Now I've got the rage.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

I've found myself getting very very cross about certain terms and people using them with no idea what they mean.

SEN SN and disability.

I've noticed quite a few people use SEN to mean everything (that one is usually people who should know better)and SN appears to replace the word disability when referring to a disabled child and it pisses me off.

Nobody has ever referred to me as having SN but they routinely do about my children despite all of us having an actual disability (one that is recognised as being one) so why the difference,whats the point?

To me it just comes across as minimising.

Even mumsnet do it with the topics we have special needs.. Children and then we have parents with disabilities.

And it more than gives me the rage when the SEN thing is used to describe every disability because many people with disabilities have no SEN and many with no disability have SEN.

Rant over I've now kinda calmed down

Special Needs covers a broader spectrum than disability. Disability is a recognised legal term, defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a ?substantial? (more than minor or trivial) and ?long-term? (12 months +) negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

My DD1 is disabled.

However, I have concerns about my DD2 that may turn out to be as a result of a disability, or may not. Who knows. I still need somewhere to come with those concerns. If this area was labelled 'Children with Disabilities' then there would be a fair number of people who would feel they could not post, because their child has no diagnosed disability.

Special Needs is a catch-all term for children who have additional support requirements.

That's exactly why it gives me the rage.(obviously not people feeling they don't have a section to post in because that would also give me the rage)

Its using SN when talking about an actual disability or saying SEN when you mean the same thing

Mmm...an actual disability is just a SN that has been defined well enough to give it a name though, surely?

DD1 was disabled long before she got a name for her disability and even now 'squiffy brain' is more accurate than the various labels she has. There are many, many children whose disability is SWAN (Syndrome Without a Name).

How are these people who have very little knowledge of the various conditions meant to be accurate in talking about a disability?

Add to that, the sensitivity many people have about the word 'disabled' and it's truly like walking across a minefield.

Also....it's tricky with the SEN/SN divide. Some children have SEN and SN (as DD1) Some have SEN but no SN. Some have SN but no SEN. Some have SN, no SEN, but their SN impacts on their function in a specific area that reduces their progress.....complicated.

I know but it still winds me up,in all fairness it only does when its minimising or when the person being referred to has already stated they have a disability

Yes, that is frustrating.

People try to minimise, often, because the reality is uncomfortable for them.