What are Special Education Needs?
A child has special educational needs if he or she finds it more difficult to learn than most other children of about the same age and need more support to learn. Approximately one in five children may have learning difficulties at some time during their time at school. School can help children who are having difficulties with reading, writing, mathematics or behaviour, especially if home and school work together.
A few children have longer term special educational needs which may be due to a:
- Physical disability that they may have had from birth, due to injury or illness.
- Visual impairment where children are partially sighted or blind.
- Hearing impairment where hearing loss affects speech or makes it difficult for the child to communicate with others.
- Medical or health conditions that may hinder a child’s progress or require treatment which interferes with their education.
- Emotional or behavioural difficulty which may include difficulties in concentrating on work or mixing with other children.
- Generalised learning difficulty affecting progress in school.
- Specific Learning Difficulty with reading, writing or mathematics.
- Speech and language problem which may be due to delayed speech and language development or more specific reasons.
If you are worried about your child, talk to his/her teacher or other key person. If the teacher or other practitioner is concerned about your child’s progress they should have already talked to you about it.