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Running SNJ takes time and money. As volunteers, we don't mind spending time making the site as useful as possible,…
Continue reading » - SNJ in 2017: Revealing the truth & explaining the facts about SEND
2017 has been, I'm sorry to say, a year of almost unrelenting misery for families of children with special educational…
Continue reading » - Merry Christmas from SNJ: Here’s some brilliant SEND videos you won’t want to miss!
It's our last post before we take a break for Christmas. It's an opportunity for me to bring you three…
Continue reading » - Shining a light on the stars of speech, language and communication
**update: Closing date now 25th January! ** Get nominating!** As we have the past two years, we are again helping…
Continue reading » - Seven tips for a calm Christmas for children with special needs
Kids love Christmas, don’t they? You’d think so, but for many children with autism or other disabilities, it’s often edged…
Continue reading » - Parliament autism group calls for more autism training, speedier support, more understanding
A couple of months ago, accompanied by my younger son, I attended the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism in…
Continue reading » - NHS liaison: The Designated Clinical /Medical Officer for SEND
As some of you may know, I have been doing my bit to help improve local SEND where I live…
Continue reading » - What causes autism… what doesn’t?
If your child has been diagnosed with autism and you’re wondering what could have caused it, I would strongly recommend…
Continue reading » - Our Ofsted/CQC Facebook chat: What you asked and they answered
Our Facebook chat last week had a pretty overwhelming response, thank you to everyone who participated. We had a bit…
Continue reading » - The SEND system is fractured, if not broken. Three new reports prove it.
SEND reports are like buses. Nothing for ages, then one, two and now three come along at once, this latest…
Continue reading » - Ofsted SEND Facebook chat to be hosted by Special Needs Jungle!
As you may have seen at the end of our post on the Ofsted/CQC one year on report, we're delighted…
Continue reading » - Ofsted and CQC report on one year of SEND inspections. It isn’t pretty.
Yesterday we ran a disturbing survey saying two-thirds of school leaders didn’t feel they were sufficiently supported to give the…
Continue reading » - Two-thirds of England’s schools lack support for best outcomes for SEND pupils
A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders has revealed that more than two-thirds (68%) say they lack the support…
Continue reading » - Schools breaking the law on helping children with medical conditions
A report published by Young Epilepsy says one in three schools in England are effectively breaking the law by not…
Continue reading » - What does it take to get a disabled child to preschool?
In our summer SEND blogger showcase, we featured Alex Davey's blog, The Long Chain. Alex has three children, the middle of…
Continue reading » - Why sixty minutes of low-sensory shopping will be bliss for my autistic son and me.
I bet many, many parents of children on the autism spectrum can relate to the hideousness of having your child…
Continue reading » - Our wish for a mainstream school turned into a nightmare
We really want to be able to bring you stories of great experiences of the SEND system by families. Sadly,…
Continue reading » - Put your question about SEND to the Department for Education (2017)
Renata and I recently visited the Department for Education and met with the Director of SEND, Ann Gross and Dan…
Continue reading » - Steph’s chronicle of her family’s journey through SEND, cancer and loss
Renata and I first met Steph Nimmo back in 2013 at the Department for Education when a group of SEND bloggers…
Continue reading » - UK government is failing disabled children says United Nations
It’s pretty shameful really, what the UN said about the UK’s treatment of people with disabilities. Last week, as part of…
Continue reading » - The worrying trend of social care tactics to target SEND ‘problem parents’
Recently on SNJ's Facebook page, someone accused us of being too hard on local authorities who were 'trying their best'.…
Continue reading » - SEND Blogger showcase 4: Rainbows, Broccoli and Wristbands
And now, what better day to bring you our final fabulous SEND Blogger showcase of this summer than on the…
Continue reading » - Home to school transport policies “inaccurate and inadequate”
So many families of disabled children rely on home to school transport. Whether it's a shared taxi, minibus or a…
Continue reading » - Bring your child’s teacher to Whole School SEND’s second summit for free!
Earlier this year, we ran a ticket giveaway for pairs of parents and teachers for the Whole School SEND Summit,…
Continue reading » - SEND Blogger Showcase 3: Life and ASC & A Wheelie Great Adventure
Welcome to the third in our SEND blogger spotlights! Today we feature two more bloggers, Helen, who blogs about life…
Continue reading » - IAS Service: Supporting families of children with SEND
When you need help or advice as a parent about your child or adolescent's education or difficulties with special educational…
Continue reading » - SEND Blogger showcase 2: Mum On A Mission & Our Altered Life
Today we have the second in our August SEND blogger showcase and we're so delighted to be able to share…
Continue reading » - Would you want your child to be on a national GP autism register?
