Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

 

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is a term used to describe learning difficulties or disabilities that makes it harder for a child or young person (0-25 years) to learn compared to children of the same age.

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can affect a child or young person’s ability to learn. They can affect their:

  • Behaviour or ability to socialise, for example they struggle to make friends
  • Reading and writing, for example because they have dyslexia
  • Ability to understand things
  • Concentration levels, for example because they have ADHD
  • Physical ability

Who to talk to

 

If you think your child may have special educational needs, contact the SEN co-ordinator, or ‘SENCO’ in your child’s school or nursery.

Contact your local council if your child is not in a school or nursery.

Your local Information, Advice and Support (IAS) Service can give you advice about SEND.

Coming into hospital can be a worrying time for some people with SEND. But there is extra support you can get while you are in hospital.

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 and the Children and Families 2014 gives guidance to health and social care, education and local authorities to make sure that children and young people with SEND are properly supported.

Getting ready to come into hospital

If you know you are going into hospital soon there are some things, you can do to help yourself feel ready. You can:

  • Talk through what might happen with family, friends, or a health professional
  • Read through any information the hospital or doctor has given you – you might need someone to help you with this
  • Have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or hospital passport ready – this will help you tell the hospital staff what reasonable adjustments you need.
  • Make sure the hospital knows what reasonable adjustments you will need before you go there. In the first instance contact the clinic you will be attending or you can contact the Learning disability team 

Reasonable adjustments

The NHS has to make it as easy for disabled people to use health services as it is for people who are not disabled. This is called making reasonable adjustments.

Reasonable adjustments tell people who will look after you in hospital the support you need. We are all different, so it is important you talk about this.

Some examples of reasonable adjustments are having:

  • A carer stays in hospital overnight with you
  • Information in easy read or plain English
  • A longer appointment
  • Time to meet your learning disability nurse before you go into hospital
  • More time and support to make sure you understand what you need to at the hospital

You or your carer can include in your hospital passport any help you need with eating or drinking, or how to tell if you are in pain.

The SEND Code of Practice 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 gives guidance to health and social care, education and local authorities to make sure that children and young people with SEND are properly supported.

If you or a child that you care for needs extra health and education support, an application can be made for an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC) to your local council.

What is an education, health and care plan?

Schools in England must provide support to children with special educational needs (SEN) as part of their standard offer to children. This is called SEN support. Schools are deemed to have £6000 of funding.

Where a child or young person requires additional support that goes beyond what a school, college, or nursery can typically deliver from their own budgets or staffing then they may need to apply for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA).  This will determine if provision is necessary to be provided in an EHCP.

An Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support.

EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.

Section G of an EHCP looks specifically at health care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having special educational needs.