My “control freak’s guide” for my disabled daughter’s dignity and care in hospital
The thing that worries me most about my disabled daughter as she gets older is who will understand her. Who will really get to know who she is, and what …
Category: special needs
The devastating impact of the SENCo workload
Tania’s note: 70% of SENCOs responding to a national survey said they don’t have enough time to complete the demands of the role. Almost three-quarters (74%) said they frequently feel …
ATU Autism scandal: PDA Society calls for Rescue Mission. You can help
If you’ve been following the horrific stories of young people with autism who are locked away or who have died while “resident” in Assessment and Treatment Units or ATUs, you …
Will teachers strike over cuts to SEND and schools? Education union leaders tell us ‘Enough is enough’
Earlier this week an estimated one-thousand parents, teachers and teaching unions took part in a march and rally, through the cold November evening, to the Department for Education in London. …
Nine out of 10 parents fear for their deaf child’s education amid the SEND crisis
Let’s walk in a parallel world for a bit. A world where there’s never been a better time to be a deaf child than right now. In this world, deafness …
Reviews: Maths for SpLD, + 101 inclusive Science and Computing lessons GIVEAWAY!
A new giveaway today – in fact, TWO! Two SEN books for one for maths, and one covering science and computing, both from Jessica Kingsley Publishers* Plus, JKP are offering …
Are Early Years funding changes destroying nursery SEND provision?
There have been a number of surveys recently about funding for council-run nurseries, with fears that their SEND provision is suffering in availability and quality. A lack of additional SEND …
Making secondary schools more inclusive. What’s your experience?
We’ve heard a lot about inclusive schools and how many parents have struggled to find one for their child. It’s a complex picture involving lack of funding, lack of expertise …
Ambitious about an education: A young autistic woman’s experience
Recently, I took part in an Ambitious About Autism panel debate about the difficulties faced by young autistic people to get the right educational support to reach their potential. It …
United voices making a stand for our SEND children
It’s been a huge week for SEND so far. Not only have there been stories across mainstream media, including this one I’m quoted in, in The Guardian, Renata and I …
End of austerity? Not for children, 120 children’s organisations tell the government
Special Needs Jungle has joined more than 120 national organisations demanding that the Government stop ignoring compelling evidence that essential children’s services and support are at breaking point. As the …
Updated EHCP Flow charts and a brand new one for the Annual Review!
The EHCP process flow charts that we collaborated with the Department for Education on in 2014 had become out of date since the ending of the Independent Support service. So, …
Does your school’s website break the law?
An interesting, if limited, study has been published by the government. entitled “Mental health and wellbeing provision in schools, Review of published policies and information”. Researcher, Rebecca Brown looked at the websites of …
Teens and mental health: being a supportive parent in a wild online world
Today is World Mental Health Day and the theme for 2018 is, ‘young people and mental health in a changing world’ Mental health among young people is a huge, and …
SEND emergency! SNJ joins the campaign of the UK’s biggest teaching union to fight the cuts
The pressure is mounting on Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary to act now to solve the crisis in SEND funding. Not only have parents crowdfunded (and easily hit their target) to …
SEND Inspections: Moving ahead but illegality must be called out
Accountability is not a word that parents often used to associate with the world of special educational needs and disability. So when the government announced three years ago that independent …
UK holiday attractions: Gold stars or banana skins for accessibility?
Now that we’ve saved goodbye to the summer holidays, I was interested to know which UK attractions parents of disabled children had found to be disability-friendly. I asked on our …
Adventures of the sensory kind for National Multi-Sensory Storytelling Day
The 24th of September is National Multi-Sensory Storytelling Day and I’d like to tell you about an exciting event to mark the day – and hopefully inspire you to hold …
Book Review: PDA by PDAers
This post is sponsored by JKP Publishers* I have a lot of neurodivergence in my life and I can’t pin all of it on my husband. It comes in various …
SEND System ‘in crisis’ say Head Teachers
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has branded England’s SEND, ‘a system in crisis’. From over 600 responses to an online survey, about their experiences in relation to the …