Would you want your autistic child (or yourself if you're autistic) to be on a national autism register? The National…
Continue reading » - SEND blogger showcase: itmustbemum & The Long Chain
When I started out blogging here on SNJ, before social sharing was a 'thing', there really wasn't anyone else out…
Continue reading » - Choosing a mainstream school for my disabled child
The issue of the type of placement for a child with special educational needs or disabilities can be a thorny…
Continue reading » - SEND in England, 2017: More in Independents, fewer in Academies
Another day another set of figures to wade through... this time though, it's the annual school SEND figures from the…
Continue reading » - Horror stories: Recent SEND research for your summer reading
Dear reader, I am sorry, but I have failed you. A clutch of research reports about SEND have been recently…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - Going to Uni: The Disabled Students Allowance assessment
It’s all change for us this September at home, as Youngest heads off to start a three year BSc at…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - 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…
Continue reading » - SEND, support staff and challenging behaviour in schools.
You may remember that we had Tess Philbert on the site not so long ago, talking about person-centred planning. Tess is…
Continue reading » - Your views invited to help set the agenda for Whole School SEND
Last month Barney and I participated in the Whole School SEND Summit, spreading our message in a roundtable at the…
Continue reading » - Explaining new funding rules for early years children with SEND
Funding is always a hot topic in local authorities and schools and nowhere more so than in special educational needs. From…
Continue reading » - Special needs lawyer calls for election pledge to solve SEND disarray
A young lawyer specialising in special educational needs, who himself has SpLD, has warned the parties in the upcoming election urgent…
Continue reading » - Inclusion and putting the ‘Disability’ back into SEND
A leading advocate for inclusive education, Richard Reiser, says he is increasingly concerned about the direction of inclusion in the…
Continue reading » - Holly’s autism film starring role helped raise her classmates’ awareness
Last week, I said Autism Awareness had graduated from a day to a week. Dear reader, I was wrong. It's…
Continue reading » - Children with SEND risk rejection by mainstream schools over funding gap
Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are at risk of being turned away by mainstream schools due to…
Continue reading » - Is autism a difference or a disorder? The truth is in-between
I don't think anyone is unaware of the word 'autism' these days. The problem still lies in understanding how vast a…
Continue reading » - Supporting families to participate in making person-centred decisions
One of the big things that was supported to be improved for disabled children and families was person-centred planning. De-jargonned,…
Continue reading » - What’s in a name: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome gets an important makeover
It's rare for a medical condition to have its sub-types reclassified. It happened to autism a couple of years ago…
Continue reading » - All about ALLFIE and its campaign for truly inclusive education
My sons' headteacher at their independent special(ist) school, once said to me that inclusion was about being included in society…
Continue reading » - How a parent held her council to account for its SEND failures
Today's parent story is a classic case of a local authority's disregard of the SEND reforms: poor communication and lack…
Continue reading » - £215 million cash boost for local areas to improve SEND facilities
The Department for Education has today announced £215 million funding for SEND. It's to be split between almost every English…
Continue reading » - The SEND Superheroes ready to spruce up your school’s provision
I started Special Needs Jungle with the intention of spreading knowledge to parents about how to get themselves organised and…
Continue reading » - The heartache that lives alongside our son’s very rare disease
Rare Disease Day is almost upon us and we have the third of our parent posts today about their lives…
Continue reading » - Finding my son near death started our rare journey to his genetic diagnosis
It's bad enough when your child has a severe illness, but when you discover it's a condition few have heard…
Continue reading » - YouGov survey: Teachers blame “parental pressure” for misdiagnosis of SEN
A YouGov poll of more than 800 teachers across the UK, has shockingly revealed what is potentially one of the…
Continue reading » - Post 19: Education, health, care and training support for disabled young people
A quick post today to let you know about guidance the Department for Education has published for 19-25 year olds…
Continue reading » - A 16 year quest to diagnose our rare bendy daughter
It's often difficult to cope and find support when your child has an uncommon or rare condition. Often, there is…
Continue reading » - Whole School SEND Summit: learn, contribute & share good practice
The changes to the special educational needs system in England are over two years old but many parents have seen…
Continue reading » - Parents of children with learning disabilities lonely, distressed and under pressure
It can be hard to cope with having a child with a disability. It can be particularly hard on relationships.…
Continue reading » - Interweb Safety Day: The stuff you don’t know as parents but should
The interweb is a big and scary place, and that’s just for the grown-ups. While we think our kids may…
Continue reading » - Using Minecraft to engage children with science learning
Minecraft is beloved of thousands of teens and pre-teens across the country, but it seems to have a particular fascination…
Continue reading » - The Care Act when transitioning from children’s to adult social care
One of the biggest concerns for parents of disabled young people who are about to pass 18, is the move…
Continue reading » - How satisfied are pupils, parents and teachers about SEND in schools?
At the end of last week, a couple of surveys were published by the Department for Education. One was a…
Continue reading » - Will more cash guide the battered ship of SEND reform to calmer seas?
Just a quick post after Matt's epic blog yesterday on SEND Inspectors (we have been asked for a right of…
Continue reading » - A new year, a new leaf? What’s your SEND wish for 2017?
And so, we leave behind the detritus of 2016 with its never-ending celebrity deaths, seismic political upheaval and general air of…
Continue reading »