Within This Issue
The arts offer people with PMLD, no less than the rest of us, the opportunity to be creators, partners, initiators and much more – as the articles in this issue illustrate. The partnership, total involvement and power of sharing stories creatively, as described by Nicola Grove, does indeed ‘offer us precious and unrivalled insights into the absolute fundamentals.’ And what could be more important? Chris Fuller offers us yet more insights into the joys of story sharing – for both partners – and its potential in helping us move towards what we all want: real inclusion for people with PMLD. Inclusion is also a strong theme running throughout Peppy Hills’ article, where children and young people with PMLD and children from mainstream schools experience the joy of knowing, understanding and sharing with one another. Martin Goodwin and Cath Edwards highlight the importance of being truly person centred and the potential of combined arts for creative communication, illustrating this with both examples and photographs which paint the picture well. Susan McLaren develops this theme of communication through engagement with a wide range of creative and self-affirming arts experiences for all partners. You will be fascinated and excited by the music gym when you read what Susan Heath writes. What comes across strongly is the sheer fun and exuberance of the experience, along with the other benefits she so ably describes.
