Professor Ann Lewis

Ann Lewis is Emeritus Professor at the University of Birmingham (UK) where she was research leader for a unique, 35-strong, academic group focusing on children with special needs or disabilities. She is also Honorary Professor at the University of Warwick (UK).

She has a longstanding interest in the ‘voice’ of disabled children, in particular, conceptual and methodological aspects of realising such ‘voice’ authentically in diverse contexts. This is reflected in her research (e.g. ‘The experiences of disabled pupils and their families’ (2004-7) funded by the Disability Rights Commission), publications, consultancies and her role on national research steering groups (e.g. BBC Children in Need; Big Lottery Fund; and the Arts Council).

She is engaged at national and international levels with research and critiques of policy concerning provision for children with special needs or disabilities. She was a member of the Advisory Group for the Lamb Inquiry (2008-10), set up by the UK Government to examine ways of increasing parental confidence in the SEN assessment process. Related to this, she was specialist advisor to the preceding House of Commons Select Committees on SEN (2006, 2007). A key aspect of her work concerns the extent to which children with special needs or disabilities require demonstrably different teaching strategies from those used with other children.