Why is there a separate section for special needs in Education?

I have taken it up with MN Hazeyjane. It wasnt me that was being bulied but other carers have been and i reported it because Mn was condoning it. They did seem to understand the points i made. But i do get the impression they listen to those who shout and swear the loudest.
I do think many posters are put off by what goes on MN

I get tied up in knots about this so if I offend please forgive me

I like "additional needs"; as a practitioner I consider additional needs this could be:
A substantial physical difficulty
A learning difficulty
A sensory difficulty
A food allergy

but it could also be:
Parents going through a divorce (or indeed a marriage)
Moving house
A broken leg
A bereavement
Potty training
Teething
Starting school/Nursery

as they are all times when I alter my practise (practice?) in order to make life a little easier (more accessible?) for the child

For me it's about treating the child as an individual and knowing the family; I feel (perhaps wrongly) that in school (for example) the groups of children are larger and the closeness that I can develop in my setting wouldn't be possibly (eg 1 teacher 30 children) plus I have a wide age range so I can easily alter my provision for that child with the equipment & skills I already have.

When DD was 'disabled' (visually impaired with a psychological issue) I was shocked at the wide range of accommodation that could/couldn't be made in school & the attitudes of the teachers to her problem.

She now has asthma which she doesn't consider a disability, but I do - because when she gets a 'cold' it can mean 3-10 days off school depending on the severity and how it hits. The asthma isn't her disability it's how her body reacts to minor viruses due to the asthma (if that makes sense?)

Again no intent to impose my views - just to explain how I feel

I get the impression the SN boards are cliquey and i dont like the bullying of those who dont follow the party line

Bruffin, slightly off topic but I am getting tired of people accusing the posters on the sn boards as being cliquey and bullies, I would hate people to be put off because they see one of these posts and believe it to be true - if you believe you are being bullied, then you should take it up with mnhq.

Meant to saybuse the allergies boards for allergies , and his epilepsy problem is incredibly rare and i havent com e across anyone on these boards who has it

*Beyond said: SNinE could include, to use the examples above, how a school has to provide accommodation for asthma or epilepsy, but they wouldnt imo come under SEN."

I would agree with that, though I'd prefer it to be called 'additional needs' rather than special needs. All children are special and so are all their needs, just some have additional ones. That goes way beyond what an area on MN is called though!

My ds has spld and a few other mildish health issues. Most of the help i need i get from the secondary boards. I get the impression the SN boards are cliquey and i dont like the bullying of those who dont follow the party line

Perhaps it is helpful to have a seperate place to post about educational things for SN families.

I work with lots of families who's SN/SEN children find getting the right school place/help in school very very difficult. Perhaps it is useful to have a specific place where "education" people who can help are more likely to see the topics.

I could be wrong though!

I see where you are both coming from zzz and colditz, but I guess that if you counted everyone that had any medical need whatsoever as "special needs", it would water down the impact that disability has the people at the difficult end of the scale?

For instance, using an adult example, my mum has high blood pressure, my dad has hypothyroidism, I have inflammatory arthritis and my sister has PTSD. We are all medicated daily, but I am the only one that is "disabled", and that is measured on a purely physical level, because my medication does not solve the problem, just allegedly help it

I think most people would understand special needs in children to be special educational needs. Do parents of children with disabilities but no learning difficulties normally describe them as having special needs? I can't say I've come across it.

But to bring this back to the initial issue, the fact is that most people wanting to discuss SEN ultimately migrate to the special needs group, and on any interpretation there is a BIG degree of overlap; whereas people posting in the thread under education often don't get the responses they need because it is relatively much more inactive. It does seem to me more logical to keep them all in one group, and to show it on the page near to the Education stuff.

That's your opinion and you're welcome to it, but my opinion is different. I disagree with you.

I would say that SEN is different to SN in education, but that SEN could still be classed as SN in education, if you wanted one topic (I don't think that SNinE could come under SEN)

SNinE could include, to use the examples above, how a school has to provide accommodation for asthma or epilepsy, but they wouldnt imo come under SEN.

Personally for SNinE I would call it "Disability and health requirements in education" though, i think?

It's not negative. My older son does have special needs. My younger son does not.

Everyone, everyone on the face of this planet, has slightly different need than everyone else. Ds2 does not have special needs because he self administers his medication when he needs it and it impacts on nobody. It stopped being a special need when he was about four.nSame with me. I don't have special needs because I don't need ANYONE ELSE to do something for me.

Ds1 needs someone else to intervene and support him with some aspects of his life that children his age are expected to be able to cope with alone. That is a special need.

Vworp some would say that being top of the year did indicate SEN - it's an educational need and if somebody is very intelligent then they have additional educational needs. SEN isn't just at the lower end of the scale, though many perceive it to be that way.

Zzzzzzzzz my son has asthma but he doesn't have special needs. It's just asthma. It's treatable, as is epilepsy in most cases. You can't just decide someone has special needs, and declare that they are wrong to think otherwise.

Lots of children with SEN are top of their years. SEN doesn't mean not academic any more than dyslexia does.

Well some people consider epilepsy a disability, but my friend with epilepsy does not, I suppose everyone has their own view on it.