A plain-language guide to the 151 terms UK parents meet most often in SEND letters, reports, tribunals, and the school gate. Written to be useful at 11pm the night before an annual review.
The conditions and presentations parents most often encounter in SEND letters, reports, and conversations.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting attention regulation, impulse control, and activity levels, diagnosed in the UK against ICD-11 / DSM-5 criteria under NICE guideline NG87. It co-occurs frequently with autism, dyslexia, and anxiety, and presents differently in girls.
Anxiety disorder is the umbrella for persistent, disproportionate worry or fear that significantly interferes with everyday life, covering generalised anxiety, separation anxiety, social anxiety, specific phobias, panic disorder, and selective mutism. NICE CG159 (social anxiety) and CG113 (generalised anxiety) cover treatment in children and young people.
Auditory Processing Disorder is difficulty making sense of sounds despite normal hearing thresholds. APD is diagnosed by an audiologist using a battery of central auditory tests (usually from age 7 upwards) and recognised in the British Society of Audiology (BSA) 2018 position statement.
Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental difference that shapes how a person communicates, processes sensory information, and experiences the social world. It is diagnosed against ICD-11 / DSM-5 criteria, not against IQ, and is a difference rather than an illness.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder is a feeding and eating disorder, recognised in DSM-5, where a child restricts what or how much they eat for reasons not driven by body image: typically sensory sensitivity, fear of choking or vomiting, or lack of interest in food. NHS guidance (NICE NG69) directs ARFID care into community paediatrics or eating disorder services depending on severity.
Cerebral Palsy is a lifelong condition affecting movement, posture, and coordination caused by non-progressive damage to the developing brain before, during, or shortly after birth. Severity is classified by the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS, levels I–V) and is the framework most UK paediatric physio teams use. NICE NG62 (2017, updated 2022) is the relevant clinical guideline.
Demand avoidance is a pattern of resisting everyday requests and expectations, most often anxiety-driven rather than wilful. It is a feature of PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) profile autism and shows up across autism, anxiety, ADHD, and trauma, distinct from the typical developmental no-saying of younger children.
Developmental Language Disorder is a lifelong condition affecting the ability to understand and use spoken language, with no obvious cause and no associated condition (such as autism or a hearing impairment) accounting for it. It affects around 7% of UK children (roughly two in every classroom) and is set out in the CATALISE consortium 2017 criteria, which most UK SLT teams use.
Down's Syndrome is a genetic condition caused by an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21, producing a recognisable pattern of physical features, a variable degree of learning disability, and an increased risk of cardiac, thyroid, hearing, and sleep difficulties. It is the most common genetic cause of learning disability in the UK, affecting around 1 in 700 live births.
Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty affecting the understanding of number, magnitude, and arithmetic, independent of general intelligence. It is recognised in DSM-5 as a specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics, and affects roughly 3–6% of UK schoolchildren.
Dysgraphia is a specific learning difficulty affecting written expression: letter formation, spacing, spelling, and getting ideas onto the page. It is not a separate diagnosis in DSM-5, which captures it under specific learning disorder with impairment in written expression, but the term is used widely in UK reports.
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty affecting accurate and fluent word reading and spelling, independent of intelligence. The Rose Report (2009) is still the working definition used by most English schools and exam boards.
Dyspraxia, formally Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), is a neurodevelopmental difference affecting the planning, learning, and execution of motor skills. Diagnostic criteria are in DSM-5 and the European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD) 2019 international guideline.
Epilepsy is a neurological condition causing recurrent, unprovoked seizures. NICE guideline NG217 (2022) sets the diagnostic and treatment pathway, and the Department for Education's "Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions" (2017, statutory) sets out what schools must put in place.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, affecting brain structure, executive function, learning, memory, and physical development. NICE Quality Standard QS204 (2022) is the first English guideline that requires NHS commissioners to deliver an FASD assessment pathway.
Fragile X Syndrome is an X-linked genetic condition caused by an expansion of the FMR1 gene's CGG repeats, producing the most common known inherited cause of learning disability and the most common known genetic cause of autism. Diagnosis is by DNA testing, usually arranged via a paediatrician or clinical geneticist.
