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Original poster

No more ‘SEN’!

109 replies

LookAroundYou · 13/04/2022 03:28

Please can people stop using the term ‘SEN’. People are not SEN, they have Conditions or disabilities that mean they Have educational needs different to ‘the norm’. Also a blind person is going to have different needs to a dyslexic and lumping different support needs into one big Category is not helpful and just enforces Sigma against disability and neurological differences.
I am also fed up of seeing the The term being used as a euphemism for ‘Autism’. Is it really that difficult to just say the word; or neurodiverse (if talking about more then one condition).
I just wish people would stop talking about us (usually in a passive negatively tone) in language that is really dangerous for us.
Unless specifically talking about different needs in an education setting, please can we try and refrain from ‘SEN’ (the correct phase being SEND) and if we are talking about autism, to just say the word.

Kind regards
A very exasperated ‘SEN’ Neurodivergent MNer

OP posts:
lollipoprainbow · 13/04/2022 08:06

So deafness too then ? Blindness and autism are two very different things.

cafenoirbiscuit · 13/04/2022 08:09

I don’t like when people say, for example, ‘my son is SEN’ rather than ‘my son has SEN’. Ditto ASD. Your child isn’t ASD, they have ASD.

There. That’s my mini rant over. Grin

Geneticsbunny · 13/04/2022 08:14

I agree with the other parents on here. Me and my son get to choose how we describe his abilities/disabilities and the terminology that we use and this will change in different circumstances depending on what we are referring to and who the audience is. The term neurodiverse does include him but he also has physical disabilities and so we don't tend to use it as it doesn't really feel like it "fits". I have always thought neurodiversity only referred to people with Autism, ADd, AdHD and/or dyslexia? Happy to be corrected though?

@LookAroundYou honest question and this is not meant in an argumentative tone, what terminology do you think people should use when talking about their children who have disabilities and do not consider them to be neurodiverse especially when discussing school related issues?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General education SEN
itsgettingweird · 13/04/2022 08:14

I'm a parent of a child with send. I work with children with send.

But thanks for telling me what I can and can't say because you don't like it.

Just like my ds doesn't mind being called autistic or that he's an auto despite others saying it's wrong.

He also calls his legs his spastic legs despite others saying you shouldn't use that term. (He has hereditary spastic paraplegia)

And SEN is SEN. Special educational needs are just that. Just because some people will need differing types of input for their needs it's doesn't mean the actual fact the have special educational needs differs.

yearisdone51 · 13/04/2022 08:14

@x2boys

Tbh I get more passed off with terminology being policed particularly when I'm talking about my own child people have different preferences it's hard to keep up .
Agreed. Or whenever I use the terminology that my own DC prefers and then someone gasps in disbelief. I don't care to explain anymore.
Lostlostlost3 · 13/04/2022 08:15

I'm a teacher and a mother of a children who is classed as having SEN. I HATE the term. There is nothing special about his needs, they can be crippling. I find the term "additional needs" more dignifying and appropriate.

pictish · 13/04/2022 08:16

I’m Scotland and we ditched SEN a long time ago. We use ASN now (additional support needs).
I work in a school for children with ASN…haven’t seen or heard SEN for years here.

WhatNoRaisins · 13/04/2022 08:16

One rule I live by is avoid people who get a kick out of policing terminology.

x2boys · 13/04/2022 08:21

@Lostlostlost3

I'm a teacher and a mother of a children who is classed as having SEN. I HATE the term. There is nothing special about his needs, they can be crippling. I find the term "additional needs" more dignifying and appropriate.
And I dislike additional needs because just like special needs it's very variable and can vary from mild to very severe but that just goes to show we all have different preferences.
SaxendaSummer · 13/04/2022 08:22

Will use what terminology I want thanks

So that's a NO to your ridiculous rant

DiscoBadgers · 13/04/2022 08:26

@PurpleDaisies Yes, and I’m not contradicting that but you are conflating educational and academic - the educational part is support around a whole gamut of things mostly linked to the way people with different disabilities process information and skills. We’re not talking about them learning the dates of kings and queens or about tidal flow.

A child spends most of their time in a school setting so it’s the perfect place for them to receive support but it’s not linked to academic achievement, it’s about helping that child to process their environment and information and adapt to new skills and processes.

RichardsGear · 13/04/2022 08:29

There is never going to be an agreement so let people decide what they want to use.
I am profoundly deaf - yes, it's a sensory issue in that ìt affects one of my senses, but primarily it's a pain in the arse disability and I would be extremely pissed off if anyone tried to correct me.

