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Supporting SEN and SEN background - Coggle Diagram
Supporting SEN and SEN background
Legal definitions of SEN and policy
A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision (if sitting at a mild end, is this fair?)
A child of compulsory school age or young person has a difficulty or disability if they are behind peers of their age, or hinders them from making use of the facilities generally provided in mainstream
This is good as it shows they could access mainstream (inclusive) but also minimises those below school age, as early intervention is more effective
For children aged two or more, SE provision is educational or training provision additionally to or different from the general provision -
This is more inclusive, and involves all children who are within mainstream of all ages
A child under compulsory school age has SEN if he or she is likely to fall into the definition of the second one, or would do so if provision was not made for them
Improves definition above
Post-16 institutions often use LDD, term SEN encompasses 0-25 range and LDD
Inclusive, but LDD could retract from level of need and funding provision
A child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language which is or has been spoken at home
Agreed, but additionally if they are showing difficulty they should be provided support, particularly if there is pre-existing diagnosis
(refer to lecture notes for full definitions (2014)
Legal aspects of SEND Code of Practice - (Dunsmuir., 2024):
Involves views of the CYP and parents
Importance of CYP and parents participating fully in decisions
Need to support CYP and parents in order to help with development and help them achieve as highly as possible
Criteria for decision making as a young person (16-25) -
--> Can they communicate their decision in any way?
--> Can they use and weigh the information to arrive at a choice?
--> Can they retain information to make a decision?
--> Can the person understand information relevant to the decision and its associated consequence?
In order to qualify for EHC assessment -
Evidence of CYP attainment and rate of progress
Information about the nature, extent and context of SEN
Evidence about action being taken already
Evidence of progress - has it only been due to interventions and support
Evidence of the CYPs emotional, physical and social development and health needs, drawing on relevant evidence
When a CYP is over 18, the LA must consider if they require additional time for education and training
The sections of an EHC -
Views, interests and aspirations of the child
Child or young person’s special educational needs
The child or young person’s health needs related to SEN
CYP needs related to SEN or disability
Outcomes south for them, and arrangements desired
The special educational provision required
Any health provision reasonably required by learning difficulties which result in SEN (can lead to individual Health Care Plan)
Any social care provision (from Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act)
Any other social care provision from statutory care act
Name and type of school to be attended due to EHC
Personal budget and its support
Advice and information gathered during the EHC assessment must be attached
Disadvantaged groups in education -
Pupils at risk of lower educational attainment
--> Economically disadvantaged (low SES, pupil premium, low cultural capital)
--> Socially disadvantaged (young carers, looked after, known to social care)
--> Pupils with high needs before starting school
--> Pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL)
--> Pupils with SEN
Schools are accountable for their progress
SEN interacts with other learner characteristics (Dyson & Gallannaugh., 2008; Lupton et al., 2010) such as ethnicity, SES and gender
SEN Inclusion driven by Human Rights agenda (1989 UN convention; 1994 UNESCO Salamanca statement)
SEND reform - Assessment -> Intervention (learning environment)
System does not work - reform needed - the progress of SEN legal definitions ->
<1981 - Handicapped Assessment of Disability
1978 Warnock Report - Assessment of Need (LEA decides)
1981 Education Act - Categorical definition of SEN
1993 Education Act - SENCO and SEN policies
2001 Special Educational Needs and Disability Act
-> Strengthened case for inclusion
-> Statements, School Action Plus, School Action
-> Learning environment - 1:1 provision, special equipment and external support services
2005 - Warnock U-Turn - inclusion may not be best for all, need choice
2014 - Children and Families Act (New ‘SEN’ code of practice)
-> SEN as a continuum of needs
-> SEN Support & EHCs for 0-25 year olds
-> EHCP assessments requested from LA and annually reviewed, LA publishes local offer
-> Parents and young people given greater choice and control
SEND review - right support, right place, right time (2022; green paper - consultation and discussion)