Hearing impairment in education is reduced hearing that affects access to spoken language and learning. Specialist provision is led by a Qualified Teacher of the Deaf (QToD), a mandatory qualification under DfE policy for teaching deaf pupils. Around 50,000 deaf children attend UK schools (CRIDE 2024 survey).
Hyperlexia is an advanced ability to decode written words from a very young age, often outpacing spoken language comprehension. It is not a standalone diagnosis in DSM-5 or ICD-11 but is a recognised descriptive profile, most commonly in autistic children, distinguished from precocious reading by the disconnect between decoding and meaning.
Moderate Learning Difficulty is the SEND Code of Practice category for children who attain significantly below age-expected levels across most areas of the curriculum despite appropriate teaching, with cognitive functioning typically in the 70–84 standard score range. It is the largest single SEN need group in English primary schools.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety-spectrum condition involving intrusive, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviours or mental acts done to reduce distress (compulsions). NICE guideline CG31 (2005, last updated 2019) sets the diagnostic and treatment pathway for children and young people.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a DSM-5 diagnosis describing a recurring pattern of angry, argumentative, and defiant behaviour towards authority figures, lasting at least six months. Many UK SEND clinicians and advocates argue the label often masks unmet needs (PDA, trauma, sensory dysregulation, undiagnosed autism, or ADHD) and treat it as descriptive rather than explanatory.
PDA is a profile within the autism spectrum characterised by an extreme, anxiety-driven need to avoid everyday demands, including those a child wants to do. Most NHS pathways describe a "PDA profile of autism" rather than diagnosing PDA as a separate condition.
Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty is the SEND Code of Practice category for children with profound intellectual disability alongside additional needs: physical, sensory, medical, or behavioural. Children with PMLD almost always have an EHCP from before school entry and attend specialist provision designed around their physical, sensory, and communication profile.
Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder where a child speaks fluently in some settings (usually home) but is consistently unable to speak in others (usually school) for at least one month. It is recognised in DSM-5 and is not shyness, defiance, or a choice.
Sensory Processing Disorder describes difficulty taking in, organising, and responding to everyday sensory information (touch, sound, movement, taste, smell, sight, balance, and body awareness) in a way that supports daily life. SPD is not in ICD-11 or DSM-5 as a stand-alone diagnosis but is widely used in UK paediatric OT practice.
Severe Learning Difficulty is the SEND Code of Practice category for children with significant intellectual or cognitive impairment, typically with a standard score below 55, who require a highly adapted curriculum delivered in a specialist or specialist-resourced setting. Most children with SLD have an EHCP from the early years onwards.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health is one of the four broad areas of SEND need in the SEND Code of Practice (paragraph 6.32), covering difficulties with emotional regulation, mental health, attachment, and behaviour, including anxiety, withdrawal, and behaviour that is read as challenging. SEMH replaced the older "BESD" (Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulties) category in 2014 to centre the underlying need rather than the surface behaviour.
Speech, Language and Communication Needs is an umbrella term for difficulties with understanding language, using language, speaking clearly, or interacting socially. SLCN is one of the four broad areas of need in the SEND Code of Practice (DfE / DoH 2015, paragraphs 6.28–6.30).
Tourette Syndrome is a neurological condition involving multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic that have been present for more than 12 months, with onset before 18, set out in DSM-5 criteria. It affects around 1% of UK schoolchildren and frequently co-occurs with ADHD, OCD, and anxiety.
Visual Impairment in education is reduced vision that cannot be fully corrected with glasses or contact lenses and that affects access to learning. Specialist support is led by a Qualified Teacher of Vision Impairment (QTVI), a mandatory qualification under DfE policy for teaching pupils with VI. RNIB estimates over 41,000 children and young people in the UK have a vision impairment.
Statutory terms from the SEND Code of Practice, Children and Families Act 2014, Equality Act 2010, and tribunal process.
An annual review is the statutory meeting, required at least every 12 months, where a child's EHCP is reviewed and updated. The local authority must decide within four weeks of the meeting whether to maintain, amend, or cease the plan (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 20, and SEND Code of Practice 9.176–9.196).
