SEND stands for special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities (D). It is important for you to think of them as two different parts. Not all SEN are a disability, and not all disabilities are SEN. Your unique situation determines what type of help is available to support you.
In s20 of the Children and Families Act 2014, SEN is defined without specific examples being given. This is because the scope for SEN is so wide.
It is important to remember that not all SEN comes from a diagnosis.
A child or young person must have both of the following for them to have SEN:
- a learning difficulty or disability
- the need for special educational or health provision because of their learning difficulty or disability
Four areas of SEND needs
The SEND Code of Practice talks about four broad areas of needs:
1. Communication and interaction
Children and young people with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) who may have difficulty understanding and communicating with others. Autistic children or young people may have social interaction differences and/or differences in the way they communicate with others.
2. Cognition and learning
Children and young people who learn at a slower pace than others their age, or those with a specific learning difficulty (SpLD), that affects one or more specific areas of learning, such as:
- dyslexia
- dyscalculia
- dyspraxia
3. Social, emotional, and health difficulties
Children and young people may experience social and emotional difficulties, which are evident through withdrawal or isolation or through distressed behaviour, which may be disruptive or disturbing to others.
The code states these behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties, such as:
- anxiety or depression
- self-harming
- substance misuse
- eating disorders
- physical symptoms that are medically unexplained
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- attention deficit disorder (ADD)
- attachment disorder
4. Sensory and/or physical needs
This includes children and young people with a disability that prevents or stops them from making full use of general educational facilities. For example, those with:
- visual or hearing impairments
- multi-sensory impairments
- physical disabilities
Learning difficulties and learning disabilities
A learning difficulty and a learning disability are two different things.
A learning difficulty usually presents in childhood and can create an obstacle to traditional classroom learning. There are many different types of learning difficulty, and a person can have more than one.
A learning disability is a condition that affects learning and intelligence across all areas of life. It is this longer-term, wider-reaching impact that makes it different from a learning difficulty.
In s20(4) of the Children’s and Families Act 2014, it explains that a child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or learning disability if their issues come from learning in a different language to the one they speak at home.
Disability
S6 of the Equality Act 2010 explains the criteria that must be met to define a person having a disability. These are:
- they have a physical or mental impairment
- that impairment has a significant long-term negative impact on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities
