Why I started to write about Special Educational Needs

Starting a blog

Special Educational Needs

I started writing about special educational needs while working as a teaching assistant in a school, and I witnessed children struggling to process their work. Funding only permits support for some children in the classroom, but it's more about the attitude and knowledge of the staff than money. You have a kaleidoscope of talent, skills and personalities that walk through the door of a school.  If we educate from the child's perspective, there would be less need for labels, as we would understand how they learn instead. More children would fit into the mainstream education.

Many successful people say it’s better to use our time and talent to work on our strengths rather than our weaknesses because our strengths make us unique and are why we are here.

Cram, Control and Cohesion

A child’s inability to learn may not be due to behaviour, motivation, or compliance, which seem like the same thing. Some children struggle to process the information presented to them.

Learning is taught by differentiating on intelligence levels; this doesn't consider how the child processes the teaching. Having a touch of ‘satellite delay’, I must write down what I am learning. I remember feeling sad at school because I couldn't grasp what they taught me. I struggled with reading at age 9, but when I moved to another school, I caught up with my learning and passed my 11+.

We are cramming children with knowledge, putting them under increasing pressure to succeed and disregarding them mentally and emotionally. Academies have invested so much into teaching; maybe they need to see what the employment world wants. The future needs emotionally balanced adults.

Singapore has recently reduced the number of children's exams in early primary and mid-term secondary school. The Secretary of State for Education Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Education Minister, stated, ' Learning is not a competition.'

Special Educational Needs Research

One 2009 study found that one in six children has sensory processing issues that make it hard to learn and function in school. 

More recently, a 2020 paper found that sensory processing difficulties predicted executive and cognitive dysfunctions in inhibitory control, auditory sustained attention, and short-term verbal memory in autistic children within a school context.

Other studies have found that 66% of autistic children (65-90% of autistic children, depending on the research study), and 32% of children with special education needs (who were not autistic) show definite differences in sensory behaviours.

Many parents experience

I saw the cost of a misunderstood child who asked for help and could have achieved more. He was a quiet boy who loved learning and had plans.  It's hard when many parents only have their 'gut feeling' to go on.

More parents are trying to get support for their children. Some children struggle to fit into the education system and achieve their goals. They end up with mental health issues because they have no control over their learning or their lives.   We need a mental health system that is fit for our purpose.

''Children with learning disabilities are four and a half times more likely to have a mental health problem than children without a learning disability'' Mentalhealth.org.uk

Many children with learning difficulties go undiscovered in mainstream schools.

The Warnock Committee of 1978

The Warnock Committee 1978 recommended the Inclusion of children who needed educational support. Many Educational Reforms followed. Why are we still letting our children down? Children on the borderline of needing help are slipping through the system and wasting their potential, getting in trouble with the law or experiencing mental health disorders. 

The Education System

Many children cannot secure qualifications that measure their talents, skills, and intellect. The Educational system continues to be patched up but does not consider why it’s not working.

The educational system and government policies don’t reflect the modern world's children and their future needs. The ever-increasing pace of innovation and technology may be beyond the ability of the adults teaching the children.

Within this government, we have had 6 Secretaries of State for Education. More consistency is required in the future.

Mental Health Law

The National Autistic Society is campaigning to make the mental health law fit for the 21st century. The government insist on making being autistic a reason to section someone.

On the 27th of June, the Government published a draft bill that changed the definition of autism and learning difficulties. This would mean that they would no longer be included in the mental health disorders. These have always been neurological disorders.

“There are 2,045 autistic people and people with learning disabilities in mental health hospitals in England, and 65% are autistic people. Hospitals are often miles away from families, and the average stay is over five years. We hear alarming reports of people being overmedicated, pinned down and shut away in isolation in these settings, often with devastating consequences. 

“Reforming the Mental Health Act needed to be a key step towards ending this crisis. We urgently need significant, long-term funding for community mental health and social care services so that autistic people can get the support they need in the first place and don’t need to reach crisis point and end up locked away in hospitals.” The National Autistic Society

However, on 7 November 2023, the Government chose not to keep its promise to reform the Mental Health Act.