The Children and Families Act 2014 is the primary legislation that reformed SEND in England. Part 3 (sections 19–83) created EHCPs, replaced Statements of SEN, established the duties behind the SEND Code of Practice, and extended legal protection to ages 0–25.
A direct payment is a cash payment from the local authority to a family (or managed account) that allows them to commission services (such as therapy, 1:1 support, or short breaks) directly rather than via the LA. Direct payments for education provision sit under regulation 9 of the SEND (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014.
Disability discrimination is unlawful treatment of a disabled child under the Equality Act 2010, including direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, harassment, victimisation, and failure to make reasonable adjustments. Claims against schools are heard by the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) with a six-month time limit.
A draft EHCP is the version of the plan an LA sends to parents for comment before finalising. Issued under regulation 13(2) of the SEND Regulations 2014, it must be sent at least 15 days before the final plan is issued and Section I (school) is usually left blank with consultation underway.
An Education, Health and Care Plan is a legally binding document, issued by a local authority in England under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014, that describes a child or young person's special educational needs and the provision the LA must arrange to meet them, for ages 0–25.
An EHC needs assessment is the local authority's statutory process under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014 for gathering professional advice and deciding whether a child needs an EHCP. The full statutory timeline from request to issue of a final plan is 20 weeks.
The Equality Act 2010 is the UK-wide legislation that protects disabled children from discrimination and requires schools and other providers to make reasonable adjustments. It applies independently of, and alongside, the SEND framework: a child does not need a diagnosis or an EHCP to be protected.
A final EHCP is the legally binding version of the plan issued at the end of the assessment or amendment process under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal runs from the date the final plan is issued, with a two-month time limit (or one month after a mediation certificate).
The local authority is the council responsible, under the Children and Families Act 2014, for arranging and funding the special educational provision in a child's EHCP. The LA (not the school) is the legal duty-holder for assessment, plan content, and provision under section 42.
The Local Offer is the statutory information service every English local authority must publish, setting out the SEND services, support, and provision available in their area for children and young people aged 0–25. The duty sits at section 30 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND (Local Offer) Regulations 2014.
A personal budget is an identified amount of funding within an EHCP that parents or the young person can choose to direct themselves, in agreement with the local authority, towards securing the provision in the plan. The right to request a personal budget is set out at section 49 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and regulations 6–7 of the SEND (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014.
A phase transfer review is the annual review held before a child with an EHCP moves between key stages of education: early years to primary, primary to secondary, secondary to post-16, post-16 to post-19. The LA must amend the EHCP and name the receiving setting in Section I by 15 February (school transfer) or 31 March (post-16 / 19) of the transfer year (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 18).
Reasonable adjustments are the changes a school or other service must make under section 20 and schedule 13 of the Equality Act 2010 to avoid putting a disabled child at a substantial disadvantage compared with peers. Examples include rest breaks, ear defenders, modified PE, exit cards, and assistive technology.
A refusal to assess is a local authority's decision under section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014 not to carry out an EHC needs assessment after a request. Parents have a statutory right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) on this decision, with a two-month time limit from the date of the decision (or one month from the end of mediation).
A refusal to issue is a local authority's decision, after carrying out an EHC needs assessment, not to issue an EHCP. The decision is made under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014, must be communicated in writing with reasons by week 16 of the 20-week process, and carries a statutory right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND).
Section B is the section of an EHCP describing the child's special educational needs, as required by regulation 12(1)(b) of the SEND Regulations 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice 9.69. Section B must be specific and detailed. It sets the bar for what the provision in Section F must then address.
Section F sets out the special educational provision the local authority must secure for the child, under section 37(2) and section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The legal duty to arrange Section F is absolute. The LA must secure the provision, regardless of budget pressures (East Sussex CC, ex parte Tandy [1998]).
Section I is the section of an EHCP naming the school or type of school the child will attend. Parents can express a preference for a specific school (section 38 Children and Families Act 2014), and the local authority must name it unless one of the three narrow grounds at section 39(4) applies.
