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

[depankrispaneven]

Wouldn't it just be simpler to include something referring people to the more active SN section further down the page? And indeed to put that section immediately underneath the Education section?

It wasnt actually on the SN board at the time, but it was the users of the SN board that were bullying other parents of children with SN.

OP wanted to know why some people wanted to use SEN board rather than SN.

My DS has spld that is purely educational. The only way it affects his day to day life is lack of organisation and a bad sense of time. He is 18 and very independent.

As I said his allergies are better dealt with on the Allergies Boards

My DS has spld that is purely educational. The only way it affects his day to day life is lack of organisation and a bad sense of time. He is 18 and very independent.

What i did mean to say, any queries are better off answered by teachers or SENCOs which tend to be found on the schools boards rather than the SN boards

'What i did mean to say, any queries are better off answered by teachers or SENCOs'

That's an interesting idea. Though in reality I think it is a rare teacher or SENCO that actually knows the laws regarding SEN. Those that do tend to post on the SN board either because they do, or as a consequence of doing so.

My experience has been that society/schools/medical professionals make a distinction between SN and SEN and therefore in order to get the best help for my children, I have to use those terms. For example, my ds struggled in elementary school because of his learning differences. He also struggled because he was sick all the time and missed weeks to months of every school year because of his mitochondrial disease (not yet officially recognized as a disability). I could never get the help or support that I need from the school or gp because as far as they were concerned he didn't have any official SN's and his SEN's were not serious enough to pay attention to (their words, not mine). Ironically, 2 weeks before the end of elementary school, they finally gave him an IEP for speech therapy because he had developed a strong lisp (a symptom of his mitochondrial disease), and I used that as an opportunity to write in all the extra support he needed because of his SEN's.

Also, I found that ds often had friends who were on the spectrum, but their parents often commented to me that I didn't have the same struggles that they did because my ds didn't have an official SN.

SEN is not just about law. I have had no problems accessing or getting help for my DS. Both primary have always been helpful giving him one to one or getting him extra time for exams. Its pretty obvious he is very very bright, just behind the rest of "himself" mainly in writing.

If your child has an 'obvious' requirement for help, it does make things easier often. But most SEN and SN's are outside the training and experience of the average teacher and SENCO, in terms of strategies and duty of care.

Teachers often think they know what is expected of them but this is often down to cultural-bias and inadequate and often inappropriate training from LAs encouraging schools to keep children in the cheapest provision rather than adequate provision.

'Also, I found that ds often had friends who were on the spectrum, but their parents often commented to me that I didn't have the same struggles that they did because my ds didn't have an official SN.'

I find that pretty horrible tbh. Apart from anything else, due to the spikey profile children on the spectrum often display, there is often a greater difference between them than between NT children.

I dont need help with duty of care or the law. He does not gave social or behavioural problems.
The questions i ask are best answered by teachers who know about exams he is taking or at present ucas application advise.

But wouldn't you just ask on the education board for that information, rather than SN IN Education?

I know I would, as that is rather generic education information.

Posting in SN Children doesn't mean you can't post anywhere else on the board.

I dread the SN section, I don't belong there, They have their own group think which is not how I think. They wouldn't like 85% of my opinions and would flame me for having them.
But I do have a child who is sporadically on the SEN register & is "High profile" (for all the wrong reasons) at school.
So I know I am unwelcome in SN section but sometimes I feel safe to ask something in the education->SEN section. So I would like to keep it as is.

'So I know I am unwelcome in SN section'

That's ridiculous. I'm sorry but it is. You can't possibly 'know' that. I don't know of anyone who is unwelcome on the SN board, unless your opinions are disablist.

The 'group think' extends only as far as a general acknowledgement that parent's want reasonable outcomes for their children. There is no consensus as to how to do it, or even what those outcomes should be.

I think the closest to consensus I have seen is a general agreement that to treat people equally you do not treat them the same. And even that is sometimes debated in terms of what it might look like.

I would urge those who have some kind of issue with a board and have evidence of your 'unwelcomeness' or bullying to post a link here so that it can be a)proven and b)if found to be true, addressed.

This may be a complete aside, and if so forgive me, but I really wanted to add my POV, I use the SN sections and find them supportive and informative, I don't always agree with posts and posters and I know some hold very different views to me about the disabilities and needs which my ds has, but I have never felt dismissed or belittled, and i have always been listened to and supported, personally it is the rest of MN that I don't 'fit' with, and I don't feel the need to engage with... but for me (as a mum of a ds with SEN/SN, as the carer for a dh who is physically disabled, and as a professional working in Health and social care) MN SN has been amazing and truly inspirational, and I woulf hate anyone to feel they couldn't pop in and check out what is on offer to see if it would be useful, or if they had anything to contribute.

