. Logistic regression analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study showed that both individual and social demographic factors impacted whether a cohort member had been labelled with dyslexia. Sex, social class, parents' education, income, having an older sibling and age in year group were all significant predictors of dyslexia at varying ages. Furthermore, when dyslexic and non-dyslexic cohort members were matched on these characteristics using propensity score matching, those labelled with dyslexia had a lower academic self-concept than those without this label. Teachers and parents also held lower aspirations for children labelled with dyslexia, despite the groups being matched on ability. Results from the teacher survey showed that the majority of teachers surveyed did not show an understanding of the biological and cognitive aspects of dyslexia which have been found to be important for effective intervention. Furthermore, teachers reported poor teacher training on dyslexia. Factors seemingly unrelated to dyslexia influence whether a child is labelled as dyslexic in England and Wales. This suggests that that the label is not evenly distributed across the population and indicates that resources for support may not be being fairly allocated. Furthermore, the dyslexia label also negatively impacts the child's academic outlook and evokes a stereotypical understanding in teachers. These findings highlight the importance of looking at dyslexia as a system. The results foreground the need for change in the current system.

Background: Children with special educational needs (SpEN) are more likely to have a serious vision problem compared to their typically developing peers. Studies have identified the difficulties that this group of children have in accessing regular eyecare. It has also been reported that the visual limitations of children with SpEN are not being effectively communicated to key stakeholders involved in their care and education. Aims: The overall aim was to determine whether implementation of a comprehensive in-school eyecare service model, designed by professional bodies and charities in the UK, results in measurable benefits in terms of visual status and how well visual needs are recognised and addressed by parents and education providers. A secondary aim was to determine the current in-school eyecare provision available to children attending special schools in Northern Ireland. Methods: A four phase quasi-experimental mixed methods design was adopted. The first phase examined the extent of in-school vision services available to children attending 36 special schools in Northern Ireland. The second phase tested the feasibility of research protocol,recruitment strategies and instruments used for data collection. The third experimental phase assessed visual function and determined parental and teacher knowledge of visual limitations for 200 children at baseline. Measures were re-evaluated 2-5 months after the comprehensive in-school eyecare model had been implemented. The fourth phase examined the Statements of Educational Need (SEN) for information and support on how to manage visual limitations in an educational setting for children who were identified as having a visual deficit at baseline. SEN were reviewed 12 months later to determine if there had been any amendments following recommendations included in written reports issued to parents and teachers at baseline. Results: Inequalities were identified in the in-school vision services available to special schools in Northern Ireland. The extent to which eye health and visual status are investigated and outcomes communicated to stakeholders also varied vastly between and within Health and Social Care Trusts. Overall unmet visual need significantly reduced and visual status improved following the implementation of the comprehensive in-school eyecare model. However, a third of unmet need remained and was predominantly attributed to non-compliance of spectacle wear. In addition, all SEN remained unchanged despite recommendations for the inclusion of strategies to account for visual limitations. Conclusions: This study has, for the first time, demonstrated measurable visual benefits to children in special education settings when they receive comprehensive in-school eyecare. However, further directions for policy and research are suggested for implementing the in-school eyecare framework at an organisational level.

Overwhelming evidence indicates the unsatisfactory English literacy attainment of Deaf learners around the world, and this issue is especially pertinent in countries with few dedicated resources such as India. The interaction approach in Second Language Acquisition and the participatory approach for adults' literacy attainment urge practitioners to increase learners' interaction and participation as well as to place learners at the centre of learning. The increasing use of technologies in India and the shift from the Web 1.0 era to the Web 2.0 era in the global context afford new opportunities for Deaf learners. Using a developmental perspective, this study investigates the primary outcomes of an innovative project, an e-learning platform entitled "Sign Language to English by the Deaf" (abbreviated as SLEND) and its context of delivery, attuned to Deaf young adult learners' English literacy attainment in India. The study uncovers how an e-learning ecosystem in a low-resource context is conceptualised and constructed to foster interaction and participation, by looking into the design concept, learner experience and learning outcomes of the SLEND. A thematic analysis is used to discover factors that emerged as the key characteristics of the SLEND and its context. These key characteristics and their sub-characteristics fall into three main components of an e-learning ecosystem: stakeholders, pedagogy 2.0 and Web 2.0 technology. Positive overall learner experience highlights the significance of the key characteristics of the SLEND and its context including catalysing power of real life English, comfortable and confident experience of using Indian Sign Language, peer-to-peer interaction and Web 2.0 social tool. Unsure learner experience indicates several areas ripe for further development, including SLEND access, multimedia materials and emergent syllabus mapped to the CEFR. Prompt responsive actions are taken such as using short in-class videos with English subtitles to facilitate learners' understanding, dispersion of diversified topics with sufficient opportunities for output, and provision of instant support to Deaf learners for understanding Indian Sign Language varieties. It is revealed that learners' English literacy improves after the intervention, and long-term retention of learning testifies to the efficiency of the SLEND and its context of delivery. Further examination of differences in outcomes between the five learning centres used in the project suggests the professionalism of peer tutors and the provision of a relatively supportive technological environment. The findings emerging from each sub research question stimulate and inform the evolution of the SLEND, and ultimately forge a guiding framework for an interactive and participatory e-learning ecosystem for Deaf young adult learners' English literacy attainment in India. Some key characteristics of this e-learning ecosystem enable comprehensible input, interaction and output fundamental to language acquisition, while some facilitate a learner-centric approach in favour of learner participation and learning for a social change. Characteristics such as peer-to-peer interaction and learner content creation are indispensable for amplifying collective intelligence and crowdsourcing in low-resource contexts.