SEN Support is the graduated approach English schools use to support children with SEND who do not have an EHCP. Set out in SEND Code of Practice 6.44–6.56, it operates as an assess-plan-do-review cycle funded from the school's notional SEN budget (typically up to the first £6,000 per pupil per year).
The SEND Code of Practice (DfE / DoH, January 2015) is the 0–25 statutory guidance setting out what schools, colleges, local authorities, and health bodies in England must do to support children with SEND under the Children and Families Act 2014. Bodies listed in section 77 of the Act must have regard to it.
SEND mediation is an independent meeting between the local authority and family, with a trained mediator, to try to resolve an EHCP dispute without going to tribunal. Parents must consider mediation, by contacting the mediation provider for a certificate, before appealing on most grounds (Children and Families Act 2014, s.55).
The SEND Tribunal (formally, the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability)) is the independent judicial body that hears appeals against local authority decisions on EHC needs assessments, EHCP contents, school placement, ceasing of plans, and disability discrimination by schools.
A Statement of Special Educational Needs is the legacy legal document that preceded the EHCP, issued under the Education Act 1996. Statements covered children of compulsory school age (5–16) only and were phased out following the Children and Families Act 2014. All remaining Statements should have been transferred to EHCPs by 1 April 2018.
A working document is the version of an EHCP that parents, the local authority, and the tribunal mark up with proposed amendments during an appeal, annual review amendment process, or working-document negotiation. It is not a legally binding plan, but it is the document the tribunal will work from at hearing.
The school-system terms parents meet at coffee mornings, in reports, and at the school gate.
1:1 support is an adult assigned to support one named child for some or all of the school day, usually a teaching assistant funded through Section F of an EHCP. Best practice (EEF guidance, 2022) is to deploy 1:1 support to deliver structured intervention rather than as constant adult proximity, with the goal of fading adult support to build independence.
Additionally Resourced Provision is local authority-commissioned places within a mainstream school for pupils with EHCPs and specific types of SEND. Funded above the standard SEN notional budget, ARPs typically operate as enhanced classroom-based provision rather than a fully separate unit.
Alternative Provision is education arranged by the local authority or school for pupils who, because of exclusion, illness, or other reasons, cannot attend a mainstream school. It includes pupil referral units, AP academies, registered AP schools, and a range of unregistered settings. The LA duty is at section 19 of the Education Act 1996.
EOTAS is a bespoke package of education arranged and funded by the local authority for a child with an EHCP for whom no school placement is suitable, set out in section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Provision is specified in Section F and Section I is left blank or marked "EOTAS".
Elective Home Education is a parent's choice to educate their child at home rather than send them to school. The right is set out in section 7 of the Education Act 1996: every parent must ensure their child receives suitable full-time education, either by regular attendance at school *or otherwise*. EHE differs from EOTAS in that EHE is parent-funded and parent-arranged.
Emotionally Based School Avoidance is difficulty attending school driven by emotional distress, most commonly anxiety, rather than truancy. The term replaced "school refusal" in UK educational psychology practice around 2018 to centre the emotional driver. It is widely associated with autism, sensory needs, undiagnosed SEND, anxiety disorders, and trauma.
A Higher Level Teaching Assistant is an experienced TA who has gained HLTA status through assessment against the 33 HLTA standards. HLTAs can cover whole classes and lead specific interventions under a qualified teacher's planning and direction, and frequently take a leading role in SEND intervention delivery.
Inclusion is the principle that all children, including those with SEND, are educated alongside their peers with the environment, curriculum, and culture adjusted to remove barriers. It is more than physical placement. Inclusion requires the school to change for the child, not the child to change to fit the school.
An Individual Education Plan is a non-statutory written plan that sets out a child's SEND targets, the support being put in place, and how progress will be measured. The 2014 reforms moved most schools away from IEPs to provision maps and one-page profiles, but many primary schools still use IEPs as the working document of the graduated approach.
Integration is the placing of a child with SEND into a mainstream setting without necessarily changing the setting to accommodate them. The term has largely been replaced in UK SEND policy by "inclusion", which carries the requirement to adapt the environment to the child rather than vice versa.
