Evidence-based support for children and young people with additional needs: The Roadmap

Families of children with learning difficulties come to me when the advice they have been given hasn’t worked, and when the evidence has never been clearly explained. I see the consequences of that every day, through my work as a parent advocate and through Dyslexia Victoria Support. That experience is why Evidence-based support for children and young people with additional needs: The Roadmap matters.

This book is not a program, a framework, or a collection of slogans. It is a careful, evidence-based guide written by Caroline Bowen and Pamela Snow, with Philippa Brandon, that explains what actually helps children and young people with additional needs. The claims are restrained. The explanations are clear. The focus stays firmly on practice, what works, why it works, and where things so often go wrong.

Just as important is what the book does not do. It does not lean on misused neuroscience. It does not dress opinion up as evidence. It does not sell hope in shiny packaging. There is a refreshing absence of neurobollocks and snake oil, which families are far too used to being asked to sift through on their own.

I was delighted to be asked to write the foreword. I opened it with the words of Stephen Hawking:

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.”

That sentence captures exactly why this book matters. In education, confident-sounding claims too often outrun the evidence, and families are left carrying the cost. The authors name where practice has drifted from evidence and explain why that matters, without blaming families for systemic failures.

I recommend Evidence-based support for children and young people with additional needs: The Roadmap from the perspective of a long-standing parent advocate who has seen first-hand the cost of decisions that are not grounded in evidence. When schools or systems get it wrong, families pay the price, often for years. This book gives parents and educators a shared, evidence-based reference point to have better conversations and to ask better questions.

The authors have also made a free Roadmap glossary available to support readers. It can be downloaded, saved for reference, and shared with others who may find it useful, a practical and generous addition that families will appreciate:https://speech-language-therapy.com/images/roadmapglossary.pdf https://pamelasnow.blogspot.com/2025/01/evidence-based-support-for-children-and.html

The book is published by J&R Press and is available via their website:https://www.jrpress.co.uk

If you are tired of being told to “wait and see” or of hearing confident claims that do not stand up to scrutiny, Evidence-based support for children and young people with additional needs: The Roadmap is worth your time.

It does not shout. It does not promise miracles. It simply lays things out clearly, so better decisions can be made.

Heidi Gregory

"Foreword

By Heidi Gregory

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.”- Stephen Hawking

Navigating the world of support for children with additional needs can feel like trying to read a map with half the landmarks missing. For many of us, the search for answers starts long before we even have the right questions. That is why this book, Evidence-based support for children and young people with additional needs: The Roadmap, matters so deeply.

Dr Caroline Bowen and Distinguished Professor Pamela Snow, together with plain language specialist Philippa Brandon, have produced something rare and vital. With deep clinical knowledge, sharp research literacy, and clear-eyed compassion, they have created a guide that cuts through confusion and misinformation. It speaks to the reality that many parents, carers, and educators live with every day: trying to do right by children in systems that are not always clear, consistent, or kind.

I am not a clinician or an academic. I am a parent who had no choice but to learn fast, because the system didn’t make it easy. I’ve had to work out how to navigate assessments, push for support, decode jargon, and spot the difference between solid evidence and slick marketing. I didn’t get a textbook or a roadmap. I got trial and error, dead ends, and too many meetings where no one knew what to do. What I know now, I learned by showing up, asking hard questions, and refusing to accept the bare minimum, not just for my own children, but for every family who came after us. That’s how I became an advocate.

This book meets us all where we are. Whether you are a parent trying to understand what a diagnosis really means, or a teacher, clinician, or academic wanting to do better for students with speech, language, or learning difficulties and differences, The Roadmap offers not just information, but clarity. It names the evidence. It explains the reasoning. And it warns, unflinchingly, about the costly distractions of pseudoscience that continue to circulate in both education and therapy.

What I value most about this book is that it is grounded and practical. It does not float above the reality of classrooms, family life, or the messiness of support systems. It speaks to our common goal, getting it right early, because if we don’t, families and children carry those gaps with them for life.

Clear, evidence-based information gives parents something to hold on to, especially when pseudoscience is being sold as a solution. This is especially true for families dealing with learning difficulties, where myths and misinformation are everywhere.

To Caroline, Pamela, and Philippa, thank you. The Roadmap is a generous and important contribution. You have given parents, carers, and teachers a reliable guide through difficult terrain. Your work honours our experiences and strengthens our ability to act.

Heidi Gregory

Founder, Dyslexia Victoria SupportVice

President, SPELD Victoria

2 August 2025"