Broad areas of need

(taken and adapted from the SEND Code of Practice 2015) 

Communication and interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

Children and young people with ASD, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.

Cognition and learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a different pace than their peers, even with appropriate adaptations. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties. Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This includes a range of diagnosis such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which display themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) or attachment disorder.

Sensory and/or physical needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) may require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning.

Click on the following link to access the padlet for various links to other websites for information. 

https://padlet.com/sstrong35/areas-of-send-a1q2szlhw3d4gak6

Click on the link for an interactive version.