I find during SENCO training, and conversations with colleagues, that there is still a lack of recognition of the significance of prematurity , as an underlying cause of the changing pattern of childhood disability in the 21st Century.
For those wishing to either revisit, or update on this fact, attached is a position statement I wrote a few years ago, which, combined with the new Report posted on this website on Prematurely Born Children, from Dr Patricia Champion in New Zealand , will give and overview of the developments we have seen in the last quarter of a century .
This is question I am often asked. My key thought in responding is that these children are often ‘wired differently’ – their brains are not configured as those of a full term infant might be. This does not automatically imply that they will have a learning disability or special educational need, but teachers need to be prepared that that these children may not perceive and deduct from information given, in the ways we usually expect from children.
Indeed, to repeat again the phrase given to me by the mother of a boy born at 24 weeks gestation after observing his first term in school, he is ‘wired differently’ . As a as a Teacher I then have so ask , “so of he is wired differently , in what ways does he learn differently ? And when I know how he learns differently, in what ways do I teach differently?”
Many teachers find the Engagement Profile (http://engagement4learning.com), a useful observational tool to profile neurodiversity in children, particularly as we start a new academic year.
This article may guide and refresh thinking around how we engage children whose learning pathways are different due to prematurity of birth.
Professor Barry Carpenter CBE,OBE,PhD.
September, 2018
Prematurity and the challenge for educators, SEND Magazine Article 2015
On Friday 14 July 2017, an interdisciplinary conference was held at Birmingham City University to raise awareness and highlight current research on this topic.
This article by Professor Carpenter and Jo Egerton describes many of the challenges that educators face in teaching this rapidly emerging groups of students in the education system.
This news clip from BBC Scotland highlights the importance of understanding how premature birth can impact on a child’s learning , and effective schooling.
Dr Nashwa Matta attended the Conference on this topic in London , in 2013, organised by the National Forum for Neuroscience in Special Education.
Upon her return to her post in Scotland she took the initiative to organise her own Conference to stimulate thought and debate across Professional groups on this rapidly emerging topic.
Maybe others could follow her lead?
Reports and resources on educating the prematurely born child can be found on this website using the ‘prematurity’ tag
The article on pages 1 -6 of the Special Education Resource Journal ( Special Issue), documents research carried out in a Primary Classroom, as part of the National DfE funded Project on Children with Complex learning Difficulties and Disabilities. Professor Carpenter presents the work with the Primary Class Teacher, Debbie Wiggett, and two members of the CLDD Project Research Team, Bev Cockbill and Jo Egerton.
This recent article in the NASEN publication ‘Special’ by Professor Barry Carpenter and Jo Egerton focuses on the leadership challenges faced when meeting the needs of learners with complex needs
Barry Carpenter Education 