Number of kids with LD or additional needs increasing?

[Curiocat]

Hi all,

This is a sensitive topic so want to start off by saying I'm in no way having a dig or being goady etc. From following aibu and other boards it seems like many parents have kids with some form of additional needs and numbers seem to have increased in recent years.

I wondered what the percentage of kids that will have SN/LDs and if the numbers are indeed on the rise, or is it that just that people are open about the issues their kids face, and we talk/are more aware about it more these days?

I could be completely wrong here- just an observation on my part from lurking the past few months, and of course massive well done/ admiration to all parents that do contend with this alongside all the other trials and tribulations that come with children! X

That's one of the many reasons why I do think we have a long way to go.
Education is still needed across the general public about how people with sn are perceived. Some of the myths is beyond ridiculous, and open discussions are really needed.

Until the public at large are re-educated about sn, then there will always be people who look at a person in a chair for example, and see the chair not the person. Without re-education, the wheel chair user by a huge proportion of society will seen as a second class citizen.

We do need good services across the country, and access to good academic sn schools shouldn't come down to where you live. There should be a national standard. To realise that not all sn is the same, that there is varying degrees. It shouldn't be a case of well, you are in a sn school so you don't need a decent education. The standard should be an education for all, that is differentiated to meet that individuals requirements. Which again goes back to re-educating the population.

Thankfully, here anyway sn are realising this as well, and are raising their profiles within the local communities. Although some will probably see this as a bad thing.

sage, I was one if them, just costed through mainstream. My behaviour was acceptable, but I was deemed thick lazy and stupid, and shouted at a lot be teachers at Primary school. I was in the bottom sets in senior school, messing about in class and living up to the stereotype.

My dad fared worse, he was hung out of the window, and books thrown at his head .

kids like mine would have died back in the day.\they nearly did 20 years ago, thank goodness for the mid wife who stopped it.
if kids with severe sn lived.....they were taken away.

nowadays thank goodness that doesn't happen.
but the support when you have a child/baby with cp for instance is crap.
you come on mn.....and you are hit with all the threads like this.
talking about exams and mainstream.
its othering
because cos kids like mine will never work/never take "exams"
so I agree with Fanjo earlier on

jonesthegirl the schools you are in need of do exist, though they are few and far between. Published GCSE results do tend to suffer from the fact that most of these schools are tiny, so may only have 8-10 kids in their GCSE cohort, plus have a wide range of ability from average to super intelligent. They also suffer from the fact that those kids don't necessarily follow the linked path that children in mainstream schools do - they may take maths GCSE in year 8 or 9, MFL and a couple of others in year 10 and perhaps always struggle with GCSE English due to the fact that they have a communication disorder. It's hard to get £50K+ LA funding for a child coasting along nicely but unremarkably in mainstream unless there's some serious difficulties, somewhere.

SN, disability is a whole spectrum from children who are in mainstream o those who are in special schools as their disability like dd, as she cannot cope in that environment.

So because some people will never be able to take exams then no-one should talk about sn?

If no-one talks about sn, then how are the successes of people with cp, who do pass gcse's ever going to be discussed and celebrated?

If sn can never be discussed, then how can some of the myths be rebuked?

but what do you mean by sn??
is it just a pretty word that describes...."them"
the truth is a lot of kids affected severely by sn will not take traditional exams.
does that make them less?
(mine will end up with a city and guilds so I am happy)

I totally agree bloody, there are chikdren with a range of SN, some with complex SN in mainstreams, who are very good. The trouble is wit mainstream, they vary, some are very supportive and clued up, some are still in the age of the dinosaurs, and very similar to my primary 30 years ago.

It's just a term to describe a range of difficulties.

No it does not sam, they are not less, it's simply an umbrella term used to describe a range of disabilities or difficulties.

its rubbish though, as not all kids will thrive in MS.(imo MS is shite even for NT kids so I am biased) threads full of talk about exams are not helpful.
they just make people who are new to sn feel like shite.

Samcro - the problem is that "SN" or "AN" covers a while range of needs and one person's experience is never going to be identical to another's.

Both of my boys have ASD. Neither could be descried as "mild".