A mainstream school is a standard primary, secondary, or all-through school that admits all children, including those with SEND. Around 91% of children with SEND, and around 60% of children with EHCPs, attend a mainstream school (DfE 2024–25 statistics).
Off-rolling is the unlawful or unethical practice of removing a pupil from the school roll in the school's interests rather than the child's, for example by pressuring parents to home educate or by managing a move out without formal exclusion. OFSTED defined and condemned the practice in its 2019 inspection handbook and continues to track it through pupil-level data.
A one-page profile is a short, child-centred document summarising what people appreciate about a pupil, what is important to them, and how best to support them. Originally developed by Helen Sanderson Associates as a person-centred planning tool, it is now widely used in English schools as the day-to-day briefing document for every adult who works with the child.
A permanent exclusion is the headteacher's decision to remove a pupil from the school's roll permanently, governed by section 51A of the Education Act 2002 and the DfE Statutory Exclusion Guidance (2023). Parents have rights to a governors' review and, where disability is a factor, to claims at the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) or independent review panel.
A provision map is the school's record of the SEND interventions and provision in place for individuals, groups, and year groups. It is used to plan, monitor, and evidence the impact of support, and is the working document the SENCO maintains under the graduated approach (SEND Code of Practice 6.76).
A Pupil Referral Unit is a type of alternative provision school for pupils who cannot attend a mainstream or special school, most commonly following permanent exclusion, medical need, or significant behavioural difficulties. PRUs are registered schools (Education Act 1996 section 19, schedule) and inspected by OFSTED.
A reduced timetable is a temporary arrangement where a child attends school for fewer hours than the standard full day. DfE statutory guidance ("Working together to improve school attendance", 2024) requires reduced timetables to be time-limited, agreed in writing with parents, reviewed regularly, and used only as part of a wider plan to reintegrate the child into full-time education.
Resourced Provision is a specialist unit attached to a mainstream school for pupils with a particular type of SEND. Pupils benefit from specialist input within the unit while accessing mainstream classes where appropriate. The model sits between mainstream and special school placement and is funded by the LA above the standard SEN notional budget.
SENDIASS is the free, impartial, and confidential information, advice, and support service every English local authority must provide to parents, children, and young people on SEND matters. The duty sits at section 32 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice chapter 2.
Special Educational Needs is the statutory term defined at section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014: a child has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision to be made for them. The newer "SEND" label adds disability into the umbrella; SEN remains in legal use within the phrase "SEN Support" and across older documents.
SEND is the umbrella term used in England for children and young people who need additional or different provision to access education. The SEND Code of Practice (paragraphs 6.28–6.35) groups need into four broad areas: communication and interaction; cognition and learning; social, emotional and mental health; sensory and/or physical.
The Special Educational Needs Coordinator is the qualified teacher in a school responsible for the day-to-day operation of the SEND policy, coordinating provision, and liaising with parents and outside professionals. Under regulation 49 of the SEND Regulations 2014, every mainstream school must have a SENCO who must achieve the National SENCO Award (NASENCo, now the NPQ for SENCOs) within three years of appointment.
A special school is a school that exclusively educates pupils with EHCPs and is designed around their specific needs. Placements are normally named in Section I of an EHCP and funded by the local authority. Special schools may be maintained, academy, non-maintained, or independent under section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
A suspension is a time-limited removal of a pupil from school, formerly called a fixed-term exclusion. Renamed in the DfE Statutory Exclusion Guidance 2023, it is governed by section 51A of the Education Act 2002. Parents have a right to make written representations to the governing board, and where the suspension exceeds five days schools must arrange education from the sixth day.
A teaching assistant is a member of school staff who supports teaching and learning under a qualified teacher's direction. TAs often deliver targeted interventions and may provide 1:1 support for a child with an EHCP, with deployment guided by the EEF's "Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants" guidance (2015, updated 2022).
The roles you meet in assessments, appointments, and EHCP advice, and what each one actually does.
