Establishing and maintaining contact between peers with and without severe or profound and complex learning difficulties

In many parts of the world young people with severe or profound and complex learning difficulties encounter serious problems in gaining access to mainstream education. As a result, interactions between these groups of young people and their mainstream peers are extremely rare. In Ireland a schools' link programme was established in an attempt to foster ongoing contact through shared curricular activities. This paper explores whether contact established during the programme continued in any meaningful way after the programme finished. Results indicate that, though well intentioned, mainstream students tended to either lose contact completely or retain minimal contact. It can be concluded that structured supports are essential to maintain meaningful contact over time.