Module 1- Introduction to Special Educational Needs
Duration: Approx 60 minutes
Student Aims:
- To understand the definition of Special Educational Needs
- To understand who may have Special Educational Needs
- To understand the most common learning disabilities faced in schools
- To know and understand the characteristics required to work in this field
- To think beyond the pupil’s abilities
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Welcome to your Special Educational Needs Diploma
course
Before you begin the course, please read these important notes.
Modules
The course is broken down into 22 modules. Each information-packed module lasts between 15 and 60 minutes, but you are free to spend as long as you like on each module. Once you have finished the module, click the “continue to next module” button at the bottom of the page to move to the next one.
Assignments
Some of the modules contain self-assessed assignments/tasks. The tasks are set at the end of the module. Most of the assignments should take around 30 minutes to complete, again, you are free to spend as much time as you need on them. The assignments are self-assessed; you do not need to send them to us. You will find the answers/our suggestions attached.
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Revisiting Modules/Access to the Course
You can revisit modules that you have completed at any time, even after you have finished the course. To do this, simply log back in to your account, find the course and you will be able to select any module that you have already completed.
End of Course Test
At the end of the course, there is a 30-question multiple-choice test. In order to pass the test, you need to answer 70% (21/30) of the questions correctly.
Don’t panic if you don’t pass the first time. You can take the test again. We recommend that you review the modules before re-taking the test.
Completion of the Course
Once you have successfully completed the end-of-course test, you will be awarded your certification. You can download and print your certificate at any time from your account.
If you would prefer us to send you a hard copy of your certificate by mail, we can do so for a small charge. You can order a copy of your certificate from your account.
Invoice
If you require a receipt/invoice for your course payment, you can obtain one by going to your account.
What you can do once you have completed the course
Once you have completed the course, you will have a greater understanding of what is needed to be a special educational needs teacher. You can now start searching for jobs within the industry.
You may be required to undertake further study to bolster your employment chances further. Each educational setting will have its own policies and procedures, so you will need to contact them directly.
Support
If you need any assistance, we are here to help you. Simply click on the ‘Support’ tab and one of our support staff will get back to you as soon as possible. Please note, support hours are 9:00 – 17:30 Monday – Friday (we have limited support outside of these hours and your enquiry may take longer to respond to).
Let’s Get Going
We hope you enjoy your course and wish you the best of luck with your future career. You can now begin your course. The first module starts immediately below.
1.1 Introduction
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Education has become a fundamental right for children across the Western world – so much so that it is accessible through both the state and private sectors.
However, it is not as straightforward as providing literacy and numeracy skills. It also includes the idea of making some form of education accessible to all children regardless of their race, gender or needs.Children with special educational needs have a right to as much learning as any child, but the means and methods provided to achieve this goal vary greatly.
1.2 What Are Special Educational Needs?
The term Special Educational Needs (SEN), or Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), refers to individuals who require extra learning support due to disabilities or additional needs.
The Children and Families Act 2014 states: “A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:
- has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
- has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions”
Children may have conditions such as autism, Down’s syndrome, moderate to severe learning difficulties or physical disabilities, the latter of which may also affect their learning.
SEND regulations provide an alternative or adjusted curriculum that will educate children with these varying needs and help them gain skills that will allow them to effectively participate in the working world.
Special educational needs go beyond the curriculum. It is more than just administering a lesson plan to a group of children and making sure that they achieve good test results. SEND must cater to a variety of needs and abilities, and often many of your pupils will be attending to learn underpinning social and communication skills through interaction with others.
Not Just About Curriculum
Learning difficulties require more thought than a mainstream curriculum which is subject-specific. While you may be expected to teach special needs children within a literacy and numeracy-based structure, you will also be expected to know the ways to adjust this curriculum to each child’s individual needs. You will be dealing with a variety and range of learning needs, and you will be required to understand each of these differences so that you are able to fulfil your job in the best way possible – teaching your class.
It is also essential for you to note that although each learning difficulty may have certain characteristics, the individual must be at the heart of your teaching. This course will go into further detail with each learning need you will most likely encounter. The aim is for you to have an understanding of different manifestations of special needs and how you can best support your individual students.
1.3 Who are Special Educational Needs for?
SEN refers to children whose needs cannot be met within the mainstream classroom and therefore need a more individualised and targeted curriculum to address the pupil’s areas of difficulty.
Students’ abilities can vary and encompass sensory impairments such as deafness or blindness. In the case of sensory impairments, it may be that educational adjustments are made to provide access to the curriculum, e.g. the use of braille or sign language interpreters.
Learning Difficulties at a Glance
While there are many kinds of learning difficulties that you may encounter in the classroom, this course will focus on some of the most common types that you may find. They include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and dyspraxia. However, it is important to familiarise yourself with the many other kinds of learning difficulties not described in this course, to ensure that you are a well-informed professional.
You must be prepared to educate all members of the classroom, regardless of their learning difficulties and differences. Indeed, under the SEND regulations, every classroom teacher is responsible for addressing the special needs of their students, regardless of whether they are specialists in this area.
The law instructs that all teachers should make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act in order to meet the individual needs of those they teach.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism is a condition that people are born with. The National Autistic Society estimates that over 1 in 100 people are autistic. Autism is a life-long condition that affects individuals in different ways.
Autistic individuals have difficulty forming relationships and communicating with other people. They may have difficulty in using language, forming and understanding abstract concepts, show physical signs of repetitive activities, and may need routines.
Autism can be detected at a very young age, and early intervention is said to be essential to help autistic people manage their condition.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects the way a person’s brain processes information and responds to things occurring in their environment.