Navigating the SEND system is too complex
Outcomes for CYP with SEND are worse than their peers
System is not financially sustainable
Every Child Achieving and Thriving (2026; White paper - governments preferred policy)
Early intervention and support in mainstream school
Tiered support - targeted, targeted plus, specialist
Individual support plans (consistent provision across schools)
EHCPs reserved for children with most complex needs
National Inclusion standards - reduce variability across the country
Increased investment in mainstream and specialist provision
SEN statistics
Percentages of pupils with EHC plan or SEN support at all schools
EHCP increases from 2.9%-6% between 2017-2026
SEN support increased from 11.7%-14.8% between 2017-2026
Most common type of need for pupils with an EHCP is ASD and for pupils with SEN support is speech, communication and language needs
SEN is more prevalent in boys than girls, with boys representing 70.7% of all pupils with an EHCP and 60.4% of pupils with SEN support
% of pupils with SEN increases with age to peak at 10yrs (17.7%) declining to 14% at 15 yrs - EHCP number peaks at age 11 (6.9%)
Increases - better diagnostic criteria, better data gathering for EHCP and more charities to help applications be successful, better awareness, screen-time leading to reduced SCL skills, practises of learning have influenced performance in tests
EHCP numbers peaking at transition to secondary due to data gathering, the change to secondary school highlighting need, more need for specialist settings at this age (environmental change)
Needs change fluidly and the support and intervention required may change when moving to secondary - informal intervention is easier in primary, and secondary need evidence
--> No teaching of basic skills, and this can put literacy demands and pressure on students
4 key areas of SEND
Communication and interaction - ASD and DLD - find it difficult to say what they want, understand what is being said to them, do not understand social rules of communication, imagination and relating to others
Cognition and learning - learning slowly despite adequate teaching and differentiation
Mild LD, Severe LD, profound and multiple LD and SpLD (dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia)
SEMH - withdrawn, isolated, challenging and disruptive behaviour, may reflect underlying MH need or unexplained physical symptoms, ADHD, attachment disorder
Sensory and or physical needs - visual, hearing impairment and physical disability
Carroll et al., 2017 - almost all educated in mainstream, challenging for teachers to meet range of need - these areas are the highest number still in mainstream primary and secondary
SEND code of practice - high expectations for SEN in participation and achievement
Attainment measured with GCSEs and A-Levels, Attainment 8, Progress 8 (KS2-KS4) and EBacc - massive attainment gaps in SEN children
Inequities in the system - Off-rolling in schools - high inequality and distribution of SEND across mainstream, and system lets down academic pupils
Dunsmuir et al., 2024 - Problems in other developmental dimensions may be a direct consequence of the syndrome causing the primary impairment
Problems in other dimensions may also arise as a side-effect of main difficulties
Educational programmes have to take full account of all needs to be individualised and effective (Corrigan, 2014)
Interactive factors framework: Fredrickson and Cline., 2009 -
Environmental / management
--> School, classroom, teacher, parent, peers, curriculum intervention, LA / government / society, native language and language of instruction
Biological - genes, brain structure and function
Cognitive + affective -
--> Perception, processing, executive function
--> Personality, motivation and engagement
Behavioural - (reciprocal with cognitive and affective)
--> Behaviour, skills / competencies and academic performance
How we assess -
Code of practice from DfES - assessment should focus on learning characteristics, learning environment that the school provides, the task and the teaching
SEN is not always linked to a DLD, and a NDC may not always result in SEN
Response to Intervention (RTI): Fletcher & Vaughn, 2009):
High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN (DfE/DOH, 2014)
Graduated approach - assess, plan, do, review
Recommended for literacy, numeracy and SEMH difficulties
Wave 1 - quality first teaching and differentiation for all
Activities are planned at an appropriate level for a child to learn and achieve success
Fewer pupils with SEN, cost effective and sustainable
Wave 2 - additional intervention in place
If a child is struggling to make adequate progress, and intervention plan is made by SENCO and teacher to boost progress
Different to ordinarily available resources and provision, and can include small group work
How can teachers determine what works for children with SEN?
