Types of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
A child or young person has special educational needs and disabilities if they have a learning difficulty or a disability that means they need special health and education support. We shorten this to SEND.
Every child or young person may experience challenges with their learning at some point. For most, these difficulties are often overcome with support from teachers and home. However, they may need extra help or provision put in place to help them to have the same opportunities as others.
Some children may have SEND because of a medical condition or disability, other children may have SEND without a diagnosis or disability.
Children are not considered to have SEND just because their first language is not English, although some children where English is a second language may also have SEND.
Page reviewed 29.10.25
Cognition and Learning Difficulties
A child or young person with cognition and learning difficulties might learn at a slower pace than their peers, even when learning tasks are changed to support them. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). Children and young people with MLD or SLD are likely to need support in most if not all areas of the curriculum and may also have difficulties with mobility and communication. Children and young people with PMLD are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment. Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
Communication and Interaction Difficulties
Communication and interaction difficulties, also known as a speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), means that children and young people may have difficulties either saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication, which makes it harder to build relationships with others. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives. Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) is a communication and interaction difficulty. Children and young people with ASC are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition that affects how people perceive, communicate and interact with the world. Autism is referred to as a spectrum condition because, although autistic people often share certain difficulties, their autism will affect them in different ways.
Physical and Sensory Difficulties
If a child or young person has a physical or sensory difficulty it means that they have a disability which makes it challenging or prevents them from making use of the mainstream educational facilities generally provided. Sensory Difficulties Children or young people with sensory difficulties are those with hearing impairment (HI) or vision impairment (VI). Some children may also have a combination of hearing and vision difficulties which is known as a multi-sensory impairment (MSI). Many children with these sensory difficulties will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Physical Difficulties Some children and young people with physical difficulties (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers, including access to learning. These physical difficulties are usually linked to a medical diagnosis.
Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Difficulties
Children and young people may experience a wide range of underlying, unmet social and emotional needs which show themselves in many ways. These may include withdrawal or isolation, as well as verbal and physical aggression or agitation. Other mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression can cause self-harm, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical / psychosomatic symptoms that are medically unexplained. Some children and young people may receive diagnoses such as ADHD which do not necessarily explain the underlying cause.