Understanding Special Educational Needs

A Guide for Student Teachers

Michael Farrell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• ISBN:
  9781134395675
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Teachers need to be fully equipped to respond to diversity in today's classrooms now more than ever before. The Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status and Induction Standards are now the driving force behind initial teacher education, and students will need to demonstrate their competence against these, and in particular, their understanding of Special Educational Needs in today's inclusive classrooms. Each chapter of this indispensable text explores an important topic within SEN and directly relates it to the competencies, making it an essential course companion. Chapters on topics relating to the code of practice, school policy, literacy and numeracy, ICT, emotional and behavioural difficulties and dealing with parents all follow a similar template, which includes:

• a commentary on the relevant professional standards
• contextualising of the standards
• what teachers can do to promote effective practice.

Detailed referencing will lead students to pursue more detailed individual texts, which address many of the issues in greater depth. This is an ideal, highly accessible text for student and new qualified teachers who need a reliable introduction to today's vital issues within Special Educational Needs.

Chapter I
Defining and distinguishing special educational needs

To meet the Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status, teachers must demonstrate that They understand how pupils’ learning can be effected by their physical, intellectual, linguistic, social, cultural and emotional development’ (QTS Standards, TTA, 2002a, Chapter 2, section 4).

Regarding the ‘complex factors which influence individual pupils’ ability to learn’, trainees should have ‘sufficient understanding of some of these factors to take account of and respond to individual pupil needs, to plan lessons sensitively, and to teach in an inclusive way that recognises pupils have different motivations to learn and that pupils have different needs at different times’ (Handbook of Guidance on QTS Standards and ITT Requirements, TTA, 2002b, Chapter 2, section 4, scope).

Trainees’ knowledge in relation to Standard Chapter 2, section 4 will be indicated in their lesson planning and teaching and the ‘strategies they use for differentiation, the approaches they take to organising groups, their selection of resources and their setting of pupil targets will be useful areas of focus’.

In judging trainees’ knowledge, assessors may consider the extent to which the trainees work shows evidence ‘that perceptual development is a cognitive activity, and that sensory impediments might impair attention and learning’ (Handbook of Guidance on QTS Standards and ITT Requirements, TTA, 2002b, Chapter 2, section 4, evidence).

Teachers must demonstrate that They identify and support more able pupils, those who are working below age-related expectations, those who are failing to achieve their potential in learning and those who experience behavioural, emotional and social difficulties’ (QTS Standards, TTA, 2002a, Chapter 3, section 2.4).

This chapter analyses the legal definition of SEN distinguishing ‘disability’, ‘difficulty in learning’, ‘learning difficulty’ and ‘special educational need’. It outlines the main areas of SEN in line with the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (Department for Education and Skills, 2001a) namely: communication and interaction; cognition and learning; behaviour, emotional and social development; and sensory and/or physical needs. In considering these, reference will be briefly made to the sort of provision from which pupils might benefit as this gives a further indication of the nature of the SEN.

To further illustrate the relationship of disability and SEN, the chapter outlines provisions for SEN and for disability in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001. I consider the needs of ‘looked after’ children who have SEN, particularly the responsibilities of social services departments to manage Personal Education Plans for young people. The chapter indicates how the legal definition of SEN helps to distinguish pupils with SEN from pupils for whom English is an additional language and from very able pupils.

The legal definition of special educational needs

The definition of SEN in the Education Act 1996 is: ‘a child has special educational needs…if he has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him’ (section 312). The Act then defines ‘learning difficulty’ stating that a child has a learning difficulty if:

1. he has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of his age;
2. he has a disability which either prevents or hinders him from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of his age in schools within the area of the local education authority; or
3. he is under the age of five and is, or would be if special educational provision were not made for him, likely to fall within paragraph (a) and (b) when of, or over that age.’

(section 312 (2))

Learning difficulty, difficulty in learning and disability

It will be seen from the above definition that it is possible to have a learning difficulty but not to have a SEN. This is because the only learning difficulty that constitutes a SEN is one which ‘calls for’ special educational provision to be made for it.

