What is a Special Educational Need?

A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions (SEND Code of Practice, 2014).

There are 4 broad categories of special educational need:

• communication and interaction – may include Autism Spectrum Disorders, speech and language difficulties;

• cognition and learning - can include specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia; moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties fall within this area;

• social, emotional and mental health – could include anxiety, attachment disorders, emotional difficulties, mental health difficulties; ADHD and ADD;

• sensory and/or physical needs – may include having a visual, hearing or multi-sensory impairment or have a physical disability.