The home‐education of children with special needs or disabilities in the UK: views of parents from an online survey

Parsons, Sarah; Lewis, Ann

doi:10.1080/13603110802504135

Cited by 71 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This may be a result of the very small sample size for this variable but it confirms the findings from other studies that have considered similar variables (e.g. Parsons and Lewis 2010). Table 5 shows the employment status of the sample.…”

Section: Characteristics Of Families Who Home Educatesupporting

confidence: 88%

Using the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey to examine the prevalence and characteristics of families who home educate in the UK

Smith

Nelson²

2015

Educational Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper has two aims, first to examine the feasibility of using an omnibus survey to estimate the prevalence and characteristics of families who home educate and secondly to provide an empirical contribution to recent research on home education in the UK. Because there is no statutory requirement for families who home educate to register with the Local Authority, there are no nationally representative data on the prevalence and characteristics of the home educating population in this country. Therefore gathering data from a fully randomised sample of home educating families would be prohibitively expensive. In this study we used a national omnibus survey to collect data on the homeschooling experiences of over 6000 households from across the UK, of whom 52 were found to have engaged in homeschooling. Our findings estimate that around 1% of families with dependent children have home educated either on a full or part-time basis. Provision of home education was often episodic and reflects the diversity of the home educating population. While the findings presented here largely confirm previous work on home education in the UK, other work tends to be based largely in the home educating community and often lacks a comparison with the general population. Using an omnibus survey like the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey enables researchers to gather data from a nationally representative sample of a small and diverse social group.

show abstract

Section: Characteristics Of Families Who Home Educatesupporting

confidence: 88%

Using the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey to examine the prevalence and characteristics of families who home educate in the UK

Smith

Nelson²

2015

Educational Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, debates concerning appropriate placements, support and intervention for children on the autism spectrum have abounded, not least because school placements have been unsuccessful for some, resulting in withdrawal to educate at home (Parsons and Lewis 2010); exclusion (House of Commons Education and Skills Committee on SEN 2006); challenges at educational tribunals (Batten et al 2006); and/or negative experiences for young people including bullying and loneliness (Humphrey and Symes 2010; van Roekel, Scholte, and Didden 2010;Wainscot et al 2008;Bauminger, Shulman, and Agam 2003). Concerns regarding such experiences in the UK were reflected in setting up the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (APPGA) in 2000, which has been very active in political lobbying on behalf of these children (Balls 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

International review of the evidence on best practice in educational provision for children on the autism spectrum

Parsons

Guldberg

MacLeod

et al. 2011

European Journal of Special Needs Education

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is considerable debate regarding the most appropriate and effective ways of supporting the learning of children and young people on the autism spectrum. This international review provides a synthesis of empirical research and expert evidence (dated 2002-2008) to identify best practice in educational provision for these children. Five bibliographic databases were systematically searched using clearly defined keywords, and abstracts assessed according to explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria; 92 research papers that focused on children and young people were included. Expert evidence was drawn from policy documents and government strategies, or research reports, from the UK and Ireland. Findings show that there is insufficiently strong evidence regarding the effectiveness of one type of intervention approach compared with another. A range of educational provision should be maintained in order to cater appropriately for a wide diversity of needs. Interventions most often researched were those involving intensive behavioural techniques and some studies showed these can be successful in teaching specific skills to some children. There was limited evidence regarding the needs of older children as well as consideration of educational provision more widely, including the effects of type of setting (as distinct from a specific type of intervention or learning approach). More research is needed on other types of educational interventions currently used by parents and in schools as well as greater collaboration between researchers and practitioners to establish what works best for children and young people on the autism spectrum.

show abstract

“…Policy underscores an inclusive agenda (Humphrey & Lewis, 2008;Isaksson, Lindqvist, & Bergström, 2007), but schools have yet to live up to this goal given the number of students with AS who drop out of school (Parsons & Lewis, 2010; Swedish National Agency for Education [SNAE], 2009). One problem in implementing the policy is that personnel often have little or no specific training since their basic education lacked this (Hein, Grumm, & Fingerle, 2011;Robertson, Chamberlain, & Kasari, 2003;Starr & Foy, 2012;Syriopoulou-Delli, Cassimos, Tripsianis, & Polychronopoulou, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The role of experience in teachers’ social representation of students with autism spectrum diagnosis (Asperger)

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Support from teachers is a key strategy for accommodating students with Asperger syndrome (AS) diagnosis in the mainstream classroom. Teachers' understanding and expectations of students, i.e. their social representations (SR), have a bearing on how they interact and accommodate, but little is known about why. Therefore, the current study examined the idea that teachers' SR of these students are influenced by their previous experience with AS. To this end, Swedish mainstream teachers were invited to anonymously answer a web-based questionnaire (N = 153). An association task was used to obtain data on teachers' SR and the content and structure of the SR were explored. Our results suggest that work-related experience of AS and/or private experience shape teachers' SR of these students relative to teachers with no experience. Moreover, teachers with previous experience had more SR elements related to environment and learning factors while teachers without previous experience had more elements related to the individual's behavior. Teachers with private experience produced fewer positive elements compared to those with work-related experience only. These results highlight the role of contextual factors and prior experience in forming SR. We conclude that contact with students with AS, e.g. during teacher training, could facilitate accommodation in mainstream schools.

show abstract

The home‐education of children with special needs or disabilities in the UK: views of parents from an online survey

Cited by 71 publications

References 20 publications

Using the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey to examine the prevalence and characteristics of families who home educate in the UK

Using the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey to examine the prevalence and characteristics of families who home educate in the UK

International review of the evidence on best practice in educational provision for children on the autism spectrum

The role of experience in teachers’ social representation of students with autism spectrum diagnosis (Asperger)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About