ClumpingBambooIsALie · 13/04/2022 08:30

The only things I feel a bit funny about with SEN are:

  • people saying someone is SEN; that's just weird, like saying someone is anxiety rather than saying they have anxiety or are anxious
  • people using it in clearly inappropriate circumstances e.g. for a middle-aged disabled person walking their dog or whatever non-education activity they're up to
  • the fact the initialism is so similar to ESN, a very outdated term which was used for some of the same group of children — so similar that I can't help thinking the older term influenced the newer one somehow
TeenPlusCat · 13/04/2022 08:31

I don't really care what is it called as long as my DD gets the support she needs.

IAMGE · 13/04/2022 08:34

My son is dyslexic, has word processing issues etc
He is an SEN child, he has SEN and a full EHCP - it does not define him but you need to distinguish between those with Sen and those without. This is so you can look at trends and needs and intervention.

Without opening a whole can of worms we say my child is a boy, white, brown hair etc Sen needs are separate and need to be labelled and targeted etc

Onionpatch · 13/04/2022 08:36

I sometimes use the general term SEN on mumsnet because autism carries a whole heap of assumptions that may or may not be relevant to the thread. The word autusm often derails the thread into a discussion on bad parenting, bad behaviour or whether/ how to describe the severity of autism.

CarerKate · 13/04/2022 08:53

I detest the term "special needs" additional needs or extra needs is far better than special needs. A child with, for instance, autism is no more special than a child without. They have additional needs.

MotherOfChaos28 · 13/04/2022 08:57

You don’t speak for a whole community. It’s hard enough to ensure my children have the correct support sometimes. I don’t have the headspace left to worry about the language used to describe that support when I’m fighting for it.

TeenPlusCat · 13/04/2022 08:58

@CarerKate

I detest the term "special needs" additional needs or extra needs is far better than special needs. A child with, for instance, autism is no more special than a child without. They have additional needs.
You see I would say that SEN isn't saying the child is special, just that they have differing (ie special) needs compared with most other children.

Some needs aren't additional they are just different. e.g. Needing quiet to work or less busy walls.

x2boys · 13/04/2022 08:59

@CarerKate

I detest the term "special needs" additional needs or extra needs is far better than special needs. A child with, for instance, autism is no more special than a child without. They have additional needs.
I don't like either term when talking about my child ,additional needs as with special needs is generic ,my son has a diagnosis of autism but the spectrum is so broad ,the diagnosis for him is almost meaningless he's severely disabled by it ,I generally say he is disabled and has complex needs ,but I'm only talking about him ,the terminology is a minefield.
HailAdrian · 13/04/2022 09:00

If I'm talking about my child in this context, I say "my child has autism."

Onionpatch · 13/04/2022 09:02

The special refers to the educational needs not the child. And the special means the needs are different to normal rather than better.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 13/04/2022 09:03

SEND means special educational needs and disabilities. So children with disabilities aren't forgotten/overlooked if they have no problem with the work but for the fact their physical challenges exist, yet have no input from the one member of staff who is able to improve access or help from staff because it's 'only' a physical thing.

Nobody really wants to sit there and reel off a long list of diagnoses and needs when 'they have SEND' will suffice. The detail can come later, unless its absolutely relevant immediately that they have a learning disability, as is used in terms of MLD, for example, at a specialist educational environment.

It gets very tiresome to feel that people assume you aren't 'intelligent' or are just useless at physical stuff when you have disabilities that should be taken into account, or that you may very well have difficulty maintaining attention but the main distraction at the time isn't anything in your head, it's that you're in pain because the chairs are shit and they've had you all writing in silence for over an hour.

But the terminology has to be appropriate for the person and those who are supporting. Which means there is no fixed way to speak.

Mind you, I was the one who got to the front of a Blockheads gig with leg brace and crutches going 'scuse me, pardon me, Raspberry coming through'. Which I suspect would horrify parents of children with physical disabilities.

IBelieveInAThingCalledScience · 13/04/2022 09:05

I HATE the phrase "is SEN", only because it's grammatically offensive to my ears as an English speaking foreigner.

"He is special educational needs".

I usually say DD has ASD or "Additional Needs".

ineedsun · 13/04/2022 09:05

@Lostlostlost3

I'm a teacher and a mother of a children who is classed as having SEN. I HATE the term. There is nothing special about his needs, they can be crippling. I find the term "additional needs" more dignifying and appropriate.
My son refers to his LD and autism as his special abilities.

They’re challenging for him at times (more so when he was younger and we were all trying to make sense of what was going on for him), but actually the demands on him were what was crippling him, not his own neurodiversity.

Im not disputing your experience, just giving a different perspective.