Is a child with SEN a vulnerable child?

[RiverOrange]

Pls can you help answer this for some work i'm doing. Do all children with SEN come under the umbrella of 'vulnerable' children or are the two completely separate categories but with some cross over.

I think most people with additional needs will be vulnerable is some ways due to those additional needs. Obviously the range of that will vary massively

Could you explain a bit more about the context and how you are defining vulnerable. Are you thinking about child protection and safeguarding issues or more generally?

Isn't the definition usually "children and vulnerable adults" ie all children are vulnerable. Agree that context is needed.

I think all children are vulnerable until they are able to care for themselves and live safely and healthily in their communities. A child with SEN is definitely fits that definition, and may well be vulnerable as an adult.

its a charity startup. We want to state that we are look after Vulnerable children in UK and Africa. In africa we concentrate on the poor, orphans etc but in the UK our focus will be children with SEN. So does the term 'vulnerable children' work as an unmbrella term? if it doesn't we will have to state children with SEN explicitly. Hope that makes more sense.

It depends. Dyslexia is a SEN. I wouldn’t say a child with dyslexia automatically becomes “vulnerable”.

If you said you were targeting “vulnerable” children, I’d think you were more looking at looked after children, those from low income homes etc.

Yes more context is needed , my son has severe autism and learning disabilities hes 8 i would say he was far more vulnerable than a typical 8 yr old.

If you use 'vulnerable children' in the UK, people will assume children in care or at risk somehow, more often than children having SEN.

But Purple my son is vulnerable because he has no danger awareness he would walk off with a stranger , run into a road etc we have to be super vigilant to keep him safe

AamdC I totally agree that many children with SEND are vulnerable. In the context of what the op is asking, I don’t think targeting “vulnerable” children works. There are lots of SENs that don’t make the child more vulnerable (like dyslexia).

I think Purple and Nisse have confirmed my worry that 'Vulnerable' doesn't mean SEN necessarily. I'll have to find another way of wording it.

I teach students with SEND. Just wondering in what way you are planning to “look after” chidren with SEN?

They are 2 separate terms. I think you need to specify them both for clarity.

Have you looked into funding streams? I have been involved with charities that provide education for children in Uganda and social activities for children with SEN in the UK. Many trusts and grants are very specific about what their money can be used for and it may be difficult to get funding if you are supporting both areas. It may be worth being specific that there are 2 strands to the charity to prevent you from being denied funding.

We were told that ds is vulnerable. He has autism and is very easily led.

Purple - We haven't fully defined it yet. We are currently a charitable company that has mainly focussed on vulnerable children in Africa whilst having wellbeing programs for children in the UK. We however realise that there is a huge gap in healthcare provision for children in the UK especially for those with SEN. Loosely we are thinking of assisting with 'therapy' funding. So we are trying to redefine what we do.

Totally depends on how broadly you take the definition of vulnerable. I work somewhere where customers understanding our written literature is essential. Our vulnerable customers policy covers all SEN. E.g. a customer with dyslexia could be vulnerable to misunderstanding literature due to confusing the order of the letters in some of the words. Those customers wouldn't be considered generally vulnerable in day to day life. The policy even covers those without SEN but who have limited experience and understanding of our subject matter, considered vulnerable due to the possibility they may sign documents without fully getting what they mean.

Loosely we are thinking of assisting with 'therapy' funding.

In that case you’re probably best focussing on a particular type of SEND rather than keeping it broad. I’m not sure there’s really a “healthcare” gap but funding for things like speech and language therapy, specialist teaching assistants etc have been hugely cut.

Pananny -Yes, we are aware of the grant funding restrictions you mentioned. We have had grants in the past and so know that they are or very specific needs. We are not intending to use the same grant to fund both areas.It is just one of our funding streams.

I will be more specific like you said about the two areas.

Purple - the danger of being too specific for a charity in their objects is that it makes flexibility very difficult as things evolve. We can be loose in our definition but specific in our work (which is what we intend) but we don't want to shoehorn ourselves in such a way we cant diversify in future or have to go through this whole exercise again.

Can you explain what you mean by the healthcare gap between children with SEN and those without? I haven’t come across that term before.

I have a child with Sen but who is no more vulnerable than any other 8yo. The two categories overlap but are not the same.

I meant healthcare provision gap in terms of funding for therapies. Not a well known term just my wording , sorry of it confused you.

Vulnerable to exploitation - yes.