SEND and disability awareness

Learning outcomes

• Explain the social model of disability and reasonable adjustments
• Recognise sensory processing needs and adapt the environment
• Communicate effectively with non-speaking and differently communicating children
• Describe the purpose of an EHC plan and your role in it

Module 1 of 3

The social model

The medical model locates the problem in the child. The social model locates it in the barriers around them: a noisy corridor, an inflexible rule, a form nobody explained. Our job is to remove barriers, not to fix children.

Reasonable adjustments are a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 and are usually small: a quiet space, extra processing time, a visual timetable, permission to move, or a written version of a verbal instruction.

Module 2 of 3

Autism, ADHD and sensory needs

Autistic children may process language more slowly, take instructions literally, need predictability, and experience sensory input as painfully intense or barely registered. Meltdown and shutdown are involuntary responses to overload, not misbehaviour, and consequences afterwards achieve nothing.

Children with ADHD experience difficulty with working memory, time and impulse control, not with willingness. Break tasks into single steps, use timers and visual cues, and expect to repeat information without irritation.

Module 3 of 3

Communication

Non-speaking does not mean non-communicating. Behaviour, gesture, PECS, signing and communication apps are all valid. Always assume competence and speak to the child, not about them over their head.

An Education, Health and Care plan is legally binding. If a provision in the plan is not happening, record it and escalate — the child's right is not optional.