An Advisory Teacher is a specialist teacher employed by the local authority who advises schools and families about supporting children with a particular type of SEND, rather than teaching the child directly. Most LA Sensory Support, Autism Outreach, and SEMH Support services operate on an advisory teacher model.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are NHS services that assess and treat children and young people with mental health difficulties. CAMHS teams typically include clinical psychologists, child psychiatrists, mental health nurses, family therapists, and assistant psychologists, and operate across four historical "tiers", though most areas now describe themselves by service pathway rather than tier.
A Clinical Psychologist is an HCPC-registered specialist holding a three-year Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy), trained in mental health assessment, formulation, and therapy. In paediatric SEND, clinical psychologists are typically based in CAMHS, paediatric hospital teams, or independent practice, and contribute to autism, ADHD, and SEMH diagnostic pathways.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead is the senior staff member responsible for safeguarding and child protection in a school. Every school must have a DSL with formal training in place at all times, as required by Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), the DfE's annually-updated statutory safeguarding guidance.
Early Help is local authority-coordinated, multi-agency support for families before issues escalate to statutory social care. It is delivered under section 10 of the Children Act 2004 and Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), and is the typical route into family support workers, parenting programmes, and youth services.
An Educational Psychologist is an HCPC-registered specialist holding a three-year Doctorate in Educational Psychology (DEdPsy / DAppEdPsy) who works with children, families, and schools to assess learning, development, and social-emotional needs. EP advice is a statutory part of EHC needs assessments under regulation 6 of the SEND Regulations 2014.
An ELSA is a teaching assistant who has completed the accredited Emotional Literacy Support Assistant programme (six days of training and ongoing supervision delivered by an Educational Psychologist) to provide short-term, one-to-one emotional literacy support in school. The programme was developed by Sheila Burton, Educational Psychologist, and is delivered by LA EP services across the UK.
A Family Support Worker is a practitioner working with families through Early Help, schools, or charities to provide practical and emotional support around parenting, daily routines, accessing services, and navigating SEND. The role is non-statutory but is often the family's most accessible day-to-day source of help.
An Inclusion Manager is a senior school staff member responsible for inclusion, vulnerable groups, and pastoral support across the school. The role is not statutory. It overlaps with SENCO, pastoral leader, designated safeguarding lead, or assistant head depending on the school's leadership structure.
An Occupational Therapist is an HCPC-registered specialist who supports children to participate in everyday activities: fine motor, gross motor, sensory processing, self-care, handwriting, feeding, and play. Paediatric OT advice is a statutory contribution to EHC needs assessments where motor or sensory needs are part of the picture, and OT provision should be specified and quantified in Section F.
A paediatrician is a doctor specialising in children's health. Community paediatricians (a recognised sub-specialty within the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, MRCPCH) typically lead neurodevelopmental assessments and write the health advice for EHC needs assessments under regulation 6(1)(d) of the SEND Regulations 2014.
A Physiotherapist is an HCPC-registered specialist in movement and physical function, qualifying through a recognised three- or four-year BSc or two-year MSc programme. Paediatric physiotherapists work with children with cerebral palsy, hypermobility, neuromuscular conditions, and other physical disabilities, and contribute to EHC needs assessments where physical movement is part of the picture.
A social worker is a qualified professional, registered with Social Work England, who safeguards children and assesses family need under the Children Act 1989. Disabled children's social care teams contribute the social care advice ("care" advice) for EHC needs assessments and arrange social care provision specified in Section H of an EHCP.
A Specialist Teacher is a qualified teacher with additional accredited training in a specific area of SEND, for example dyslexia (AMBDA), visual impairment (QTVI), hearing impairment (QToD), autism, or multi-sensory impairment. Mandatory qualifications apply for QTVI, QToD, and QTMSI under DfE policy.
A Speech and Language Therapist is an HCPC-registered specialist holding a recognised SLT degree, who assesses and treats children with speech, language, communication, and feeding/swallowing needs. SLT advice is a statutory contribution to EHC needs assessments where the child's needs include communication, and SLT provision should be specified and quantified in Section F.
Named approaches, therapies, and strategies you may see on a provision map or in a specialist's report.