This study aims to explore how peer tutoring (PT) is perceived and practiced within the religious-cultural context of Saudi Arabia and to examine the perceptions of teachers, students and supervisors regarding the efficacy of PT in supporting the learning experiences of students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD). It also seeks to understand how factors such as physical environment, resources, planning, training provision, supervision and collaboration between professionals can facilitate or hinder the development and even implementation of PT. Perspectives and practices on PT in Saudi Arabia were explored in the context of six inclusive middle schools, focusing on students that had been assessed as having SpLD. This study adopted a qualitative case study approach, conducting data collection via semi-structured interviews, semi-structured observations and document analysis. The findings were analysed through an activity theory (AT) perspective, specific components of which informed the examination of the activity system of PT within the field of special and inclusive education, as well as the perceptions of special needs education supervisors and teachers, and of students with and without SpLD, regarding this classroom methodology. The findings illustrated that the theory and practice of PT in Saudi Arabia were primarily shaped by important cultural traditions and Islamic principles, especially those that pertain to the notions of normality and weaknesses. Saudi SEN teachers had predominantly adopted a unidirectional approach to PT, based upon asymmetric relationships between students, in which peer tutors functioned as ‘transmitters of knowledge’. Despite the benefits that PT offered to SpLD students, optimising the implementation of PT requires several major obstacles to be tackled. These include the need for more effective planning, clear written guidelines to outline the expectations of peer tutors, a more structured and consistent approach among schools, and the design of a system that fosters better collaboration between mainstream teachers, SEN teachers and SEN supervisors.

Despite many decades of educational efforts worldwide, Deaf people often do not develop spoken and written language satisfactorily. Now, harnessing the language that Deaf family members naturally develop promises progress in both sign language and community language literacy. Sign bilingual education (SBE) has developed in several countries but has not been applied formally in Saudi schools for Deaf pupils. This exploratory, sequential, mixed‐methods study introduced SBE, applying the preview-view-review (PVR) strategy as a bilingual approach for literacy in a Saudi school for Deaf girls. Five hearing teachers, two Deaf assistants and 17 Deaf pupils participated. Data were collected via a newly developed Arabic Reading Measure for Deaf pupils (ARMD), semistructured interviews, observations, documents and personal records. The first phase of the study was an ethnographic evaluation of teaching strategies for Deaf pupils and their reading levels, to identify the hearing teachers‘ level of sign language and to observe interaction in the school. The second phase was quasi-experimental, applying PVR to pupils‘ reading strategies and performance. This required the development of a new reading test in Arabic for Deaf pupils. The third phase examined how SBE could be applied in Saudi Deaf education and elicited teachers‘ and assistants‘ views of its application. Following the 30-week intervention, reading performance improved, but several factors were found to limit this improvement. Among themes raised by teachers were compartmentalised application of SBE and low expectations of pupils‘ performance. Deaf assistants recognised the importance of improved professionalism and commented on the competence of teachers, by whom they felt exploited. Classroom observation revealed the ineffectiveness of teachers‘ mixing of vernacular and formal Arabic. The findings suggest that Saudi Deaf education should more systematically apply methods supported by effective measurement of pupil performance. This study adds to knowledge of hearing teachers‘ relationships with Deaf people in schools and has policy implications.

