Teacher education of SEN looks different over the globe. This paper discusses the notion of SEN in the light of Swedish teacher education of SEN at Linnaeus University. An analysis of institutional documents governing the education has been made. The results show that SEN is expressed in different ways in the documents and is very much connected to needs in the education. It also shows, even though the directions has different target groups, that the notion of SEN has a common basis in facing the needs of all children and students. The differences can be seen in what kind of mission the teacher of SEN has. The results show that the mission of the special pedagogue is more on an overall level and the mission of special teachers is more connected to the learning of the individual child, even though both of the SEN teachers have much the same mission.

To be literate can be defined as being able to develop ones potential and to participate in democracy, thus contributing to society. Literacy and education are closely connected. Historically, children with learning disabilities (LD) have been treated as non-educational and been neglected. By LD we here refer to cognitive disabilities such as mental retardation (MR) or dyslexia. Today, children with dyslexia go to mainstream school but are often submitted to special training outside the classroom. For children with mild MR, special schools were 1954 established by law in Sweden, but not until fourteen years later children with severe MR went to school, special schools as well. In Sweden and even internationally, it seems to be a wide consensus that children with disabilities should be included in a school for all, as reflected in the 1994 Salamanca declaration. However, as we can see in Sweden inclusion is not always the case. An unanswered question is how this affects the children’s access to literacy. We can see a problem if teachers and other professionals from their point of view of man and knowledge put the frameworks around pupil’s possibilities for literacy development. This study will explore and discuss the educational possibilities for some of these children. We have directed the searchlight towards two countries that have adopted the Salamanca declaration, namely Sweden and Argentina.

Bidraget handlar om hur unga personer med utvecklingsstörning, alltså de som en gång tillhört särskolans personkrets, kommit vidare i utbildningssystemet. Genom att deras konstnärliga begåvning tagits till vara och utvecklats har de nu ett lönearbete och är fackligt anslutna skådespelare. Dessa personers unika och banbrytande utbildningsväg utmanar vårt tänkande. I studien uttalar de sig om makt och delaktighet. Rådande samhällssyn, kunskapssyn och människosyn sätts på spel.