Special Educational Needs Resources : for teachers, parents and carers: Definitions

[ADD] [ADHD] [AUTISM] [DYSCALCULIA] [DYSLEXIA] [DYSPRAXIA] [SEMANTIC-PRAGMATIC DISORDER]
[SENSORY IMPAIRMENTS] [PHYSICAL MOBILITY PROBLEMS] [SPEECH AND LANGUAGE]

In the words of the DfEE, a child is defined as having Special Educational Needs "if he or she has a learning difficulty which needs special teaching. A learning difficulty means that the child has significantly greater difficulty in learning than most children of the same age. Or, it means a child has a disability which needs different educational facilities from those that schools generally provide for children of the same age in the area. The children who need special education are not only those with obvious learning difficulties, such as those who are physically disabled, deaf or blind. They include those whose learning difficulties are less apparent, such as slow learners and emotionally vulnerable children. It is estimated that up to 20% of school children may need special educational help at some stage in their school careers."

By far the greatest proportion of children in mainstream schools who have Special Educational Needs are those with Moderate Learning Difficulties which result in them learning at a slower rate than other children of the same age in the same school; these children can be successfully supported to reach their potential with the help of Child Support Assistants/Teachers' Aides and specialist teachers from the learning support services.

Other learning difficulties may also be dealt with in mainstream schools: some of the most likely to be encountered are described below :

Attention Deficit Disorder (with or without Hyperactivity) is a neurological condition which is probably genetic in origin, where the sufferer has a very reduced ability to maintain attention without distraction, has little control of doing or saying something due to impulsivity and lack of appropriate forethought, and, where hyperactivity is also present, no control over the amount of physical activity appropriate to the situation.

The following behaviour patterns are characteristic of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and usually occur before the age of 7, with at least 8 of the following symptoms present which are excessive and consistent, and over which the sufferer has no control:

fidgeting/restlessness
difficulty remaining seated when required to do so
easily distracted
difficulty awaiting turn in games or group situations
often blurts out answers to questions
difficulty following instructions
difficulty sustaining attention
often shifts from one incomplete activity to another
difficulty in playing quietly
often talks excessively
often interrupts or intrudes on others
often does not seem to listen
often loses things
often engages in physically dangerous activities without considering the consequences
chronic procrastination

Onset of ADHD will usually actually begin at about 18mths, becoming more noticeable by age 3 and peaking around Primary school age. Often hyperactivity is improved at puberty, butADHD does not just disappear and usually continues into adult life, sometimes with a slight variation or reduction in symptoms.
There are no known cases of an adult developing ADHD, but there are many instances of adults who were never diagnosed as children (or mis-diagnosed) who are diagnosed later in life.

(See also this page)

Autism encompasses a whole range of cognitive disorders which fall within the Autistic Spectrum.
Classic Autism is a complex developmental disability which is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle, and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism's occurrence. Although a single specific cause of autism is not known, current research links autism to biological or neurological differences in the brain. In many families there appears to be a pattern of autism or related disabilities, which suggests there is a genetic basis to the disorder although as yet, no one gene has been directly linked to autism.

Autism affects the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Children and adults with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities. The disorder makes it hard for them to communicate with others and relate to the outside world. In some cases, aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior may be present.
Persons with autism may exhibit repeated body movements (hand flapping, rocking), unusual responses to people or attachments to objects and resistance to changes in routines. Individuals may also experience unusual sensitivities in the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.

Children with classic Autistic characteristics are unlikely to succeed in mainstream education beyond Primary level, and then only with a high degree of support, but children with other disorders from within the Autistic Spectrum may succeed in being educated alongside their peers, albeit with specialised help and support.

Asperger's Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviour in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviour and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. Asperger's is sometimes referred to as High-functioning Autism.

Individuals with AS can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from mild to severe. Persons with AS show marked deficiencies in social skills, have difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness. They often have obsessive routines and may be preoccupied with a particular subject of interest. They have a great deal of difficulty reading nonverbal cues (body language) and very often the individual with AS has difficulty determining proper body space. They are often excessively sensitive to sounds, tastes, smells, and sights, so the person with AS may prefer soft clothing, certain foods, and be bothered by sounds or lights no one else can hear or see. Children with AS perceive the world very differently and those characteristics which seem odd or unusual are due to those neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behaviour.

