Is using the term 'special needs' offensive now?

[STOPSCRATCHINGTHECRADLECAP]

I've just witnessed a FB conversation in which a mother with children with special needs says that 'special needs' is offensive and it's now 'special educational needs'.

This is new to me, I've not heard of this.

How long has this been the case?

Coming from someone who was born disabled and used a wheelchair since I was six, I'm personally offended by people being offended by words surrounding disability.

I can't stand the sugar coating of the language around disability and special needs.

It really doesn't help children to pretend their differences aren't there. Teach them to embrace their disability/special needs. Own that part of them. That way nobody can use it against them as an insult.

Pepper not everybody is able to own or accept their difference so those people need others to speak out for them I do get that there is too much faffing around with terminology so proper issues facing people disabilities are not really looked at

Isn’t the issue that a word/phrase is chosen to describe some attribute, but over time it becomes used in an insulting or degrading way by some, thus tainting the word/phrase with bad connotations. A new word/phrase is then invented. It seems like such a word/phrase typically has a 10-15 year life before this happens.

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with ‘special needs’ in itself.... any more than spastic or handicapped, but if it’s become tainted by its misuse, then i think those who are directly affected by the word/phrase (either because they are the ones described by it or care for those that are) have the right to be described using a different word/phrase.

Oh i dunno maybe bypass spastic and bring back crippled . Saying somebody a person is spastic is highly offensive because spastic means jerks in movements so reducing the person with cerebal palsy to their restrictions.

Gilead

One of my friends told me she heard the leader of her county council (notorious for being one of the worst in its treatment of children with SEN) say

“We are not going to spend money on children, who are never going to contribute!”

Personally, I think it’s more important for parents, professionals, and adults who had SEN, to spend their time campaigning against that mindset or trying to get those people replaced, than sitting around discussing whether it’s “special needs” or “additional needs”!

“We are not going to spend money on children, who are never going to contribute!”

fucking hell

The absolute most important thing as far as this sort of thing is concerned is for people to listen to the views of disabled people. Language is an issue if its misuse demeans and maligns us.
Lots and lots of disabled people are campaigning about this - unfortunately, a lot of people aren’t terribly keen to listen. And we often find ourselves shouted down by parents (some, not all) or professionals (again, some, not all) who think their views on the matter should take precedence.

However when listening to the views of disabled people we can’t ignore those who can’t verbalise their own views. As has been said earlier sometimes the issues arise because the more vocal/able in disabled communities feel they can speak for everyone which actually can take away from the needs of others.

I do think that person first language did help my son when he was growing up. It helped us to talk about strategies for addressing his specific learning difficulties and, very important, to focus a lot of time and energy on the things he was good at, like sports. I think the chosen language is often an individual thing, which does make it harder for service providers and disability allies to sort out sometimes.

As to the money spent, we were lucky to live in a school district (in the US) with an excellent special education program. So much depends on political will. Language is important, but constant lobbying and, in the case of the US, a few well placed lawsuits here and there are the things that get the attention of policy makers.

DS1 has special needs, he doesn't have special educational needs, he's actually very intelligent. How do I describe him?

Most people use ‘additional needs’ rather than SEN now. ALN (additional learning needs) is seen a lot in education.

‘Special needs’ does have negative connotations. I’m not offended by its use but it is a term which segregates and ‘others’ people ,I think.

My sons Autsitic and i’ve not heard of SN being offensive?
Maybe i’m out of the loop but some children with Autism won’t have special educational because they excel at school but they DO have special needs where they struggle with other aspects.
I always say my son has special needs rather then he’s autistic because people
often have MANY questions about autism and some days i just don’t have the energy to answer whereas you say special needs and they don’t ask any. I do know some autistic people (usually higher functioning and yes i know that term is not used anymore but can’t think how else to describe it) do not like being called disabled and wouldn’t think they themselves are.

You could always use additional needs instead i suppose

philomena my son has special educational needs. He is also very intelligent. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive either!

I guess you could say he has a disability although that isn’t liked by some, or ‘additional needs’ - or name his condition. E.g. ‘he has cerebral palsy’ - but really it’s a matter of picking the term we prefer and other people respecting that in their use of language

I have child with learning disability and I am not offended if people refer to this or to SN or SEN what I object to is people staring at him and talking to him as if he is an alien. It is not words but behaviour towards him I sometimes find offensive, as does he.

idonotlike oops sorry. I would probably say that he, DS2 and I all have different invisible disabilities.

MontStMichel
Don't see why both can't be done.

This is why it’s so hard, the number of conflicting views on this thread, from professionals in this field, parents of and people with SEN/ Autistim / SN but not SEN etc. If the people involved in and living with these issues day in and day out don’t agree with what is offensive and what isn’t how the hell is anyone with no knowledge supposed to know what to say??

I just hope that if I use the wrong term about any disability, race, gender or whatever people will see that it’s done out of ignorance rather than to give offence, and I try to educate myself.

The term I would use, and is used through education / social work / health services is 'additional needs'

Was speaking to a friend about this who works in education, and she says they use the term different learning needs. Although he also says lots of teenagers say they are an aspie.

‘Special needs’ does have negative connotations. I’m not offended by its use but it is a term which segregates and ‘others’ people ,I think.

It wasn't seen as at all negative when it started first being used. And any term used for a group others people in the way you describe it, because it is about describing difference, Additional needs does that too.

Clairemcnam
The issue with "special" is mostly that it's condescending and belittling while "additional" is factual with no emotional context.

But the word "special" does not inherently have a connotation of condescension and belittling. Society has allowed that connotation to be established because of its application to people with disabilities. The core issue is societal devaluation and marginalization of people with disabilities that in spite of considerable progress continues to this day.

I don’t think anyone will get too wound up as long as it isn’t meant maliciously.

My daughter has Special Educational Needs but is also very intelligent - reading at the top of the class, very very solid understanding of Maths... memory that forgets absolutely nothing (when her speech caught up we got a full summary of every single wrong her older sister has ever inflicted on her younger sibling in great detail) and a phenomenally quick wit and comic timing. However, her motor skills and spatial awareness are fucked and she struggles to hold a pencil on her bad days - let alone remember letter formation (you can see her mind blank out halfway around a letter - mine does exactly the same thing - I'm bloody convinced I'm undiagnosed with the same difficulties she has as well) and her speech is still very very poor with both language and articulation disorders - however even though she'd say both words the same until recently - she knew that "nail" and "snail" were different and spelt differently... she's a bright child - this is the battle I fight constantly with this year's class teacher who just wants to lump the kids with special needs together and forget about them cos they're not going to meet her performance management targets (it's being a long long year - last year's teacher was superb and really did get the measure of DD2 - this year's just is a complete refusal to engage unless both me and the SENCO are breathing down her neck constantly - she will utterly take the piss because she assumes DD2's language means I won't get told what's going on at home.... if she'd spent any effort actually listening to DD2 she'd realise that nothing gets past that child at all!)

Hopefully not,as I have just used it on here!