One is extremely bright, though - being at a school with an academic focus but also a proper understanding of his quite extreme emotional and behavioural difficulties is extremely important for him and could be the difference between an institutionalised adulthood (possibly at her majesty's pleasure, at times) and a productive, interesting adulthood with a reasonable amount of independence.

The other one struggles and will most likely not be taking GCSEs, himself (though we're always prepared to be surprised by him, as he does that, constantly). I'm looking at the same special schools for secondary that I was forced to for DS1 and don't see a peer group for him there, either. Ones with nurture groups that still follow the national curriculum and don't look like they'll meet his needs in any way whatsoever. He's only just picking out extremely motivating single words, so Oliver twist is hardly relevant to him.

Unfortunately, it's as "othering" to wish exclude our children with SN who can achieve independence from the conversation as it is to exclude all of our children with SN. Having the intelligence to possibly get a degree one day does not make DS1's problems any less significant than DS2's. If anything, its harder for him because he notices what a shite old place the world can be for someone like him. DS2 doesn't give a toss, so long as he has his favourite things.

And the conversation about how the world needs to behave to be a good experience for people with SN and disabilities is the right conversation to be having. Ultimately, how painful we find certain things, as their parents, needs to take a bit of a back seat to that because relieving that personal pain isn't always the absolute best thing for the person in our care or for the person with equal but very different needs in another person's care.

^This^

If you are keen to discuss SN to emphasise that people with SN can achieve and aren't always not very able then you must also bear in mind and emphasise that even if people are indeed not very able they are still valuable human beings.

YY ouryvr, I totally agree with you.

It does matter..when educating people that kids with autism can really achieve and be brilliant academically, for example, it's important to consider that those who are low functioning and can't achieve academically should be just as valued by society.

That wasn't my original point though, and nor was I originally meaning we should not discuss SN.

My point was I find threads about "why are there so many posters with kids with SN on MN" quite depressing and othering. I am just a poster with a child, just like everyone else on MN.

Fanjo who is saying they are not! Nobody is saying children with SN are less. Dd is in SN school, way behind her peers, i just want her to be happy, and do the best she can do whatever that may be. She may be independent, she may not, who knows.

SN is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of disabilities and difficulties.
SN isn't a word to describe 'them'.
SN includes a whole range from neglected, to gifted, to autism, to bi-polar to visual impairment. And countless other disabilities or difficulties.

Having sn doesn't make a person any lesser. However, there are people in society who do hold this view. Hence education needed.

At the moment, it is true some children with sn will never sit exams. However, if we maintain that attitude then we are no better surely than previous generations who made huge assumptions about a person with a disability who was hidden away from society.

With the huge advancements over the years with cochlear implants, and aac more people are given a 'voice' and a further step up. If we don't have these discussions, then how are people ever going to find out about these advancements? Again this isn't about viewing a person with sn as a lesser person, it's about enriching that persons life.

fanjo that is an interesting point, it is something I was talking about to another parent who child had ASD. This is not only discussed on Mumsnet, but in society, in our local ASD support group we were discussing this.

I agree bloody, though there will be those who cannot sit exams, and may never be independent, they are still as valued as any other child with or without SN. Just because a child has SN, does not mean we cannot be positive, about their achievements. When tge Paed delivered dd dx, he said tgat he did not know how she will be like in the future, she could develop skills and catch up with the right help or not.

It wasn't your point, Fanjo but Samcro did complain about the talk of kids with SN sitting exams.

Which is, I'm afraid, suggesting that having a conversation about the DS2's of this world is fine, but that DS1 needs to be kept out of it. Maybe suggesting that aeroflotgirl's experiences aren't valid because she went to university in the end. Never mind that whole childhood (and I hope she'll excuse my paraphrasing) being seen as the thick, weird kid and being treated accordingly.

We can talk about the world's DS1s and the world's DS2s at the same time. Neither takes anything away from the other. Both are extremely vulnerable when not treated well by society.

If you push the fact that people with SN can achieve you really do leave those who can't behind. They need acceptance even more probably, as they can't represent themselves. It's a tricky one I agree. Just seeing people as human beings with a different range of abilities is the best approach I feel. Everyone should be supported to achieve their best. But if their best is being able to wipe their own bum then that's not inferior to someone who can get 10 degrees.

FanjofortheMammaries Fri 04-Mar-16 23:53:50

what she said