Wave 3 - additional highly personalised intervention
If more focused strategies and targets are sought from outside agencies then the child would be listed as wave 3
More focused strategies and targets given, advice from outside agencies sought
SEN support plan put in place to be reviewed with parents and child
Using evidence - graduated approach: Assess > Plan > Do > Review
Evaluate outcomes - questionnaires, assessments, observations
--> Done in mentally healthy schools
Efficacy studies - does it change outcome
Effectiveness trials - does it work in school context
Process evaluations - how does the intervention work
How can we bridge the gap -
Limited range of approaches
Often conducted in a clinical context
Cannot take account of important factors e.g. relationships
Cannot answer complex questions
Often complex or multiple
Many factors influencing outcomes
Range of approaches may be necessary
Chaotic / disadvantaged circumstances can make it hard to engage child and family
Practice informed by evidence - research process can be used to assess effectiveness of an approach
Generate hypotheses (about child in learning environment) -> Collect data (range of data from range of sources) -> Conclusions (interventions, strategies and actions most likely to be effective in promoting progress) -> Monitoring change (effectiveness evaluated and further assessment initiated if needed)
Research cycle - Good et al., 1998; Guildford, 2015
Dyslexia example - Interactive factors framework:
Environment - English Orthography
Leads to grapheme-phoneme conversion (cognitive) and phonological deficit (cognitive)
Biological abnormality in perisylvian region leads to phonological deficit
Behavioural - poor memory, poor naming, poor phonological awareness (from phonological awareness) and poor reading (from poor grapheme-phoneme conversion)
Merton and Frith (1995) - argue that when constructing a model of how seriously a problem develops it is essential to start with biology, but we should not pay attention to this fully
Malanchini et al., 2020 - evidence for the role of genetic and environmental factors in cognitive ability and educational attainment
Draw on self-regulation, personality traits, motivational and psychosocial factors as well as approaches to learning (Richardson et al., 2012)
--> Tools that provide information about genetic differences could aid the identification of children at risk literacy difficulties, to aid appropriate interventions being put in place
The bioecology of development - the PPCT model (Brofenbrenner, 1979, 2005):
Process - reciprocal interactions between the developing child or adolescent and the persons, objects and symbols in the immediate external environment (including cultural)
Person -
--> Demand characteristics on the individual and how they act as a stimulus on interactions due to the expectations they cause
--> Resource characteristics - not immediately recognisable in the same way influence how an individual can engage in reciprocal interactions (mental and emotional resources, or material resources)
--> Force characteristics - temperament, persistence and motivation level
Context - ecological systems theory
Microsystem - experienced in active participation settings
Mesosystem - relationship between settings of active participation
Exosystem - one or more settings that do not involve the child directly as an active participant, but are affected by what happens in systems that do involve the child
Macrosystem - refers to consistencies in the other systems that exist at the level of culture or subculture as a whole
Time -
Micro time - what happens during a particular activity
Meso time - processes that occur with some consistency over the course of days, weeks or years
Macro time (chronosystem) - dynamics of change in culture
Early childhood experiences -
Smoking and ADHD strongly associated (Huang et al, 2018; He et al, 2020)
--> However, Rice et al,. 2018 found that the family confounding and passive gene environment is more important than this alone
Risks in post-natal environment including postnatal stress and depression, or the mother also having ADHD (Rice et al., 2018)
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders (Hemingway et al., 2018) - differences in FASD profiles within their carefully matched sibling pairs provides genetic evidence of pre-natal exposure to alcohol promoting severity of FASD
ACEs influence
Critical periods and sensitive periods
Protective factors and resilience (Rutter, 2007) - shift towards understanding how risks are dealt with
The mental sets they have when faced with challenges and the coping strategies they employ to deal with them
Genetic susceptibility or resistance to environmental risk or more generally to environmental change
Nature of experiences following exposure to risk
Bronfrenbrenner - bio-social-ecological model
--> Ungar et al., 2013 - proposed a systematic social-ecological theory of resilience
--> Interventions should involve systems around the child e.g. parental education and interventions about positive school culture
Supporting SEN and perspectives on it
Teachers and SEN: (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002; Krischler & Pit-ten Cate, 2019; Lindsey, 2007)
Positive explicit attitudes toward general concept of inclusion
Perceived competence dropped significantly according to severity of children’s needs
--> Emotional and behavioural difficulties
Negative implicit attitudes towards SEN - related to teacher ratings of academic proficiency
Frequently believed neuromyths in education (Dekker et al, 2012; Gini et al., 2021)
