Tania 2017

Running SNJ takes time and money. As volunteers, we don't mind spending time making the site as useful as possible,…

2017 has been, I'm sorry to say, a year of almost unrelenting misery for families of children with special educational…

It's our last post before we take a break for Christmas. It's an opportunity for me to bring you three…

**update: Closing date now 25th January! ** Get nominating!** As we have the past two years, we are again helping…

Kids love Christmas, don’t they? You’d think so, but for many children with autism or other disabilities, it’s often edged…

A couple of months ago, accompanied by my younger son, I attended the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism in…

As some of you may know, I have been doing my bit to help improve local SEND where I live…

If your child has been diagnosed with autism and you’re wondering what could have caused it, I would strongly recommend…

Our Facebook chat last week had a pretty overwhelming response, thank you to everyone who participated. We had a bit…

SEND reports are like buses. Nothing for ages, then one, two and now three come along at once, this latest…

As you may have seen at the end of our post on the Ofsted/CQC one year on report, we're delighted…

Yesterday we ran a disturbing survey saying two-thirds of school leaders didn’t feel they were sufficiently supported to give the…

A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders has revealed that more than two-thirds (68%) say they lack the support…

A report published by Young Epilepsy says one in three schools in England are effectively breaking the law by not…

In our summer SEND blogger showcase, we featured Alex Davey's blog, The Long Chain. Alex has three children, the middle of…

I bet many, many parents of children on the autism spectrum can relate to the hideousness of having your child…

We really want to be able to bring you stories of great experiences of the SEND system by families. Sadly,…

Renata and I recently visited the Department for Education and met with the Director of SEND, Ann Gross and Dan…

Renata and I first met Steph Nimmo back in 2013 at the Department for Education when a group of SEND bloggers…

It’s pretty shameful really, what the UN said about the UK’s treatment of people with disabilities. Last week, as part of…

Recently on SNJ's Facebook page, someone accused us of being too hard on local authorities who were 'trying their best'.…

And now, what better day to bring you our final fabulous SEND Blogger showcase of this summer than on the…

So many families of disabled children rely on home to school transport. Whether it's a shared taxi, minibus or a…

Earlier this year, we ran a ticket giveaway for pairs of parents and teachers for the Whole School SEND Summit,…

Welcome to the third in our SEND blogger spotlights!  Today we feature two more bloggers,  Helen, who blogs about life…

When you need help or advice as a parent about your child or adolescent's education or difficulties with special educational…

Today we have the second in our August SEND blogger showcase and we're so delighted to be able to share…

Would you want your autistic child (or yourself if you're autistic) to be on a national autism register? The National…

When I started out blogging here on SNJ, before social sharing was a 'thing', there really wasn't anyone else out…

The issue of the type of placement for a child with special educational needs or disabilities can be a thorny…

Another day another set of figures to wade through... this time though, it's the annual school SEND figures from the…

Dear reader, I am sorry, but I have failed you. A clutch of research reports about SEND have been recently…

It's the end of the school year and children are arriving home up and down the land with their school…

It’s all change for us this September at home, as Youngest heads off to start a three year BSc at…

We love sharing good practice with you that can help both parents and professionals offer improve the lives of children…

In England today, there is an unacceptable gap between the quality of life and opportunities available for disabled children, when…

Research into different aspects of autism can reveal many unexpected and interesting findings, which can sometimes help to improve the lives…

We are all living in stressful times. World events, both near and far, can leave us feeling anxious, fearful and…

Aside from having a special educational need or disability, one of the biggest barriers to success at school is your…

The annual figures for special educational needs came out yesterday and I spent the day poring over them and making…

You can’t have failed to notice that, here in the UK, we’re hurtling towards the snap general election called for…

It's Deaf Awareness Week and a new book has been published, written to boost deaf awareness and tackle the lack of…

We've covered Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), which is a condition on the autistic spectrum, a few times on SNJ and…

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. According to the latest…

You may remember that we had Tess Philbert on the site not so long ago, talking about person-centred planning. Tess is…

Last month Barney and I participated in the Whole School SEND Summit, spreading our message in a roundtable at the…

Funding is always a hot topic in local authorities and schools and nowhere more so than in special educational needs. From…

A young lawyer specialising in special educational needs, who himself has SpLD, has warned the parties in the upcoming election urgent…

A leading advocate for inclusive education, Richard Reiser, says he is increasingly concerned about the direction of inclusion in the…

Last week, I said Autism Awareness had graduated from a day to a week. Dear reader, I was wrong. It's…

Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are at risk of being turned away by mainstream schools due to…

I don't think anyone is unaware of the word 'autism' these days. The problem still lies in understanding how vast a…

One of the big things that was supported to be improved for disabled children and families was person-centred planning. De-jargonned,…

It's rare for a medical condition to have its sub-types reclassified. It happened to autism a couple of years ago…

My sons' headteacher at their independent special(ist) school, once said to me that inclusion was about being included in society…

Today's parent story is a classic case of a local authority's disregard of the SEND reforms: poor communication and lack…

The Department for Education has today announced £215 million funding for SEND. It's to be split between almost every English…

I started Special Needs Jungle with the intention of spreading knowledge to parents about how to get themselves organised and…

Rare Disease Day is almost upon us and we have the third of our parent posts today about their lives…

It's bad enough when your child has a severe illness, but when you discover it's a condition few have heard…

A YouGov poll of more than 800 teachers across the UK, has shockingly revealed what is potentially one of the…

A quick post today to let you know about guidance the Department for Education has published for 19-25 year olds…

It's often difficult to cope and find support when your child has an uncommon or rare condition. Often, there is…

The changes to the special educational needs system in England are over two years old but many parents have seen…

It can be hard to cope with having a child with a disability. It can be particularly hard on relationships.…

The interweb is a big and scary place, and that’s just for the grown-ups. While we think our kids may…

Minecraft is beloved of thousands of teens and pre-teens across the country, but it seems to have a particular fascination…

One of the biggest concerns for parents of disabled young people who are about to pass 18, is the move…

At the end of last week, a couple of surveys were published by the Department for Education. One was a…

Just a quick post after Matt's epic blog yesterday on SEND Inspectors (we have been asked for a right of…

And so, we leave behind the detritus of 2016 with its never-ending celebrity deaths, seismic political upheaval and general air of…