This study investigates ways in which assistive learning technologies shape the learning experiences of university students diagnosed with dyslexia. The research investigates the experiences of students from various backgrounds, studying different subjects, within numerous contexts at two institutions (a modern and traditional university). The study closely examines how these students use assistive learning technologies to support their studies as well as the wider influential strategies used in different institutional environments. The research took an in-depth qualitative approach to examining academic and disability coordinators views and practices and students' experiences through semi-structured interviews. In addition to the interviews, students were asked to record their daily use of technologies and to talk through their processes of using assistive learning technologies when completing an assignment. The research involved 10 university staff and 41 dyslexic undergraduate and postgraduate students. The findings of the research showed that the majority of students, once they had developed confidence in the use of assistive learning technologies, were able to use them in order to enhance and adapt their learning to create a personalised and accessible university experience. The findings also indicated that students' backgrounds, such as school and family, can influence their adoption of assistive learning technologies and coping strategies, but are also governed by their inner-capacity of being motivated and determined to succeed. The role of the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) and the university were instrumental in providing support and provisions that included funding for a diagnosis, face-to-face tuition and assistive learning technologies. Additionally, students regular contact time with tutors was identified as being beneficial in both accommodating their needs and providing extra support. With the integration of assistive learning technologies, the findings identified that students less experienced in the writing process and with a greater cognitive weakness followed a more structured scaffold approach. Finally, through the adoption of multi-modal methods of enablement and engagement with assistive learning technologies, students were able to reduce working memory stress and increase their independence of learning.

Although research studies are plentiful regarding the cognitive aspects of children’s and young people’s reading difficulties, surprisingly few consider the emotional or relational impact of those difficulties. Those which do rarely invite young people to share their experiences of struggling to master this fundamental life skill. This exploratory, qualitative study used a psychosocial methodology to explore the reading experiences of young people who find reading difficult. A psychosocial ontology and epistemology gave equal consideration to the meaning constructed through participants’ social interactions and the unconscious psychological processes at work for participant and researcher, and facilitated an understanding of the emotional experience of each participant. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two 12-year-old boys (UK school year 8) with persistent reading difficulties, using Free Association Narrative Interview (FANI) techniques. Each boy was interviewed twice, creating his own narrative in response to initial questions or prompts. The boys were also observed twice in a typical English lesson, using principles of infant observation. A reflective research diary was used to record the researcher’s personal responses to all aspects of the research. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Reflective process notes from each observation provided an additional perspective on each boy’s experiences. Psychosocial research supervision enabled a reflexive stance to be maintained, holding in mind the ‘whole’ person, acknowledging the researcher as psychologically defended, and considering the relevance and appropriateness of themes as they emerged. Semantic and latent themes specific to each participant were identified. Although the aim was not to generalise between the boys’ experiences, similarities were found within the following areas: ‘(un)helpful helping’, ‘believed and understood?’, ‘lazy, dumb and stupid’, and ‘smarter sisters’. The findings provide a rich account of participants’ experiences as ‘struggling readers’. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed, together with implications for teaching and Educational Psychology practice.

This thesis aims to: investigate the motivations of why many individuals with developmental dyslexia are successful despite experiencing traumatic schooling. It details seven studies that investigate the emotional coping amongst individuals with developmental dyslexia, investigating successful post-school careers as ‘post-traumatic growth’, an outcome from school-based trauma. The first two studies with school-aged dyslexics were quantitative and whilst helpful in understanding different coping strategies utilised, it was perceived to lack depth in understanding the emotional side of the dyslexia experience, and any long-term emotional ramifications from school-based trauma. A third study sought to understand the discrimination, stigma, and the dangers of self-disclosure of dyslexia, experienced by adult dyslexics. Two investigations of self-harm and possible post-traumatic stress disorder followed to better understand how adults with dyslexia emotional cope with learned helplessness experienced at school. Lastly, two studies investigating post-school workplace success, firstly to understand concepts of ‘success’ amongst adults with dyslexia, and secondly to understand how school-based trauma could be used positively. This thesis offers original contributions to literature through the use of standardised measures to measure emotional coping in school-aged dyslexic samples (especially depression); comparing the sources and manifestations of stress between school-aged dyslexics and their siblings; the types of self-harm used by dyslexic adults and where the source of their helplessness/depression begun; and how the concept of ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ could be correlated to the reactions that many dyslexic adults experience now as parents returning to school. Original contributions were also made regarding adult dyslexics in regard to self-perceptions of success and understanding the role that school plays in motivating them to post-school success in the workplace, argued to be a form of ‘post-traumatic growth’. Lastly, the author proposes the use of ‘bi-abilities’ to better understand the experience of dyslexia, rejecting both the medical and social models of disability, as dyslexics reject a disability identity.