A child only has a learning difficulty if he has ‘a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of his age’. This means that a child may have a difficulty in learning which is not significantly greater than that of children of the same age and that therefore would not be considered as a learning difficulty.

A child may have a disability but it may not prevent or hinder him from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of his age in schools within the area of the local education authority. Therefore he would not have a learning difficulty.

Consequently, a child may have a disability or a difficulty in learning but may not have a learning difficulty. Similarly, a child may have a learning difficulty but not have a SEN. A child only has SEN when he or she:

• has a ‘difficulty in learning’ that constitutes a ‘learning difficulty’ that in turn requires special educational provision, or
• has a ‘disability’ that constitutes a ‘learning difficulty’ that in turn requires special educational provision.

A medical condition does not necessarily imply a ‘difficulty in learning’ or a ‘disability’ and therefore may not constitute a learning difficulty requiring special educational provision. A medical condition does not therefore necessarily constitute a SEN.

SEN and the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice

In the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (Department for Education and Skills, 2001a), the definition of SEN is somewhat elaborated. The Code states, on the one hand, that ‘there are no hard and fast categories of special educational need’, that ‘every child is unique’ and that ‘there is a wide spectrum of special educational need that are frequently inter-related’ (Ibid., Chapter 7, section 52). On the other hand, it states that ‘there are also specific needs that usually relate to particular types of impairment’ (Ibid.) and although ‘individual pupils may have needs which span two or more areas’, nevertheless, ‘needs and requirements can usefully be organised into areas’ (Ibid., Chapter 7, section 53). The Code then sets out the main areas of SEN as follows:

• communication and interaction (e.g. speech and language delay, impairments or disorders);
• cognition and learning (e.g. moderate, severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties; specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia);
• behaviour, emotional and social development (e.g. features of emotional and behavioural difficulties, hyperactivity, etc.);
• sensory and/or physical needs (e.g. hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical impairments).

Children whose needs come into these areas are said to require ‘flexible teaching arrangements’. It will be apparent that often the areas relate to slower than average progress in some aspect of development, for example, social or emotional or language development. It is assumed in the subsequent sections that the student or newly qualified teacher has a general understanding of physical, cognitive, perceptual, language, social and emotional development as indicated in QTS Standard 2.4 and related Handbook guidance (see box above). Special education concerns the learning of pupils where there are difficulties in these areas of development.

Communication and interaction

Among children who, according to the Code (DfES, 2001a, Chapter 7, section 55), will have communication and interaction difficulties are those with:

• speech and language difficulties, impairments and disorders;
• specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia and dyspraxia);
• hearing impairment;. autistic spectrum disorder;
• sensory or physical impairment leading to communication and interaction difficulties.

These disorders, difficulties and impairments are in part defined to include communication and interaction difficulties. For example, autistic spectrum disorder (or at least autism) is defined as an impairment of communication and interaction (and other impairments). This is perhaps what the Code means when it indicates that ‘there are also specific needs that usually relate to particular types of impairment’ (Ibid., Chapter 7, section 52).

The Code also mentions children who may have communication and interaction difficulties. These are children with:

• moderate learning difficulties;
• severe learning difficulties;
• profound learning difficulties.

These ‘difficulties’ are not exclusively defined according to whether they are associated with communication and interaction difficulties.

Among the educational requirements of pupils with communication and interaction difficulties suggested by the Code, some are self-evident. Few would express astonishment in discovering that a pupil with communication and interaction difficulties might require ‘help in acquiring, comprehending and using language’ or help in using ‘different means of communication confidently and competently for a range of purposes’ (Ibid., Chapter 7, section 56). Other suggestions include that the pupil may need help in:

• articulation;
• acquiring literacy skills;
• using augmentative and alternative means of communication;
• organising and co-ordinating oral and written language.

Also support may be needed, for example, to ‘compensate for the impact of communication difficulty on learning English as an additional language’ (Ibid., Chapter 7, section 56).

