LA watch: Beware the EHCP Assessment Exception “loophole”
It’s the last week of the year in most English schools. A week to take things a bit easier, tidy away, and prepare for what the next academic year brings. But …
End of school SEND report: Must try harder
It’s the end of the school year and children are arriving home up and down the land with their school reports in those scary sealed envelopes. But how have England’s …
Hayley’s EHCP Save-Our-Sanity SOS plan
It seems that at every milestone and crossroads in your child’s life, your pride, relief and excitement at their achievements is met with an equal measure of stress and worry. …
Helping autistic children experience the joy of connection
Recently Lucy has started to experience-share more with us at Bright Futures School. She has come a long, long way from the disengaged girl who started with us back in …
Going to Uni: The Disabled Students Allowance assessment
It’s all change for us this September at home, as Son2 heads off to start a three year BSc at university. He’s worked really hard and come out of his …
How I became a better child physio after parenting my sick newborn
We love sharing good practice with you that can help both parents and professionals offer improve the lives of children with disabilities. Andrea Selly, is the mum of twins and …
Overcoming barriers to help my deaf children succeed
I’ve got two deaf boys. They’re brighter than I am. They’re more determined than I am. They work harder in the course of a single day than I do in …
The Secret Life of Holly, from the Disabled Children’s Partnership
In England today, there is an unacceptable gap between the quality of life and opportunities available for disabled children, when compared to those without disabilities. Today, a new coalition of …
Key points of SEN Support in schools: What it is and how it should work
In Tuesday’s post on the outcomes for children and young people with SEND but no EHCP I concluded by drawing attention to the importance of the SEND Co-ordinator in taking …
SEN Support: Poorer outcomes when needs aren’t thoroughly assessed
Last week I wrote about the problems facing parents of children in mainstream school whose special needs have been persistently overlooked. While the troubled roll-out of Education, Health & Care …
Exploring Autism and Music, a chance to listen, learn and participate
Research into different aspects of autism can reveal many unexpected and interesting findings, which can sometimes help to improve the lives of young people in a practical way. Today we have …
Fixing our broken SEND system: The next Minister’s ‘To Do’ list
On the morning of the General Election, Thursday 8th June, I supported a parent in a meeting with her school’s Headteacher. We were discussing her complaint that the school had …
Helping carers and disabled children with Qigong
We are all living in stressful times. World events, both near and far, can leave us feeling anxious, fearful and on edge. When you are also dealing with illness and …
Irlen syndrome: a screener’s perspective
Back in 2012, we ran a parent story about her son’s difficulties, “When the words move by themselves – it could be Visual Stress.” It’s also known as Irlen syndrome and …
![How do you help a disadvantaged child build confidence and find success? [Conference]](https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/how-do-you-help-disadvantaged-child-512x200.jpg)
How do you help a disadvantaged child build confidence and find success? [Conference]
Aside from having a special educational need or disability, one of the biggest barriers to success at school is your family living in poverty or being otherwise disadvantaged. Children and young …
SEND 2017, the state of the special educational needs system revealed
The annual figures for special educational needs came out yesterday and I spent the day poring over them and making another nice infographic to go alongs with it. 2016 saw a 12% …
The SNJ #GE2017 Manifesto for Special Educational Needs and Disability
You can’t have failed to notice that, here in the UK, we’re hurtling towards the snap general election called for next month. The political parties have been sallying forth with …
Tackling the lack of diversity in books for deaf children
It’s Deaf Awareness Week and a new book has been published, written to boost deaf awareness and tackle the lack of diversity in children’s book characters. The book, an inspiring adventure …
The frustration and heartbreak of Pathological Demand Avoidance
We’ve covered Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), which is a condition on the autistic spectrum, a few times on SNJ and it’s always very popular so we know it’s something that …
Good mental health support needs one thing: proper funding
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organisation, more than 300 million …
