* Brian Wilson’s approach. “I have no wish to meddle, to dabble or experiment or impose bureaucratic tasks. I want to help people do their job to optimum effect.”

* There is no clear evidence integrated provision leads to higher achievement than segregated provision, Geoff Lindsay of Warwick University, said. Professor Lindsay, a former president of the British Psychological Society, said research around the world was inconclusive but he argued that provision should start from the rights of children and parents. Some evidence showed pupils with learning difficulties suffered more bullying and were less popular than other pupils in mainstream. He believed psychologists were “critical friends” to parents, children and local authorities.

* Attention deficit hyperactive disorder, the current phenomenon in special education, is linked to many other behavioural problems, Cyril Hellier of Perth and Kinross said. Dyslexia was a commonly linked condition. A survey of 21 councils had shown psychologists were “cautious but open” to the growing body of knowledge.