Whilst there has been research that has examined the experiences of disabled students in higher education, to date none has examined the experience of being visually impaired -and- being a visually impaired student. By utilising a Critical Disability Studies (CDS) approach I consider how visually impaired students experience non-normative and ableist discourses within their life as a student as well as in their day to day lives beyond university. In doing so I show that for visually impaired students, higher education is a complex arena where there are allusions to participation and transformation, yet the sector often reinforces oppressive and disabling notions. The disabling attitudes and actions, regarding visual impairment, these students experience are culturally and historically rooted in concepts heavily loaded with tragedy, pity and fear. Using a critical Grounded Theory approach (Charmaz, 2014) I examine the experiences of a sample of participants drawn from an informal network and as told within loose semi structured interviews in which participants talked about their experiences as a student and their experiences as a visually impaired person, more generally, contextualising their university experience within it. Participants' accounts highlight the complex systems within education that they are required to negotiate as a disabled student and, critically, they emphasise the many and complex interactions experienced in their daily lives. At the intersections of these two sets of experiences are often ableist assertions about visual impairment and visually impaired people, and the interviews show the importance of questioning normative discourses about visual impairment. I argue that despite many attempts to challenge disabling discourses these remain prevalent in contemporary HE and that taking an intersectional, CDS approach can reconceptualise being a visually impaired student as an autonomous and non-tragic identity, which in turn promotes a participatory and transformative higher education experience.

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare condition of early childhood characterised by a lack of speech in certain social situations where it is expected (usually at school). SM shares many characteristics with social anxiety and is associated with a range of academic and social impairments. Several reviews have explored the literature to identify which treatment modality for SM is most effective. These reviews have not considered what factors might moderate outcomes but recent frameworks suggest that informant discrepancies in report measures might potentially moderate the perceived success of an intervention. The present study reviewed 11 studies to explore differences between the perceptions of change in a child's behaviour as reported by parents versus teachers following psychosocial interventions for SM. In the reviewed studies, parents and teachers were asked to independently rate outcomes relating to speech and/or a child's affective state. Patterns in informant discrepancy varied with speech outcomes showing greater informant correspondence than affective outcomes. Implications from these findings include the recommendation that teachers are well positioned to monitor the outcomes of SM interventions and that intervention should be designed to target affective outcomes in addition to speech. Despite the implication that teachers have a significant role to play in intervention relatively little is known about how this group's perceptions of SM impact on the support pupils receive. In order to address this the empirical paper used qualitative, grounded theory methods to construct an explanatory theory to represent primary school teachers' experiences of working with pupils with SM. Eleven participants (3 male) were interviewed following a semi-structured interview approach. Transcripts of each interview were analysed using a social constructionist approach to grounded theory. The theory captured five core categories which linked together to show the key aspects of the participants' experiences. 1) Categorisation: Teachers' beliefs about SM caused them to place the behaviour into specific categories of understanding. 2) Teacher as a Scientific Enquirer: Teachers engaged in a process of enquiry, generating hypotheses and testing them to better understand the pupil. 3) Supporting Pupils: These two processes impacted on the type of support teachers put in place. 4) Measuring and Monitoring: captured the impact of monitoring pupil progress and the teachers' desired outcomes. 5) Responding Emotionally: These interlinked processes produced an emotional response in the teacher. Participants' experiences of the five core categories were influenced by four contextual factors including 1) the Pupil's Profile, 2) their Peer Relationship, 3) the teachers' Staff Relationships and 4) the Staff Self-Identity. The findings suggested that the teacher's categorisation of SM influenced the support they put in place for pupils. Categorisation can be altered through the process of Scientific Enquiry. Teachers need access to accurate information about SM in order to develop their categorisations and improve their support strategies. Educational Psychologists are well-placed to provide support with this.

There is a body of evidence to suggest a robust link between phonological processing and the development of reading ability in young readers, and skilled adult readers typically process the speech sounds of words to support lexical identification during silent reading. By contrast, readers with dyslexia have demonstrated impaired performance across a variety of tasks designed to assess phonological processing, and the phonological deficits hypothesis is a widely accepted account of the reading difficulties associated with dyslexia. Despite this, little is known about how young readers with dyslexia cognitively process the speech sounds of words during silent reading, nor how this ability develops in readers either with or without dyslexia. The aim of the present research was to investigate the extent to which readers with dyslexia process the phonological characteristics of words and nonwords during silent reading. Using four participant groups to make chronological age-matched and reading level-matched comparisons, participants' eye movements were recorded as they silent read sentences in which a target word's phonology and orthography was manipulated. In Experiment One foveal processing of phonology was investigated, with parafoveal processing of phonology investigated in Experiment Two. Across both experiments there was no evidence to suggest differential processing of phonology in readers with dyslexia, despite the robust link between dyslexia and phonological processing deficits. There was, however, some evidence to suggest that readers with dyslexia may be more reliant on orthographic processing than typically developing readers. Whilst the sample of readers with dyslexia studied here did demonstrate impairment in some phonological processing tasks, their ability to process phonology during silent reading did not differ from their typically developing peers.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education in Jordanian ‘ordinary’ schools. The first phase of the project reports questionnaire data from 367 teachers. Attitudes are examined in terms of three components: their beliefs and knowledge, feelings and behaviour. The results of the questionnaire revealed that ordinary teachers in Jordan hold relatively neutral views towards inclusive education. Several variables are found which relate to teachers’ attitudes; including training, experience of inclusive education and the type of disability. The qualitative phase of the project involves a series of semi-structured interviews with nineteen teachers to explore their understanding, concerns and suggestions for improvement, regarding inclusive education. Findings suggest that although teachers are not against inclusion per se, they express concerns about implementation. Most teachers perceive they are unprepared and appear to need to be told ‘how to be’ inclusive. A number of recommendations are made, these include: promoting a more positive attitude towards inclusion amongst the teaching profession, improving pre- and- in service training and support, and extending the role of resource rooms as provision for children with SEN.

