RESOURCE: Enhancing Wellbeing in Education by Andrew Colley and Julie Tilbury

Colley Book Cover

Enhancing wellbeing and independence for young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties: Lives Lived Well is a unique resource book which explores what well-being, community participation and independence mean to young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Bringing together results of an extensive survey of over 120 schools worldwide who teach young people with PMLD, the authors present many innovative ways in which schools are working to ensure young people with PMLD have lives of value that are as rich and meaningful as possible.

Organised into three cohesive parts, this book provides a comprehensive insight into established theories and current perspectives on wellbeing and independence for people with PMLD, before exploring the results from the Lives Lived Well survey and other international research, and then helpfully illustrates best practice in action with a close look at an established, very successful specialist school: Chailey Heritage in Sussex.

This book can be used as a guide, resource and inspiration for adults sharing their lives with young people with PMLD – whether practitioners or parents – and concludes by asking what we can all learn from these young people to support us in living life well.

Routledge ‘Enhancing Wellbeing’ link

Andrew Colley is former Senior Lecturer in Special Education at University of East London, UK. 

Julie Tilbury is lead teacher for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties at Chailey Heritage School in East Sussex, UK.