My Right To Play: A Child with Complex Needs (Debating Play)

"Robert Orr... has achieved the balance of evidenced-based practice with the integration of the concept of ordinariness. This work is a must for not only those working with children with an expressed extra special need, but also all nurses who work with people who have a learning disability." Helen Laverty, Health Lecturer, University of Nottingham

This lively and accessible book provides a take on life from the perspective of a child who has no sight and no speech and who uses a wheelchair because of physical disabilities.

The book:

• Offers a glimpse into the thoughts of such a child, recognizing that family and support workers sometimes get things right and sometimes don't
• Enables people new to disability work to avoid pitfalls and take short cuts in becoming interesting and useful to a child with complex needs
• Examines the puzzling behaviour often encountered when working with children who are dependent on others for the ordinary aspects of daily life

Compassionate, sympathetic and down to earth, My Right to Play is invaluable reading for a wide ranging audience including the families of profoundly disabled children, teachers, carers, therapists and medical staff.

Robert Orr taught children with special needs from 1969-1991, partly as head of RNIB, Rushton Hall School in Northamptonshire before becoming a trainer in multiple disability and visual impairment for the RNIB Education Support Service. He is currently employed as a family education worker at the Pen Green Centre for under-5s and their families in Corby where he teaches on the MA in Early Education and Care and runs the after school club where he recently gained a coveted certificate in playwork.