What is Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (England)?

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are often seen in educational settings as barriers to learning that put children at a disadvantage when it comes to their future success. In reality, these differences are not barriers themselves, but highlight the ways in which our provisions might not be as inclusive and supportive as they should be to help every child to thrive, regardless of their developmental stage or background.

In England alone, a total of 18.4% of children are identified as having a special educational need. In order to support every child in our education and care, it is vital that we have a thorough understanding of what we mean by SEND and where to go next to find out more.

In this article, we are going to do exactly that! Asking ‘what is SEND?’ and what does working with children with SEND in early education and care mean?

What do we mean by SEND? 

SEND refers to “learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for a child or young person to learn compared to children of the same age.” Children with SEND could have further needs that mean additional support is required to access opportunities for learning.

Children do not have to be officially diagnosed with a condition or disability to be considered to have special educational needs. For example, a toddler who struggles with bright lights and loud noises might not be diagnosed with a condition associated with this behaviour, but should still be considered as needing additional support. In the UK, speech and language needs are the most prevalent, but this does not mean that every child with a speech and language need has a diagnosed condition that causes it. However, there are many common conditions and disabilities that are considered to have an impact on a child’s access to learning opportunities and educational progression.

These include, but are not limited to:

• physical disabilities that mean a child requires additional care routines

• sensory impairments, such as hearing/sight loss

• developmental disabilities, such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

• specific learning disabilities, such as dyscalculia, dyspraxia and dyslexia

• mental health conditions, such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety or eating disorders.

It might seem surprising to associate some of these needs, such as mental health ones, with young children, but mental health needs can and do affect children in their early years. In addition, specific conditions and disabilities are not often diagnosed until later in childhood, which can make finding and funding direct support more challenging.

As professionals in early education and care it is important to understand what to look out for to support children in the right way with the best possible provisions at the soonest opportunity. By understanding what SEND involves, we can work together to help children thrive in a safe and inclusive environment.

Understanding the broad areas of support for children with SEND

The SEND Code of Practice (2015) highlights four broad areas of SEND practice and provide an effective framework for thinking about the specific needs of the children we work with.

1. Communication and interaction

• Refers to communication needs with speech and language.
• Children may experience difficulties communicating with others and telling others what they need.
• Children may not understand social rules and cues, making interactions difficult to navigate with others.

2. Cognition and learning

• Refers to learning difficulties that require specific accommodations and impact one or more aspects of learning and children learning at a slower pace than their peers.

• This covers a wide range of needs, from moderate difficulties to multiple and profound learning difficulties too.

3. Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

• Social or emotional needs that might display as distressing, withdrawn or isolated behaviour.

• This might indicate underlying mental health difficulties or others SEN such as ADHD or ADD but the focus lies in the behaviour presented.

4. Sensory and physical needs

• Physical disabilities which prevent children from making use of the educational facilities generally provided or needing additional care provision.
• Sensory impairment and sensitivity can also make it challenging for children to access equal opportunities in their learning.