What is SEND? Special Education Needs and Disabilities explained
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What is SEND? Special Education Needs and Disabilities explained
At Senploy, we thought, since it is still early in the year, it was a good opportunity to go back to basics, and explore the meaning of the acronym, SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities).
What are the four areas of SEND?
If a child or young person has a learning difficulty or disability, it may mean they require special educational provision ensuring they have all the help and support required to allow them to learn and thrive. There are four categories under which such provision could be considered:
- 1.Difficulties in communication and interaction
- 2.Learning and cognition (conscious mental process)
- 3.Social, mental and emotional health
- 4.Sensory and /or physical
Is SEND a disability?
Merriam Webster's dictionary defines disability as ‘a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person's ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in typical daily activities and interactions', as listed in the 4 categories above.
What does 'K' mean in SEN?
It is important for the Government to collate information regarding SEND pupils and it does so by a census completed by schools and submitted to the government. It is key for the Government to monitor schools are doing everything in their power to ensure children with any special needs are being catered for. The Government also need to be able to identify any areas which may require additional funding or assistance of any kind. Special education provision codes are used to denote requirements, with the code ‘K' identifying SEN support.
What is the difference between learning disability and learning difficulty?
Mencap explain the differences between learning disability and learning difficulty, important to note that with the right support, both categories are able to lead independent lives. Ironically, the ability to lead an independent life has probably meant that there has been a great deal of inclusion for that individual. Providing necessary support for what may be a small or large difference in capability, means playing fields can be levelled allowing for those to be able to be treated equally within society.
What does SEND support look like?
Indeed in 1990, the UK signed the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, where it is emphasized that all children have the right to be educated and listened to. In addition, it mentions that a mentally or physically disabled child should be able to lead a full and decent life. Under the Special education Needs and Disability Act 2001, schools were prohibited from discriminating against children with disabilities, requiring them to supply the necessary support in order to include them. This was further strengthened in 1994 when UNESCO's Salamanca Statement supported pupils with SEN having the right of access to regular schools.
As you may realise or come to know through becoming familiar with legislation and Acts already passed, consistency of care and support within SEN requires much communication and interaction between schools, parents, students, teachers and local authorities. There are understandably many factors involved including extent of needs, available budget and funding, necessary training and education around SEN.
The first part of the process is the identification of need and assessments which will then follow on with an EHC plan which should outline the following:
- A: The views, interests and aspirations of you and your child.
- B: Special educational needs (SEN).
- C: Health needs related to SEN.
- D: Social care needs related to SEN.
- E: Outcomes - how the extra help will benefit your child
- F: Special educational provision (support).
- G: Health provision.
- H: Social care provision.
- I: Placement - type and name of school or other institution
- J: Personal budget arrangements.
- K: Advice and information - a list of the information gathered during the EHC needs assessment.
Why work in the Special Education Needs and Disabilities industry?
We at Senploy are under no illusion that the provision of Special Education is a challenging undertaking, with additional responsibility and extra support required for the educational health and care of children and young people. The knowledge itself which is required regarding such a wide range of issues which any SEND child could present, is daunting. And yet it is necessary to understand to enable meeting all these different needs more effectively. Dr Rona Tutt in her book Rona Tutt's Guide to SEND and Inclusion (2016), writes ‘Diversity is universal, we are all different”. In Chapter 5, Dr Rona touches on each of the four categories mentioned at the start of this blog.
Under Communication and Interaction, she talks about the difficulties in:
- Being able to communicate what they want to say (expressive skills)
- Understanding what is said to them (receptive skills)
- Understanding the social rules of communication
Regarding Cognition and Learning she elaborates on the 4 levels of difficulty.
Social, mental and emotional health (SEMH) is an update from the 2001 code to take into consideration the recognition that children with SEND are more likely to develop mental health issues. In relation to Sensory and physical needs, we are mostly referring to hearing impairment (HI), visual impairment (VI) and multi-sensory impairment (MSI).
There continues to be a greater awareness and help for those provisions. In addition to the formalised framework as listed above, the EHC plan, we listed a number of helpful sites in our first blog of 2021.
In addition, TES, has some helpful tips and resources to assist, whether working with children with autism, visual, hearing or sensory impairments, ADHD or any other learning disabilities or difficulties.
Charities like EQUALS and IPSEA are worth reaching out to, assisting with advice in online training and assessments.
We have touched on how challenging it can be to work with SEND children, however with that comes great rewards to name but a few:
- The acquisition of additional skills like signing or certain medical knowledge which comes with understanding the broad range of complexities within SEND
- Teamwork and communication with a variety of stakeholders
- Making a real difference to a child's future opportunities and possibilities
- Raising a child's self-esteem by giving them the tools to learn and succeed, in whatever way success presents itself to them
- Ultimately allowing children to show us what they can do, rather than what they can't.
Click here to search our current SEN Jobs
Updated: Feb 2024