This research presents the learning experiences of seven visually impaired physiotherapy students in Higher Education in the UK, using case study methodology to identify the perceived factors that create barriers and enable participation in learning to become a physiotherapist for these participants. Semi-structured interviews about university and practice based learning using the language of the ICF identified perceived environmental barriers and enablers such as support, relationships, attitudes, resources and technology that influenced activity and participation in both university and practice based learning. Individual factors and personal and professional values also influenced both aspects of learning. The findings from university learning were shared with academic physiotherapy staff across the UK confirming awareness of the factors that created barriers and enablers in learning. Despite the existence of barriers, and a clear shared and necessary desire by academic and practice educators to work collaboratively to enable inclusive learning in physiotherapy, there was a sense of inconsistency with professional values in the overall approach to education for these participants. Building on the ICF, and using Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory as a lens to explain the findings, this research contributes to the understanding of the experiences of visually impaired students in HE. However, there remains a challenge for physiotherapists in education and practice to consider, embrace and ensure that the professional values we hold underpin inclusive educational practices across physiotherapy education for visually impaired physiotherapy students who will become our future colleagues.

This thesis investigated the educational curriculum experienced by students with visual impairments in Turkey. The study made a distinction between the traditional academic curriculum and the concept of an 'Expanded Core Curriculum' (ECC) which includes a range of disability-specific areas (e.g. Mobility, Braille), and aimed to determine the balance of the curriculum experienced by individuals with visual impairments in Turkey. The study specifically examined the barriers to, and enablers for, an appropriate curriculum balance which would develop individuals' independence. The study made use of an exploratory inductive research approach implementing a cross-sectional research design. Mixed method measures were drawn upon to capture the views of twelve young adults with visual impairments and thirteen educators of children and young adults with visual impairments who had a wide range of schooling and teaching experiences across Turkey. The analysis revealed an emphasis on teaching the academic curriculum with relatively little attention given to ECC. As a consequence, it was found that individuals with visual impairments were not fully prepared to be independent and encountered a number of barriers including: remaining dependent on others; isolation; and psychological challenges in their everyday life. A number of barriers to the teaching of ECC were revealed, including: educational policy priorities in Turkey which give little or no remit to teaching a broader curriculum (teachers were fixed upon teaching the inflexible academic curriculum); little resource is given to specialist teaching support in mainstream schools; and specialist teacher training appears not to align to the educational context in which they work. Finally, the research identified other barriers to developing an individual's independence which are beyond the teaching of ECC, including inaccessible environments and equipment, and inadequate accommodations and adjustments.

The study was concerned with access to science and mathematics curricula by students with visual impairment (SVI) in South-Western Nigeria. The main study adopted an action research approach. Six initial stakeholder ‘search conferences’ were organised to understand the nature and extent of the problem. They revealed evidence of inadequate accessibility to science and mathematics education by SVI due to unavailable resources and personnel. This led to the development of teaching resources and approaches (‘STEM Kit’ and the use of ‘Talking LabQuest’) and the trialling of these approaches in two selected study schools. Data were collected through classroom observation and teacher and student interviews. Findings show that the approaches enabled access of SVI to science and mathematics at a comparable level with their sighted peers, which brought about immersion in, and engagement with learning. With the multisensory teaching resources, SVI and classroom sighted teachers learn and teach with reduced specialist teacher involvement. The intervention positively challenged local views and practice regarding curriculum access and SVI and offers examples for improved provision of relevant resources and training for staff to better support SVI independence and inclusion. This study showcases the uniqueness of action research in empowering all participants to bring about change.

