Intensive Interaction in the inclusive classroom: using interactive pedagogy to connect with students who are hardest to reach.

This paper examines the role of Intensive Interaction in interactive pedagogy for students with severe and complex learning difficulties. It begins with an overview of the theoretical context for interactive pedagogy and then goes on to describe how one particular approach, Intensive Interaction, can, within a flexible curriculum, support sociability and communication development for pupils who are hardest to reach because they have not yet learned the fundamentals of early communication. Findings from one case study are drawn upon to illustrate the efficacy of this and to discuss how teamwork can affect optimal outcomes. The paper argues for more pupil-centred, flexible curricula and the wider adoption of approaches such as Intensive Interaction in inclusive mainstream schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]