School Attendance? What if your disabled child isn’t allowed in?
with Anna C, parent of a child with complex needs The Government has just launched a consultation seeking views on its plans “to improve the consistency of school attendance support …
Category: Guest Posts
SEND Review: Fait accompli or a real chance for parents and practitioners to shape policy?
with Christopher Robertson, independent academic and author, policy analyst and adviser The SEND Review is promised before Easter with a full consultation. But does this mean that everything in the …
The Family Experience of PDA – Book Giveaway
with Eliza Fricker, SEND parent and illustrator Eliza Fricker is an illustrator and designer, who is also the parent to her daughter who has a type of autism known as …
Disability, the Equality Act and the SEND Review
Disability campaigner Richard Rieser of World of Inclusion discusses the vital importance for the SEND Review to frame itself around disability in the Equality Act On the face of it, the …
Sensory, inclusive, accessible theatre fun for all
With Sara Cole, Artistic Director, Head2Head Theatre Most people love the pantomime at Christmas. But when you have learning disabilities or sensory issues, it can be hard to tolerate the …
Ask, Listen, Act, so disabled learners’ two years of pandemic misery is never repeated
With Dr Emma Ashworth (she/her) PhD AFHEA CPsychol, Lecturer in Psychology, Disability Coordinator, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University For the second year running we are approaching Christmas under the …
The Government must act to reduce the stark inequalities in disabled children’s health and care
With Aidan Smith, Campaign Officer at the Disabled Children’s Partnership Even though many services have been restored, we’re far from out of the woods completely yet. We were hoping that …
Supported Internships help disabled young people feel valued and socially included
With Jill Hanson, Debs Robinson and Geri Codina One of the biggest concerns for parents as their young people approach adulthood is if and where they will find a job. …
How will the SEND Review create sustainable support that’s also value for money?
With Chris Rossiter, Driver Youth Trust Do you remember the SEND Futures Feasibility study? It was supposed to work out value for money for SEND but not a lot has …
Finding the racial minority voices in SEND
with Mala Thapar, parent to a teen with autism The word “inclusive” is often used in the SEND sector, and, just as often, it fails to materialise. For families from ethnic …
It’s not just SEND teacher training that’s needed. How we educate all children is broken
with Susan Lenihan, educator and parent of children with SEND After the recent BBC programme, Don’t Exclude Me, Joanne Lewis, parent of children with ADHD, wrote two articles, here and …
EOTAS: Education Otherwise Than At School. What is it, and can I get it?
with Nicole Lee, solicitor, SEN Legal Today’s article is from my colleague, Nicole Lee, a solicitor at SEN Legal who is an expert on Education Otherwise Than At School as …
Coproduction is an illusion for parents and SENCOs
with Professor Adam Boddison Many parents of children with SEND will have come across the term “Coproduction”. It means having an equal and active role in designing whatever it is …
BBC’s Don’t Exclude Me (pt 2): Resorting to restraint shows desperate need for better SEND training
with Joanne Lewis parent & ADHD Superpower founder Last week on SNJ, parent of autistic children and … Joanne Lewis wrote about her reactions to the first of the BBC’s …
Don’t Exclude Me: Shouldn’t SEND be the first thought?
The BBC programme, “Don’t Exclude Me” has caused something of a mixed reaction among parents of children with SEND. One of our readers, Joanne Lewis, who’s the mother of two …
Maths for Life – *Giveaway*
A lot of children struggle to engage with maths taught in ‘traditional’ ways, especially those with additional needs. Karen McGuigan recognised this when she was working with her middle son …
The new “rights-based” Additional Learning Needs system in Wales
with Rukhsana Koser, Senior Solicitor, Education Lawyers, part of Langley Wellington Solicitors LLP While we usually talk on Special Needs Jungle about SEND education, this only applies to England. In …
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: What doctors and schools need to know
With Sandra Butcher, Chief Executive of The National Organisation for FASD and Brian Roberts, consultant and former Virtual School Head We assume that most women know that drinking alcohol in …
Six top tips for managing meltdown triggers for autistic pupils in school
with @Cherrylkd, Special school assistant headteacher Twitter seems to be a popular hangout for teachers, and I’m pleased to see many proudly specialising in SEND. @Cherrylkd is a popular SEND …
Invest More in Social Care Support for Disabled Children: A Mother’s Open Letter to the Chancellor
with Stephen Kingdom, Campaign Manager for the Disabled Children’s Partnership The Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) is asking the public to add their names to a letter from parent carer and …