This research explored what it means for disabled students to be included in mainstream private and governmental schools in Lebanon. It investigated the mainstream secondary school selection that students with vision impairment (SVI) and their parents follow; the experience of disabled students in mainstream education from the perspective of SVI and those around them; and the way inclusive education (IE) is applied and practised in schools that have SVI. After adopting Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model, qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied. One hundred and five semi-structured interviews involving 136 participants (SVI, their parents, peers, teachers, learning support teachers, headteachers, higher education tutors and individuals from governmental and non-governmental organisations) were conducted. Additionally, quantitative data from 85 teachers were gathered. Thematic and quantitative analyses were applied to the interview and questionnaire data. Three key themes emerged: lack of autonomous decision making by SVI and their parents; unpreparedness of mainstream schools for inclusion; approaches to inclusion. The findings indicated that whilst SVI and their parents seek mainstream provision, their school selection is largely influenced by the opinion of professionals. When an autonomous decision was made, it was connected to 'normalisation', whereby SVI were required to act in a way that was considered acceptable by society. Accessing information, undertrained teachers, poor knowledge of the principles of inclusion and the absence of a whole school approach to inclusion were major barriers to implementing IE in Lebanon. The various support approaches utilised for SVI at these mainstream schools demonstrated that no full inclusion has been reached. Instead, SVI have experienced educational facilitation and social integration rather than inclusion. The findings highlight that the inclusion practices of SVI, in place for over a decade, are a long way from delivering these in full. Proposals regarding enhancing IE practices are offered and the potential generalisability of the study are discussed.

The ability to independently dress is a fundamental skill for children. Vision is an integrative sense. Sight affords the opportunity for individuals to learn independence skills via observation. The absence of vision, or a reduced visual capacity, restricts access to this form of learning (Lewis & Iselin, 2002). As a result of this restricted access, children with visual impairment (VI) and conditions where VI is a component (e.g. Down syndrome (DS)) require systematic and structured support. This is to facilitate the development of independent dressing skills. There has been little research to date relating to strategies for successful dressing, or the effectiveness of such strategies in children (as most of the research has been based around the re-habilitation of adults: e.g. Klein, 1983). This thesis reports an observationally based pre-test, intervention, post-test study. It examines the effectiveness of novel intervention materials and systematic strategies to support independent dressing abilities in young children. The sample consisted of three groups of children. Namely, children with VI (n=9; age range: 5;06-10;02 years), children with DS (n=9; age range: 5;04-10;00 years) and typically developing children (n=9; age range: 6;05-8;00 years) (N=27; age range: 5-10 years). The effectiveness of the structured intervention was examined over a 10 week period. The longevity of skill development was assessed 1 month and 3 months post-intervention. In addition to the development of novel resources, a supporting document for teachers, parents and carers was developed in order to further support the delivery of the intervention. The thesis reported that VI, DS and TD children benefited from the intervention and dressing strategies to support their development of independent dressing skills. Clear systematic instruction combined with motor activities were found to be useful in the development of dressing skills. The findings from this thesis inform future research regarding the development of independent dressing skills, and could also form a model for future work regarding other skill areas such as personal care and eating in relation to other clinical groups e.g. William’s Syndrome.

Apert syndrome is a rare condition (birth prevalence of 1 in 65000) with associated risks of other physical disabilities. Children with the condition experience major surgery involving the fingers. It has been suggested that these children have greater difficulty with mathematics than with other curriculum subjects. This study explored the mathematical learning of 10 primary school age children with Apert syndrome over two years. The children in the study had varied sensory disabilities, which included hearing and visual impairments, as well as limited finger mobility. The children were visited five or six times at school, in order to detect change over time. The children were observed when they were learning mathematics in school. To explore the children’s understanding and thinking in mathematics, clinical interviews using items from number skills tests were conducted. Standardized measures of working memory and mathematical achievement were administered. Interviews were carried out with the children’s parents and school staff supporting their education. A central finding of this study is that children with Apert syndrome are heterogeneous. The only factor that the children in the study shared was their initial lack of finger use when engaging with work involving number and arithmetic. In line with contemporary neuroscience, this study suggests that finger knowledge and awareness, or finger gnosis, and finger mobility are important in early number development. Exercises in developing of finger gnosis may enable flexibility in strategy use and development for solving problems in arithmetic. However, children with Apert syndrome will continue to be confronted with many other challenges that impact their learning of mathematics.