--> Difficulty determining what good evidence is
Raises questions about breadth and quality of initial teacher training in SEN
Varying interpretations and practices across professionals, schools, LAs and countries in SEN identification and provision
Barriers - diagnosis, equal access to intervention, SES, ethnicity, gender, local authority funding, cultural understanding
Global perspectives on SEN:
Ali and Sarawr (2015) - teachers in Bangladesh display negative attitudes towards children with dyslexia, such as viewing them as ‘lazy’
Kwok & Kwok Lai Yuk Ching (2022) -
--> Barriers to supporting south Asian children with SEN in Hong Kong
-> Highlights intersection stigmas of SEN and culture/ethnicity
Discrimination faced by SEN which is protected against -
Direct discrimination occurs when one person treats another less favourably because of protected characteristic
Indirect discrimination occurs when a provision, criterion or practice is applied generally but has the effect of putting people with a particular characteristic at a disadvantage when compared to those without
Harassment - unwanted conduct, related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment
Victimisation - less favourable treatment
Further reading around SEN and education
Raising educational outcomes for students with SEND - review and meta-analysis (Van Herwegen et al., 2026)
Targeted interventions for specific SEND groups improves educational outcomes by average age of 5 months compared to controls - impact on reading, writing and maths- The setting did not affect reading or writing, but mainstream intervention was less effective for maths
Intervention effects are consistent regardless of delivery, implementor or control group type
Substantial variability however - positive effects for dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, SCLN, mixed SEND and SEMH
Reading outcomes improved for reading difficulties and SCLN and mixed SEND
Mathematical outcomes improved for ADHD and mathematical difficulties
Mixed results for writing difficulties
Little evidence for targeted interventions on academic outcome for autism, DS and DCD, and sensory needs
Small amount of studies on general attainment
Need more studies on a range of SEND, and longitudinal data, secondary and post-16 samples and more rigorous methodology
Supporting children with SEN and disabilities in schools - Critical insights from Educational Neuroscience (Van Herwegen et al., pre-print)
Attentional control, working memory and oral language are important skills that need to be focused on
Diagnostic labels have limited practical value for teachers in understanding how to support individual learners as they do not outline the need that needs supporting
Early emerging cognitive impairment should be used to support intervention - sustained attention, vocabulary, working memory and socio-emotional ability should be considered in holistic assessments
Need to consider developmental age in delivery interventions also, and those in secondary schools are ignored
Language difficulties should be noted and intervened in earlier - skills related to learning demands should be focused on rather than distal skills
Lack of longitudinal data
Use of SEN labels (Dunsmuir et al., 2024)
Helpful:
Diagnosis leading to treatment
Labelling leads to awareness
Label reduces ambiguities and provides clear communication for professional information exchange
Labels provide comfort
Labels provide people with social identity - sense of belonging
Unhelpful:
A label is applied but there is a lack of consideration regarding the nature of intervention
Labelling leads to stigmatisation
There is no clear agreement amongst professionals about how labels are decided
Labelling leads to deficit focus and possibly lowered expectations
Labelling leads to teasing, bullying and low self-esteem
Differences in the UK -
England - SEND, Northern Ireland - Additional Educational Needs, Scotland - Additional Support Needs, Wales - Additional Learning Needs
Confusion can lead to discrimination, low expectations and provision can be hampered
History of SEN -
12 recognised categories - Blind, partially sighted, deaf, partially deaf, physically handicapped, delicate, educationally subnormal (moderate), educationally subnormal (severe), epileptic, maladjusted, speech defects and autistic
This was abolished and special educational provision should be identified on the basis of a detailed profile of their needs following assessment
--> SEN should be based on continuums, rather than opposing sides, as difficulties can range, may have resulted in varied need in terms of classrooms and approaches
--> Particular children in different categories may have same SEN
SEN in the UK now -
Generally seen as positive, but a number of criticisms regarding the interrelationship of definitions, needs and provision (1981)
Categories of SEN remain for the provision of specialist schools
Lack of funding - more can be provided on the basis they require specialist support and schools, alongside Pupil Premium where needed
--> Can be used for overall teaching and schools rather than an individual if they do not require specialist support
Conceptualisations of SEND (Dunsmuir et al., 2024)
Individual differences -
Focus on individual needs is often based on untested assumptions (e.g. appropriate learning opportunities, learning experiences match needs, teaching available is effective) - Solity, 1993
Social, cultural and educational contexts - Vygotsky and Brofrenbrenner - Reindal, 2008