Starlight
I will and have talked directly with MN they sometimes agree they, sometimes dont.

lljkk how do you know you are unwelcome and the people on MNSNs wouldn't like your opinions. Fwiw, I have never seen anyone flamed for their opinion on MNSN, we often have different opinions, but respect our right to differ in both opinion and approach.

As sign and sing said, I feel far more unsafe and unwelcome on the main boards, where people - particularly recently - seem to think it's perfectly fine to voice extremely disablist attitudes and then cry 'professionally offended' when those they are disrespecting object.

I'm not saying the whole of MN is like that, but when I venture outside MNSN I often feel like I'm walking on eggshells, waiting for someone to 'call me' for daring to have a child who might somehow impinge on the fringes of their existence. Never once have I been made to feel unwelcome or like I don't fit or that my opinions are wrong or don't count on the SN boards - it's a place where people can genuinely post and celebrate the milestones that many others simply wouldn't understand eg an 11 year old being dry at night for the first time. There is no consensus of opinion and no common diagnoses - in fact many of the dc on there don't have a diagnosis at all. I can't help thinking something must have happened on there a long time ago (and I've been on there almost 7 years, so it must have been a very long time ago) and those who claim the board is bullying and unwelcoming should come back and give it another chance. There are a handful of longer-term alongside quite a lot of new posters, a wide spectrum of issues and disabilities and masses of different opinions and approaches, but it works - without any nastiness at all.

Blimey, this view of MNSN is not one that I recognise! I don't always agree with the opinions of all posters on MNSN, but there's rarely a slanging match. it's the best resource of information and support I've found and despite having a DS with SN for 14 years, many friends with DC with all sorts of SN in RL, being a 1:1 TA for a DC with SN, being a governor at a special school etc, etc, nowhere have I had more support and understanding.

I used to feel that ABA for Autism was pushed a bit on the board, but now I know more about ABA I realise it's hardly pushed at all.

The issue with SEN in Education has come up before. It's very quiet there as is SN education. SN Children is the busiest board with the most posters and the most advice. I just feel sorry for those who don't access it because they haven't come to terms with thinking that their DC may have SEN/SN or are in denial, or think that their DC's issues aren't 'serious' enough to bother the SN board. We really don't mind. We do not play SN top trumps, and if anyone did, they would be called up on it or, more likely, be given support for what is probably a shitty day (often literally! )

I have also been around on MNSN for at least 3 years and have never seen any bullying and have only seen swearing when people are sick to the back teeth of their Dc's needs not being met.

I am stunned at lljkk who doesnt know me or anything about me and yet seems to think she/he knows what I am thinking !!

To whoever it was that thought teachers and sencos were the best people for advice... I have nothing to say bit have a

I love the idea of MNSN agreeing with each other enough to have a 'party line'. We are all individuals and we have different ways of tackling the same thing.

Some do ABA, some hate TEACCH, some like nutritional support, some like therapeutic methods such as Tinsley House, some Home School, some Mainstream, some Special School....as varied as it could be.

On the subject of SEN/SN the legal definition of SEN is:

"Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty
which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.
Children have a learning difficulty if they:
a) have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of
children of the same age; or
(b) have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of
educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same
age in schools within the area of the local education authority
(c) are under compulsory school age and fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would so do if special educational provision was not made for
them.
Children must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because
the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught.
Special educational provision means:
(a) for children of two or over, educational provision which is additional to,
or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for
children of their age in schools maintained by the LEA, other than special
schools, in the area
(b) for children under two, educational provision of any kind."
SEN Code of Practice pg 6., referring to See Section 312, Education Act 1996.

This is further clarified throughout the code, but basically, diabetes/mild or moderate asthma/other medical conditions - not SEN.

Any disability which hinders or prevents the child making use of educational facilities or causes a learning difficulty - SEN.

Gosh, I'm really surprised by people saying they'd be unwelcome in the SN section. I'm an infrequent visitor and only start threads when I have a question (largely because I feel too ill-informed to contribute as I'm so new to all this) but I've had really good advice and support. And no sense whatsoever of 'toeing the party line'.

My DS doesn't have ASD or any of the more 'popular' disabilities either