Historically, society has developed and presented the concept of ‘disability’ in negative terms. This in turn led to the identification of individuals/groups with some medical conditions as ‘different’ from the general population. However, this theory has more recently been challenged by the narrative of inclusion which has contributed to questioning the term ‘difference’ and has replaced it with ‘diversity’. Young people with cleft have previously been identified in society by their ‘difference’ due to speech and appearance issues. Existing literature, largely from medical professionals, suggested that young people with cleft underachieve. Studies to date have been mainly carried out using quantitative methods. These investigations suggested a number of areas of challenge – primarily linguistic, cognitive, self-concept and concerning the expectations of others. In contrast, this research set out to attempt to understand more deeply the reasons for the suggested underachievement using qualitative research methods to explore the social and educational lives of young people with cleft at three different stages in their development. This research found that the narrative of underachievement among the young people with cleft involved in the study did not follow the pattern expected as it emerged from the medical literature. Overall individuality characterised the learning trajectory of the young people with cleft. All young people were making progress in their learning albeit at their own speed and as appropriate, with support. The experiences of learning at clubs/associations was more inclusive than those at school where no support was required and there were different expectations of adults supporting learning in clubs and schools. Labelling was a contentious issue but in individual cases this had negative consequences which were counterbalanced by friendship circles often formed at nursery school. This study highlighted teachers’ lack of knowledge of this medical condition and its potential consequences for educational experiences in individual cases and a lack of interpersonal and inter-agency communication. This study therefore challenges the deeply integrated societal stereotypes of young people with cleft. It highlights the importance of listening to children’s voices and offers suggestions to both educational and medical professionals for improving the experiences of the young people concerned.

This thesis explores dyslexia support in higher education. The research is focussed primarily upon investigating dyslexia as a social construct, and the pedagogical strategies that are employed as part of a specialist intervention. Given the increasing numbers of students either identified with dyslexia before they enrol at university, or during their courses, the background to this thesis is the assumption amongst policy makers and funding bodies that dyslexia support, specifically that which is funded through Disabled Students Allowance (DSA), is specialised and distinct. Investigating the premise that support may be specialist, this research has drawn its findings from analysing the shared understandings of dyslexia, and the social processes that contribute to how specialists respond to it. The findings reveal that how dyslexia specialists have arrived at their understanding of the conditions is as much based on social circumstances and shared assumptions, as it is anything revealed in primary research. Within higher education in particular dyslexia is constructed through social processes that include psychological testing of students, assessing their needs to allocate funding, and discursively referring to dyslexia using medicalised and disabling terminology. The research concludes that the actual pedagogical interventions used by specialist tutors, and suggested in specialist literature, is not easily justified as specialist when compared against similar strategies used to develop students’ study skills.

The current study is focussed on teachers' beliefs in inclusion and dyslexia and how these are linked to their professional practice when working with dyslexic learners in their primary classrooms in two cultural contexts; in Cyprus and in North West England. The study is guided by the theoretical framework of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) which was used as the descriptive and analytical tool to explore teachers' personal interpretations and inclusive practice. A qualitative research design is used and includes semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and follow-up discussions with ten teachers in total, five Greek-Cypriot and five British teachers. The findings indicate that the teachers presented both similarities and differences on the way the concepts of inclusion and dyslexia are perceived and understood. For example, teachers interpret 'inclusion' as a shared objective to work collectively towards, making reference to shared values such as 'human rights' and 'equal participation'. One difference identified in some of the Cypriot teachers was that that they appeared more critical about teaching disabled students (e.g. students with more complex needs) in relation to their counterparts. In terms of dyslexia, most of the Cypriot and British teachers conceptualised it as a disorder with a biological basis but, at the same time, they refer to the mediating role played by the environment in contributing further to students' difficulties with literacy. Teachers who engage in practices in their classrooms in order to be more inclusive were identified as those who propose innovation in their activities. On the other hand, there are teachers who seem less inclusive, by creating learning opportunities which are not sufficiently made available for everyone and can allow dyslexic students to access the curriculum. The study enriches the international literature on teachers' beliefs and how they are can influence teachers' professional practice. Cultural Historical Activity Theory, contributed into understanding the factors that can influence teachers' practice for inclusion and their between interactive relationship in an activity system. This is an important area of investigation since changing teachers' beliefs about students' ability can reflect changes in their professional practice.

People with dyslexia often face life challenges, particularly as routine screening and diagnosis are not in place within schools (Department of Children, Schools and Families, 2009a). Confusion exists surrounding inconsistent pedagogical training and support. Together, these factors often result in complex societal dichotomies (MacDonald, 2012; Collinson and Penkreth, 2010; McNulty, 2003). While some disengage, or leave school early (MacDonald, 2012) more students with dyslexia access higher education, gain professional qualifications and have successful careers. However, very little is understood about the temporal educational experiences of those accessing higher education, particularly those on level 7 programmes. This research employs a novel perspective, exploring the possible selves (Markus and Nurius, 1986) and occupational potential (Asaba and Wicks, 2010) of level 7 healthcare students with dyslexia. It considers strategies put in place by participants in relation to possible selves of the past, present and future. Narrative inquiry (Clandinin and Connolly, 2000) and the theoretical perspectives of possible selves and occupational potential provide unique methodological and analytic tools and viewpoints. Stories of nine level 7 level healthcare students with dyslexia are explored and narratives are presented as acts and scenes of a play in order to enhance and elucidate the experiences and maintain the “spirit” (Douglas and Carless, 2013 p. 53) and essence of their voices. The main narrative plots, ‘diagnosis’, ‘cheerleaders in the background’, ‘fitting the mould’ and ‘strategies and the future’ identify factors which inhibit and 4 facilitate progress towards reaching occupational potential and desired possible selves. Thought-provoking new insights are provided in this doctoral thesis related to diagnosis, importance of families and some of the challenges of negotiating every day and academic life with dyslexia. Knowledge contributions and recommendations are made to these areas with conceptual developments relating to possible selves and occupational potential and practice recommendations for education, occupational therapy/science and policy.