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This can lead to problems with attention span, impulse control, and hyperactivity. People with ADHD are known to be energetic and impulsive, often acting without thinking. These individuals can also have trouble paying attention or sitting still when they need to focus on something specific.
ADHD is genetic; therefore, it is long-term but can be managed with proper medication and therapy.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty involving the ability to match sounds to letters and it is characterised by difficulties with phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia can affect reading, writing and/or spelling. A trained dyslexia assessor or educational psychologist is needed to make a diagnosis. It is believed that 10% of the UK population may be dyslexic (British Dyslexia Association).
Dyspraxia, a form of developmental coordination disorder (DCD), is a common life-long condition affecting fine and/or gross motor coordination in children and adults. It may also affect speech.Varying strengths and weaknesses in all children with SEN mean that you may need to make adjustments to the mainstream curriculum.Your responsibility is to help SEN children progress and learn at their pace. They will need an individual learning plan (ILP), like any other student. This will help you to identify their personal, social and educational objectives. Above all, SEN children, like all children, are individuals whom you have a responsibility to teach and develop, both on a social and an academic level. It is likely that they will need specific help with literacy and numeracy, and you should adapt all your teaching to favour ‘bite-size’ teaching, ‘one-at-a-time’ tasks, ‘thinking time’, and multisensory teaching methods. Teaching strategies that work for children with special needs work for all children.
Fact
Over 1.5 million pupils in England have special educational needs (2022/23)
1.4 Characteristics Required of You in This Job Setting
There are a number of traits that you should possess in order to work with children, such as patience, kindness, tolerance and acceptance.When working with children with special educational needs, you will also need the following characteristics:
Empathy
Your pupils are likely to have suffered from other people’s prejudices. Often the barriers are not due to the children’s special needs but due to society’s narrow perception of them. It is crucial that you understand your pupils and treat them with the same respect you would treat anyone; possibly more, when you see how emotionally strong many of them have had to be.
Imagination
All good teachers will identify strengths first rather than difficulties. These strengths will allow you, as a teacher, to see how you can integrate your pupils’ strengths, interests and personalities in order to create a teaching environment that allows them to grow. You need imagination to do this.
Professionalism
Professionalism shows that you have a moral compass and a commitment to follow the guided protocol of the educational establishment. This characteristic will ensure that you are respected in your role and that you abide by a code of conduct.
1.5 Thinking Beyond the Pupils’ Attainment
It is important to avoid making assumptions about what your pupils can or cannot do.
Many pupils will be gifted in other ways, and it is your responsibility to recognise their strengths as well as their difficulties.
Dyslexic pupils can find spelling and reading difficult but can be incredibly gifted in the arts. Students progress through the acknowledgement of their strengths, and these should be identified whenever possible.
For Example, if a dyslexic child is asked to summarise a piece of text in class, they could do so by using a mind map or by drawing a picture, and then verbally describing what they have read and drawn.
Varying Sensory Needs of SEN Students
One thing that you should come to understand, especially if you are new to this field, is that each student’s sensory needs are different. What does this mean exactly? It depends on the child and his or her varying needs.
For example, some autistic children will exemplify intense rocking or other repetitive movements that many people can find distracting. However, they make these movements because they find them soothing, and they put them at ease from discomfort or anxiety.
Additionally, certain sounds that may seem fine to us can cause distress for somebody with enhanced sensory difficulties. Understanding this can help you to create or adjust their surroundings to bring them more comfort and safety, because these motions can often be signs of the student’s discomfort within the environment or because of personal issues. It is important to communicate with the student about how they are feeling.
Ensuring Students’ Safety
Every school in the UK has a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) to deal with child protection concerns. If you notice something that could mean a child is being abused or is in any danger in or out of school, you have a duty of care to report it to the DSL. If a child tells you something of concern, you cannot promise confidentiality if the child is in danger or may harm others.
The Department for Education has published statutory guidance for schools and colleges: Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022. This states: “Every school and college should have a designated safeguarding lead who will provide support to staff to carry out their safeguarding duties and who will liaise closely with other services such as local authority children’s social care. The designated safeguarding lead (and any deputies) are most likely to have a complete safeguarding picture and be the most appropriate person to advise on the response to safeguarding concerns.”
All schools, at all levels from the head of the school to the teaching assistants, are accountable for each SEN pupil’s education by keeping them safe and meeting all their safety, educational and social needs.
One of the simplest things that a workplace with SEN programmes and pupils can do is to monitor the parents’ understanding of their child’s situation. If the parents are aware of their child’s potential and progress, a good institution will work with the parents to bring about the best learning experience for the student. If the parents are not fully adept at understanding their child’s needs, a good institution will take the time to educate the parents on what they can do at home to further the educational impact on the student.
The law states that schools must be proactive in their curriculum and extra-curricular activities and must show how the pupil has made progress.So, as a SEN educator, the best thing you can do is to be an advocate for your pupils’ education. This means that you should take the time to consider and evaluate where each of your students is in their lives, and how you can work with them, their parents and your institution to help the students reach their highest potential and feel and be treated like a valued member of society. Taking on this approach will make you an exemplary member of the SEN workforce.
Assignment
Introduction to Special Educational Needs
Time: 30+ minutes
This task will get you to think about Special Educational Needs.
Make your way through this worksheet and see how well you do.
Download the worksheet below and complete.
Download Worksheet
Conclusion
Working in special educational needs can be rewarding, but it also has its challenges. You may be working with a modified curriculum, and the students that you teach will be of varying abilities and have their own unique challenges.
It is important to ensure that your pupils have the opportunity to develop their talents in a wide range of areas. By doing so, you will be able to help them reach their full potential and achieve success.
In Module 2, we discuss the history and evolution of SEN.
WELL DONE!
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