Where the educational context contributes to the problem, focusing on the individual will not make a broader contribution to improving the context (Dyson, 1990)
Where individuals needs must be identified and labelled, the situation lends itself to inequality (Arishi et al., 2017)
Environmental demands - Solity, 1996:
Individual differences do still matter - different children respond to teaching in different ways (Frederickson, 1997)
Some disabilities are associated with distinct cognitive and behavioural profiles - (Rees, 2017)
Within child factors can be influenced by teachers
Interactional explanations - current guidance on SEND reflects this position
International Classification of Functioning (ICF) - models for understanding an individual’s level of functioning and disability and an evaluation system, including assessment checklists
Reflects the bio-psycho-social perspective where functioning and disability are outcomes of an interaction between health conditions and environmental factors
Common assessment framework is used (centered on child - safeguarding and promoting welfare)
-> Parenting capacity -> basic care, ensuring safety, emotional warmth, stimulation, guidance and boundaries and stability
-> Family and environmental factors - Community resources, family’s social integration, income, employment, housing, wider family, family and history functioning
-> Child’s developmental needs - health, education, emotional & behavioural development, identity, family and social relationships, social presentation and self-care skills
Understanding Neurocognitive Developmental Disorders Can Improve Education for all (Butterworth & Kovas., 2013)
Specific learning disabilities affect around 10% of the population, and they often co-occur - grand challenges of developing understanding and adapting pathways to individual needs
Previously classified with ‘intellectual disability’ or ‘learning disability’
However, this is oversimplification, as those with moderate or high IQ can have language and social difficulty in education
ID and LD still used for low IQ
High co-occurrence between dyslexia and dyscalculia, ADHD and ASD and ADHD and dyslexia
--> However, using domain-general tests can lead to different results - for example, using different IQ tests can result in different answers and diagnoses
SLD criteria often reflects IQ, reading tests, mathematics tests and social ability
Also measure working memory - association is dependent on the SLD being tested
As a result of using domain-general tests, ‘core deficits’ have been identified:
In dyslexia - phonological deficits; speech processing and mental representation is impaired
In dyscalculia - numerosity processing, but this is also linked to language
ADHD - inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that affects social, academic and occupational functioning
ASD - impairments of social interactions and communication, as well as stereotyped and repetitive behaviour
Specific language impairment (DLD) - expressive and receptive language difficulties, not due to sensory deprivation, which co-occur with average non-verbal intelligence
Neurological basis -
Dyslexia - decreased grey matter in midtemporal gyrus and mid-posttemporal gyrus
--> Decreased white matter in left arcuate fasciculus
Dyscalculia - decreased grey matter in left intraparietal sulcus
ADHD - decreased brain volume and cortical thickness, cerebellum, decreased volume of anterior cingulate cortex, decreased frontal cortex volume
ASD - greater total brain volume and grey matter throughout, most prominently in frontal lobe, greater prepuberty white matter volume
SLI (DLD) - abnormal perisylvian asymmetry
Genetic basis - all cognitive traits are polygenic:
Shared environments can contribute to ASD and ADHD behaviours
Impact on reading and maths -
--> Common shared environments - SES, parental involvement, language
--> Reading non-shared - illnesses to brain areas or curriculum missed
--> Maths non-shared - illness or curriculum missed
Ethnic Disproportionality in the Identification of High-Incidence Special Educational Needs: A National Longitudinal Study Ages 5 to 11 (Strand & Lindorff., 2021)
Underrepresentation of Black Caribbean and Pakistani pupils compared to White British pupils for Moderate Learning Difficulties
SEMH - Black Caribbean and mixed White and Black Caribbean pupils overrepresented, but Black African students are underrepresented
Under-represented in SEN need, and so more needs to be done to identify the source of these differences
Disproportionality in Special Education: A Synthesis of International Research and Trend (Cooc & Kiru., 2018):
Structural inequalities in society over cultural barriers - these cause disproportionality in the US with access to special education services
Reviews tend to focus on identifying special needs rather than supporting them
Overrepresentation and disproportionality are observed consistently for boys, immigrants and indigenous groups
Special Educational Needs: a Contextualised Perspective (Lupton, Thrupp & Brown., 2010) -
Frameworks continue to focus on categories of need and individual difficulty over the inability of schools in their current state to provide support
Connection between SEN funding and school-level disadvantage - higher SEN in areas of disadvantage, environmental contributor
Similar needs are treated differently - inadequate SEN funding leads to funds being channelled into LSA provision over wellbeing and enrichment activities which affects all children
Identification and funding should be de-individualised and more strongly linked to SE inequalities