This dissertation explores the lived realities of young deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) Japanese who were educated in mainstream schools. Colloquially known as 'inte', a shortened form of the loanword 'integration', these youth are poised at intersections: between special education and academic integration, deaf and hearing, and signed and spoken languages. This study focuses on how participants negotiate this distinct positionality. Inte are 'the other' in the private sphere of the family and the public sphere of the school. I aim to illuminate how inte negotiate this in-between status as they search for belonging. The integration of DHH students is a relatively recent phenomenon. For nearly 100 years, deaf students were educated in separate educational institutions. Therefore, I begin by situating the inte's experiences in a historical and comparative context by exploring the shifts in educational trends for DHH students and the debates regarding the most appropriate communication modalities for their education. I argue that the first phase of integration does not occur within schools but within the home. Inteare typically born into families in which the taken-for-granted shared vertical (inherited) identity and language must be re-examined and re-configured. As a minority in mainstream schools, inte demonstrate agency by employing 'covering' strategies to mitigate difference and perform 'communication competence'. Upon encountering signing DHH peers, inte re-evaluate their positionality and sense of self. By utilizing a number of methodological approaches, including an approach developed for this research, 'peer interviews', this dissertation contributes to the understanding of anthropological concepts of belonging, personhood, intimacy, 'passing' and identity. Through an actor-centered approach that concentrates on the voices of 'youth', I explore how members of this marginalized group in society (re)negotiate their position in the mainstream.

This study used focus group methodology to access the views on learning of Key Stage 3 pupils who are Profoundly Deaf, educated within a mainstream school resourced for pupils with hearing difficulties. One of the main aims of the study was to access the young people's views using their preferred language, British Sign Language (BSL). The study had two elements, one of the chosen methodologies was focus groups, but another was participatory action research. A case study approach was also utilised. The participatory action research element of the methodology involved a Profoundly Deaf young person with British Sign Language as his preferred language volunteering to be involved in moderating the focus group and taking part in aspects of the research process. Thematic analysis of the young people’s focus group discussion revealed some interesting themes, in terms of what influences their learning: motivation, access to additional support and the importance of the Deaf community. An attempt was made to go beyond an analysis based on content; further analysis of the young people’s interaction was carried out. The findings highlighted the young people’s insight into their learning experiences, but also the complex, though remarkable nature of British Sign Language. The study reminds professionals of the importance of actively encouraging pupils whom as individuals within society are marginalised, to express their views and increase their participation in research. It is stressed that professionals need to be pro-active in developing appropriate methods that are personalised to meet the needs of all individuals. Focus groups with modification may prove useful to Educational Psychologists and young people in ensuring young people’s views can be shared across disciplines.

Research illustrates that deaf and hard of hearing people generally experience more unemployment, are often underemployed and have lower incomes than the hearing population (MacLeod-Gallinger, 1992; RNID, 2006; The Papworth Trust, 2014). However, whilst there are increasing numbers of deaf students entering Higher Education (HESA 2014/15, 2013/14), there is a dearth of literature regarding the employability experiences of deaf graduates. This thesis presents an exploration of deaf graduate employability within the context of successive government policies designed to encourage HEIs to enhance the employability skills of their graduates. This qualitative research study focusses on the lived experiences of eight deaf graduates whilst at university, and their subsequent search for employment upon graduation. Semi-structured interviews, followed by a thematic analysis of the data, were employed to explore the graduates’ employability journeys. The key themes that emerged from the data included accessibility to the wider university curriculum, acquisition of employability skills, additional challenges which deaf graduates face when seeking employment, social networking and the significance of employment within the deaf community. This thesis provides some insight into the little-researched areas of the deaf undergraduate experience and deaf graduate employment. It uncovers some of the inherent challenges of being deaf and seeking work, including the ‘interpreted interview’ and disclosure. It highlights gaps in the provision of support for both deaf students whilst at university and deaf graduates upon graduation, and it seeks to understand the prevalence of employment outcomes within the deaf community. Finally, this study begins a discourse on how support for deaf students and graduates must be enhanced if they are to compete with non-deaf job-seekers in entering the workplace.