Special needs.
Children with special educational needs
A child has special educational needs if they have a learning problem or disability that make it more difficult for them to learn than most children their age. They may have problems with schoolwork, communication or behaviour. Parents can get help and advice from specialists, teachers and voluntary organisations.
What 'special educational needs' means
'Special educational needs' is a legal definition and refers to children with learning problems or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children the same age.
How schools can help children with special educational needs
A school can usually provide help and sometimes uses specialists. If your child has special educational needs, they may need extra help:
with schoolwork
reading, writing, number work or understanding information
expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying
making friends or interacting with adults
behaving properly in school
organising themselves
They might have sensory or physical needs that affect them in school.
Your child's progress
Children progress at different rates and have different ways in which they learn best. When planning lessons, your child's teacher will take account of this by looking carefully at how they organise their lessons, classroom, books and materials.
The teacher will choose suitable ways to help your child learn. If your child is making slower progress or having particular problems in one area, they may be given extra help or different lessons to help.
Just because your child is making slower progress than you expected or the teachers are providing different support, help or activities in class, this doesn't necessarily mean that your child has special educational needs.
Getting help for your child
Your child's early years are a very important time for their physical, emotional, intellectual and social development. When the health visitor or doctor makes a routine check, they might suggest that there could be a problem. If you have any worries of your own, you should ask for advice right away.
You should ask your child's class teacher, the person in the school responsible for helping children with special educational needs or the headteacher.
You could ask them if:
the school thinks your child is having problems
your child is able to work at the same level as others of the same age
your child is already getting extra help
you can help your child
If the school agrees your child has special needs in some areas, they'll use a step-by-step approach to meeting these.
Talking to your child's school
There are some basic principles that everyone involved in your child's education at school will consider:
if your child has special needs, these should be met and they should receive a broad, well-balanced and relevant education
your views should always be taken into account and the wishes of your child should be listened to
your child's needs will usually be met in a mainstream school, sometimes with the help of outside specialists
you should be consulted on all the decisions that affect your child
you have a vital role to play in your child's education
Special educational needs - A guide for parents(external link opens in a new window / tab)
MEDICAL STUFF
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in Learning Disability and Autism.
What is The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in Learning Disabilities and Autism?
This training will ensure staff working in health and social care receive learning disability and autism training, at the right level for their role. They will have a better understanding of people’s needs, resulting in better services and improved health and wellbeing outcomes.
Where did it come from?
In November 2019, the Government published 'Right to be heard' its response to the consultation on proposals for introducing mandatory learning disability and autism training for health and social care staff.
The response included a commitment to develop a standardised training package. The training will draw on existing best practice, the expertise of people with autistic people, people with a learning disability and family carers as well as subject matter experts.
HEE and Skills for Care are coordinating the development of training in both health and social care. The training is being co-produced and delivered by autistic people, people with a learning disability and family carers. If you want to find out more, please email information.team@skillsforcare.org.uk
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training?
Mandatory training is named after Oliver McGowan, whose death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better training.
You can see more about Oliver’s Campaign here and take a look at the video of Oliver's story here.
You can watch our four partner presentations from our February 2021 stakeholder event and two videos shown by trial partners Mencap and NAS below. The two films reflect autistic peoples experiences when making an appointment with a GP. Also listed below is the full recording of our 6 July stakeholder event and an opening video from Dr Amir Khan.
Following our latest stakeholder event in July 2021 and your feedback we have now updated our Frequently Asked Questions.
Updates
What will the training look like?
What and who is involved?
How did we find our partners?
What will happen next?
Key meetings
Related Documents
BILD Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Summary (.pdf)1.22 MB
Glos. Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Summary (.pdf)445.84 KB
Mencap NAS Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Summary (.pdf)1.44 MB
NDTi Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Summary (.pdf)1.67 MB
Pathways Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Summary (.pdf)1.73 MB
Medical information
It can often feel like a real struggle to get the information you really need about your child’s condition and treatment. Consultants can often be confusing and Google can't filter out the bogus information from the really helpful stuff. On this page and you’ll find links to trustworthy information about your child's specific conditions, treatments and medications.
WHAT THERAPISTS DO AND HOW TO FIND A GREAT ONE
Find out more about psychologists, physiotherapists, speech & language therapists, occupational therapists, dieticians & art, music or drama therapists.
CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CONDITIONS,
MEDICINES & INFORMATION
When your doctor or consultant is talking to you about your child’s diagnosis or medicines, it can be difficult to think of all the questions you want to ask. Often the questions come on the ride home, when you’ve had a little time to digest what you’ve been told. Here are some links that we hope will answer some of your questions or sort out your questions before you next see your consultant.
You’ll find information here about a huge range of conditions, clinical trials and medicines.
GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL
Medical conditions
Here you'll find hundreds of information sheets on conditions and treatments. They also have links to support groups for certain conditions.
GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL
Medical information
The information in this section describes medicines, how they are given and some of their possible side effects. If you have any questions or are worried about your child's medications then please ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
MEDICINES FOR CHILDREN
If you are a parent or carer of a child who needs to take medicines, whether thats once every few years or every day then you'll find good quality and reliable information here.
NHS CHOICES
clinical trials & medical research
You can now search clinical trials worldwide for almost every condition. You can also read everything you want to know about clinical trials and medical research.
MEDICINES.ORG
Medicines A-Z
On this page you can find lots of information about medicines, including known possible side effects, interactions and dosages.
TREE OF HOPE
This charity offers hope to the families of sick and disabled children in the UK who need specialist medical surgery, treatment and therapy in order to free them from suffering, giving a better quality to their young lives. Call 01892 535525 or email help@treeofhope.org.uk