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: special needs
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 …
Why the SEND Review MUST extend EHCPs to disabled students in higher education
We’ve been calling for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) to cover all young disabled people in education up to the age of 25 since before the 2014 reforms. So …
Growing up disabled: Puberty, privacy & positivity with Siena Castellon and George Fielding
Around one in five people in Britain live with a disability. That’s really quite a lot of people, all who have the same jumble of flaws, strengths, fears, desires and …
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 …
What’s the point of the Down’s Syndrome Bill? One parent’s view, plus a legal opinion
with Dr Kieron Smith, father of a child with Down’s syndrome, followed by legal opinion from barristers, Victoria Butler-Cole QC, Steve Broach, and Nyasha Weinberg of 39 Essex Chambers The …
Councils wasted £253 million fighting parents at the SEND Tribunal since 2014 reforms
Somehow, it’s already early December. That means it’s time for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service to release their set of annual figures about the work of the Special Educational …
The great SNJ Christmas cheer GIVEAWAY!
It’s been another hard year for the SEND community and we’re far from calm waters yet. We would like to help bring some Christmas cheer to a few families of …
Ombudsman calls for wider powers to investigate SEND and exclusions in all schools
The Local Government Ombudsman has recommended extending its jurisdiction to cover how schools deliver provision to all children with SEND, whether or not they have a statutory support plan. 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 …
Let’s rename bullying for what it is: abuse
It’s Anti-Bullying Week 2021 and here we are with a new theme to try to stamp out bullying. The chosen theme this year is ‘One Kind Word’ One Kind Word …
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 …
Heidi’s Down’s syndrome abortion case: It’s complicated
with input from Colette Lloyd Why have we called this article, “it’s complicated’? Because it is completely understandable that a great many women do not want any further restrictions on …
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 …