School of Education

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Anne Emerson

Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences

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Biography

Anne started her career working as a speech and language therapist with children with a range of communication impairments. Over the past 30 years Anne has worked in special and mainstream schools in the UK and India, worked as a Family Services Coordinator for Mencap, and with adults with disabilities in a large residential service. Anne also has teaching experience in FE and HE. For 7 years Anne worked as a psychology lecturer specialising in the fields of communication, disability and inclusive education. Anne continues to work directly with children with special needs and provide training to teachers, teaching assistants, parents and carers.

Expertise Summary

Autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, learning disabilities

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Facilitated Communication

Special and mainstream education

Inclusion in education

Clinical work with adults and children

Support and training to parents, carers and staff

Teaching Summary

In 2018 Anne was awarded the Lord Dearing Award for Teaching and Learning. Anne's teaching is mainly on three modules of the MA Special and Inclusive Education: Debating Special and Inclusive… read more

Research Summary

Anne researches within the field of special educational needs and disabilities. Her interests include pedagogical approaches to teaching students with autism and intellectual impairment, the impact… read more

Recent Publications

Anne is a member of the Centre for Research in Human Flourishing.

PhD supervisions to date have included research into:

Decision making of Speech and Language Therapists in Turkey

The lived experience of autistic teenagers in the UK

The use of technology to facilitate social interaction in schools in Saudi Arabia

The meaning of hope for parents of disabled children engaged in Conductive Education in the UK

Inclusion in Jordan

She would be interested to co-supervise in the following areas:

  • Autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, learning disabilities

  • Augmentative and Alternative Communication

  • Facilitated Communication

  • Special and mainstream education

  • Inclusion in education

  • Clinical work with adults and children

  • Support and training to parents, carers and staff

Research proposals: please email Anne if you would like to discuss the appropriateness of your research topic.

In 2018 Anne was awarded the Lord Dearing Award for Teaching and Learning. Anne's teaching is mainly on three modules of the MA Special and Inclusive Education: Debating Special and Inclusive Education; Communication and Literacy and Education for Students on the Autism Spectrum. She is module leader for Communication and Literacy and teaching covers typical and atypical development of children with a particular focus on aspects of communication. In addition sessions with a focus on inclusion, communication disorders, engagement and autism are delivered to students on teacher education courses.

She is as associate of the Peer Observation College and is the Disability Liaison Officer for the School of Education.

Current Research

Anne researches within the field of special educational needs and disabilities. Her interests include pedagogical approaches to teaching students with autism and intellectual impairment, the impact of disabled children on families and how anxiety impacts on autistic people.

Past Research

Together with Jackie Dearden, Anne developed a model for understanding and working with non-verbal children with autism and intellectual disabilities. Also for people with autism, Anne worked on an EU funded project to develop a Europass tool to aid employment and training opportunities. Past research focused on an investigation of underlying competence in individuals with autism and severe communication impairments in the UK and Germany, the engagement of children who are resistant to adult intervention, and appropriate language use by staff working with non-verbal students. Anne also collaborated on a guide for parents of disabled children which has been translated and made freely available in a number of countries.

School of Education

University of Nottingham
Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB

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