Commonly, every child or young person may have some difficulty in his or her learning process once in a while. To most, such hurdles are usually dealt with by teachers and from home. However, they may require support or assistance to be provided which will enable them to enjoy the same rights as others.
A child or young person who has special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability that requires special health and education provision. Some children may require SEND due to a medical condition or a disability while others do not have such a condition but are considered to have SEND.
The children who have SEND are not those who are learning English as a second language while some of the children learning English as a second language may also have SEND.
In this post, we will discuss what you should know about children with SEND and the help they require.
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
SEND is a term that refers to children who have learning disabilities or any other difficulty that affects their learning in some way as compared to other children in the same age group.
Another related term you will hear is special educational needs (SEN).
All children can experience some learning problems at one time or the other, of course.
In the case of most children, the difficulties can be effectively managed by parental care as well as the assistance of teachers in school.
Nevertheless, if your child has SEND, he or she will require assistance or assistance differently to make it easier for him or her to learn.
A child may have SEND due to a medical condition or a disability that has been diagnosed. Or they may have SEND without a formal diagnosis or a disabling condition.
Types of SEND
The SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years identifies four broad categories of SEND, some children and young people may have SEND within more than one of these categories.
Communication and Interaction Needs
If your child or young person has communication and interaction needs, they might:
- Difficulty in speaking or the ability to express themselves.
- It is not easy for them to comprehend the words that are spoken by other people.
- Define conversations and make the play confusing or challenging.
Cognition and Learning Difficulties
If your child or young person has cognition and learning difficulties, they might:
- Reduce their capability to learn at the same rate as other individuals.
- They find school difficult.
- Suffer from organization and memory problems.
- Have a particular learning disorder, for instance, in reading writing, or counting.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Difficulties
If your child or young person has social, emotional and mental difficulties, they might:
- Find relationships difficult.
- Appear withdrawn or isolated.
- Act in ways that can impact their learning, for instance, through mischievous behaviour.
- Engage in activities that affect their health and productivity.
Sensory Needs & Physical Needs
If your child or young person has sensory needs, they might have a:
- visual impairment (VI)
- hearing impairment (H)
- physical disability
Disabilities and SEN
Many children and young people who have SEN may also have a disability. A disability is described in law by the Equality Act 2010 (opens link in new window) as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term (a year or more) and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.’ This includes, for example, sensory impairments such as those that affect sight and hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or epilepsy.
The Equality Act requires that early years providers, schools, colleges, other educational settings and local authorities:
- Must not directly or indirectly discriminate against, harass or victimise disabled children and young people.
- Must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aid services (for example, tactile signage or induction loops), so that disabled children and young people are not disadvantaged compared with other children and young people. This duty is known as ‘anticipatory’ – people also need to think in advance about what disabled children and young people might need.
How Do I Know If My Child Has SEND?
Your child has special educational needs (SEN) if they have:
- Much greater difficulty learning something than most others of the same age.
- A disability that makes it difficult for them to use the facilities that others of the same age use in mainstream schools or educational settings for young people over 16 years old.
Your child has special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) if they also have:
- A physical and mental impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.
SEND can affect your child’s:
- Reading and writing, for example, because they have dyslexia.
- Ability to understand things.
- Concentration levels because, for example, they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
- Emotional and mental health.
- Your child may be identified as having special educational needs and disabilities early in their life or at the point they are diagnosed with a condition. Or it may not become obvious until they enter a later stage of their education.
Disabilities and SEN
It is also important to note that, a large number of children and young people with SEN may also have a disability. The Equality Act 2010 (opens the link in a new window) defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term (a year or more) and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This entails conditions that impact vision and hearing, as well as chronic diseases like asthma or diabetes, epilepsy, and many others.
