'Getting in touch' with people with severe learning disabilities

This article explores innovative and interactive ways of working with people who have severe learning disabilities, special needs and/or challenging behaviour who, despite the efforts of those who support them, are not able to respond to attempts to interact with them. It examines the possibilities of communicating by using people's own behaviours and outlines how these methods of interaction can be developed into a 'language' which people with these disabilities recognize and find motivating. Entering into a person's world in a way that is not confusing or threatening may allow him/her to move from solitary self-stimulation to shared activity. People with these disabilities will then become aware of a world outside their own (sometimes they are aware of this but are unable to make a connection between what they perceive and themselves), and begin to understand their relationship to it. Surprise is an important element as it shifts attention from the inner space to the source of the intervention. A number of examples illustrate a range of person-centred approaches and the variety of disabilities that may be assisted.