Speak out, stay safe: Including children with special educational needs and disabilities in an evaluation of an abuse prevention programme

This paper reports on the evaluation of an integrated violence and abuse pre-vention programme for children aged 5–11, focusing on children with specialeducational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Speak Out Stay Safe (SOSS)programme was delivered in mainstream primary schools across the UK. Asmall-scale study of children with SEND nested within the larger evaluationcaptured their understandings of abuse and harm and readiness to seek help.A specially adapted survey was completed by 76 children with SEND (aged6–7 and 9–10) at baseline (31 intervention; 45 comparison schools), 12 in inter-vention schools post-programme and 37 (four intervention; 33 comparisonschools) six months post-baseline. Qualitative data was captured through16 teacher interviews. Whilst this nested study was compromised by theCOVID-19 pandemic, it provides important evidence that with appropriateadaptations, a survey approach to investigating the learning of children withSEND can be effective. Findings indicate that awareness of abuse and helpseeking strategies may improve over time, whilst interview data suggests thatadapting the programme to be inclusive of those children may have a bettereffect. However, a much larger sample of children with SEND is required toconfidently measure the effects of such programmes for this population.