An investigation into young people's perception of special educational needs (SEN) where they have had a statement which ceased

An overview of current research and literature has established that there is little information about the views and perceptions of those young people who have had a statement ceased. The views of how these particular pupils were involved in the process of the statutory assessment, the issuing of their statement, the benefits of the support allocated to them and the subsequent ceasing of their statement were obtained using a semi-structured interview. In order to construct a shared understanding of the SEN culture experienced by them, their perceptions of this culture was obtained through the use of a business management tool called the 'cultural web' (Johnson and Scholes, 1999). Based on the young people's combined descriptors and characteristics of current SEN culture, the cultural web framework enabled the design of two cultural webs, the SEN culture experienced by them and the SEN culture to 'aspire' to. This research fundamentally supports current legislation and policy, in particular the recent Education and Inspections Act (2006) that states that Local Authorities are now required to ascertain young people's views on activities, facilities and provision, and to ensure that these are taken into account. The key findings of the research suggest that the majority of the young people interviewed were effective in identifying factors and practical solutions that could contribute to improving the SEN culture that they had experienced. Their knowledge and experiences need to be incorporated into various SEN processes, and the recommendations made in this thesis are very much based on these. It also highlighted that, contrary to legislation and policy, these young people were not generally provided with an opportunity to have their voice heard within the SEN culture, and as a result felt themselves passive participants within the education and SEN systems.