NEW : Dannie's Dilemmas is a series of books written for Aspergers children, families and friends. They are interactive books where the reader can choose the ending from a choice of two; they give detailed accounts of Dannie's daily life struggles and how Dannie copes with the pressures of different situations. Available on-line - for more information click here

Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder is another of the conditions which fall within the Autistic Spectrum. The term 'Semantic Pragmatic Disorder' has been used for nearly l5 years. Originally it was only used to describe children who had these problems but were demonstrably not autistic.

Features it includes are:

delayed language development

learning to talk by memorising phrases, instead of putting words together freely

repeating phrases out of context, especially snippets remembered from television programmes or overheard from adult conversations, etc.

confusing 'I' and 'you'

problems with understanding questions, particularly questions involving 'how' and 'why'

difficulty following conversations

marked difficulty understanding figurative and non-literal expressions

problems understanding the meaning and significance of events

Children with this disorder have problems understanding the meaning of what other people say, and they do not understand how to use speech appropriately themselves.

Dyslexia comes in several forms : the most generally recognised subdivisions are

Auditory Dyslexia (Dysphonetic Dylsexia)
Visual Dyslexia (Dyseidectic Dyslexia)
Mixed or Classic Dyslexia (Dysphonetic and Dyseidectic Dyslexia)

Whatever the precise diagnosis, dyslexic children have difficulty in learning the symbols involved in a written language. It is a chronic neurological disorder that inhibits a person's ability to recognise and process written symbols. Dyslexia tends to run in families, and is three times as common in boys as in girls; estimates of its incidence in the general population vary but it is generally held to be between three and five per cent.

Learning difficulties may be apparent in the following academic areas:

spoken language: delays, disorders, or discrepancies in listening and speaking
written language: difficulties with reading, writing and/or spelling
arithmetic: difficulties in performing arithmetical functions or in comprehending basic concepts
organisational skills: difficulty in organising himself and/or his work
thinking skills: difficulty in organising and integrating thoughts and planning ahead

See also this page)

Dyscalculia is a difficulty allied to Dyslexia, where problems lie in understanding and using symbols or functions needed for success in mathematics. A child with dyscalculia frequently has average to above average intelligence but has difficulty with numbers or remembering mathematical facts over a long period of time. Some will have spatial problems such as aligning numbers into proper columns, as well as difficulty in performing other mathematical operations.

For a US site with more information on Dyscalculia, click here.

Dyspraxia is a difficulty with thinking out, planning and carrying out sensory / motor tasks. The child with dyspraxia may have a combination of several problems in varying degrees. These include:

poor balance
poor fine and gross motor co-ordination
difficulties with vision
motor planning and perception problems
tactile dysfunction
poor awareness of body position in space
difficulty with reading, writing, speech
poor social skills
emotional and behavioural problems

Dyspraxia is also known by other names including 'developmental co-ordination disorder', 'clumsy child syndrome', 'the hidden handicap', 'motor learning problems', 'minimal brain dysfunction' or 'sensory integrative problems' although in the UK the term Dyspraxia is the most often used.

(See also this page)

Cerebral Palsy (usually abbreviated to CP and formerly known as Spasticity, which is actually the name of one of the symptoms of CP) is a condition characterised by difficulty in controlling the muscles and affecting fine and gross motor movements. It is the result of damage to the brain either during foetal development or around the time of birth and can vary in severity depending on the amount of brain damage. Many children with CP are successfully educated in mainstream schools and apart from physical adaptations to allow access to all facilities and equipment, do not necessarily require an education any different from their peers. Some, however, do suffer a degree of learning disability but unless it is severe they can be educated in the same way as any other child requiring Learning Support.

(See also this page)

Sensory Impairments - visual and hearing - come under the remit of their respective specialist support services and children with hearing or sight loss may attend special schools, specialist units within mainstream schools or be supported as individuals in mainstream schools. They are no more or less likely than any other child to have intellectual or behavioural difficulties.

Speech and Language Problems range from delayed speech and immature speech patterns - usually in line with general developmental delay and typically (but not always) allied with language delay - to genuine speech impediments which are the province of the professional Speech Therapist.

(See also this page.)

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