Cognition and learning

The Code considers children who will require specific programmes to aid progress in cognition and learning. It is worth asking why anyone should need anything to ‘aid’ progress and the answer implicit in the Code is that some children do not progress as well as others of the same age. This slower progress may be evident, for example, in language development, literacy and numeracy where evidence of this slower progress is lower standards of achievement. Children who are making slower progress than others and who ‘require’ specific programmes are those who demonstrate features of:

• moderate learning difficulties;
• severe learning difficulties;
• profound learning difficulties;
• specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

(Ibid., Chapter 7, section 58)

Again, it is clear that these difficulties imply that progress and achievement are slower than that of other children. It would not make sense to say that special educational provision was to be made because a child had severe learning difficulties and that the evidence for this is that he or she was progressing just as well as everyone else and reaching the same standards of achievement. The very fact that this is not so is what necessitates the ‘specific programmes’.

Among those who may require specific programmes to aid progress in cognition and learning are children with:

• physical and sensory impairments; or
• autistic spectrum disorder.

The Code suggests that pupils with SEN in the area of cognition and learning may require help with such things as:

• acquiring literacy skills;
• organising and co-ordinating spoken and written English to aid cognition;
• processing language, memory and reasoning skills.

(Ibid.)

Behaviour, emotional and social development

The Code refers to pupils who ‘demonstrate features of emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) and who may be ‘disruptive and disturbing’. Other examples of the pupils who are ‘demonstrating’ features of EBD are those who:

• are withdrawn or isolated;
• are hyperactive and lacking concentration;
• have immature social skills;
• present challenging behaviours arising from other complex special needs.

These children may require help or counselling for certain things. Again, what is required derives unsurprisingly from what it appears pupils do not have. Thus, given that the pupil may have ‘immature social skills’, he or she may well need ‘help with development of social competence’. If the pupil is ‘disruptive and disturbing’, it follows that they may need ‘help in acquiring the skills of positive interaction with peers and adults’. Among other help and support suggested are:

• provision of class and school systems which control or censure negative or difficult behaviours and encourage positive behaviours;
• re-channelling or re-focusing to diminish repetitive and self-injurious behaviours.

Sensory and/or physical needs

The Code speaks of a ‘wide spectrum of sensory, multi-sensory and physical difficulties’ (Ibid., Chapter 7, section 62). Sensory and multi-sensory difficulties include:

• profound and permanent deafness;
• profound and permanent visual impairment;
• lesser levels of loss which may be temporary.

The Code refers to physical impairments in terms of their causes (physical, neurological or metabolic), what they might require (‘appropriate access to educational facilities and equipment’) and what they might lead to (‘more complex learning and social needs’) (Ibid.). Among the requirements that the Code suggests are:

• appropriate seating, acoustic conditioning and lighting;
• adaptations to the physical environment of the school;
• provision of tactile and kinaesthetic material;
• access to low vision aids.

(Ibid.)

Further information on SEN

A widely used source of further details of SEN and individual differences is the Special Education Handbook (Farrell, 2002) which provides information, references, further reading and physical and Internet addresses for a range of areas of SEN and conditions. These include:

See Table

Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

Background

To further illustrate the relationship of disability to SEN, this section considers the Special Education Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA), which is an important piece of legislation in its own right. The SENDA amends the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and part 4 of the Education Act 1996 and makes further provision ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Understanding special educational needs
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Defining and distinguishing special educational needs
• Chapter 2: Inclusion
• Chapter 3: The special educational needs code of practice
• Chapter 4: Equal opportunities and local SEN policy
• Chapter 5: Raising educational achievement and the use of individual education plans
• Chapter 6: Literacy and numeracy
• Chapter 7: Information and communications technology
• Chapter 8: Resources
• Chapter 9: Emotional, behavioural and social difficulties
• Chapter 10: Developing one’s teaching
• Chapter 11: Assessment, recording and reporting
• Chapter 12: Partners and participants
• Appendix 1: Useful addresses
• Appendix 2: Internet addresses
• Glossary
• Bibliography