Applied Behaviour Analysis is a behaviour-based intervention using systematic reinforcement to teach skills and reduce target behaviours. ABA is widely used internationally (particularly in the US) and remains controversial within parts of the UK autistic community. UK-Society for Behaviour Analysis and BACB-certified practitioners operate alongside critical voices from the autistic-led movement.
Attachment-Aware Practice is a school-wide approach using attachment theory (Bowlby, Ainsworth, Schore) to understand and respond to children's emotional and behavioural needs, particularly for care-experienced, adopted, and trauma-experienced children. The Bath Spa University-led Attachment Aware Schools project (Rose et al., 2014 onwards) is the most-recognised UK implementation framework.
British Sign Language is the visual-gestural language used by the UK Deaf community. BSL is a fully formed language with its own grammar and word order, distinct from English, and was recognised as a language of England, Wales, and Scotland by the British Sign Language Act 2022.
Co-regulation is the process by which a calm, attuned adult helps a child regulate their nervous system through tone of voice, body language, presence, and predictable response. Co-regulation comes before self-regulation developmentally; without enough co-regulation experience, self-regulation cannot be built.
Comic Strip Conversations are a Carol Gray (1994) method that uses stick-figure drawings, colour, and speech and thought bubbles to slow down and unpick a social interaction with an autistic child. Where Social Stories prepare a child for a future event, Comic Strip Conversations make sense of one that has already happened.
Drawing and Talking is a short-term, non-directive therapeutic intervention where a child draws freely in the presence of a trained adult who asks open, non-leading questions. Developed by Claire Le Mare and registered as Drawing and Talking Therapy Ltd, it is delivered by school staff or ELSAs who have completed the two-day accredited training.
Emotional regulation is the ability to recognise, modify, and manage emotional responses in order to meet goals and demands. It is a developmental skill that emerges through co-regulation in early childhood and continues to mature into the mid-twenties as prefrontal cortex development continues.
Lego Therapy is a structured small-group intervention developed by Daniel LeGoff (2004) using collaborative LEGO building tasks to develop social communication skills. Three children take defined roles (engineer, supplier, builder) and must communicate to complete a model, with the adult facilitator scaffolding the interaction.
The Low-Arousal Approach is a non-confrontational framework for supporting distressed behaviour, developed by Professor Andrew McDonnell and Studio III in the 1990s. It reduces demands, language, and sensory load to lower the person's arousal level, and is widely used in UK SEND, autism, learning disability, and trauma-informed practice.
Makaton is a language programme using a set of signs and symbols alongside spoken language to support children and adults with communication, language, or learning difficulties. It was developed by Margaret Walker in 1972 and is the most widely-used UK sign-supported communication system in early years, primary special schools, and Down's Syndrome education.
A Now and Next board is a simplified two-step visual support showing the current activity and the immediate next activity. It is the most basic form of visual schedule and the entry point for visual support work with younger children, with autistic children new to visual supports, and at moments of high anxiety where a full schedule would be too much.
A nurture group is a small, structured classroom-based intervention (typically 6–12 pupils) providing a predictable, attachment-aware environment for children with social, emotional, or attachment-related needs. The model was developed by educational psychologist Marjorie Boxall in the 1960s and is accredited by the Nurture Group Network (now part of Nurtureuk).
The Picture Exchange Communication System is a structured augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) approach, developed by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost (1985), that teaches children to exchange picture cards to request, comment, and answer questions. PECS is delivered in six structured phases by SaLT-trained or PECS-Level 1-trained practitioners.
Pre-teaching is the strategy of introducing a child to new vocabulary, concepts, or content before the main whole-class lesson, so they can take part on a more equal footing. It is one of the highest-impact, lowest-cost SEND interventions and is recommended by the Education Endowment Foundation and the Communication Trust as best practice for pupils with SLCN, cognition and learning needs, and working memory difficulties.
Scaffolding is temporary, targeted support (modelling, prompts, sentence stems, visual structures, partial completion) provided during a learning task and gradually faded as the child becomes independent. The term comes from Vygotsky's zone of proximal development via Bruner (1976) and is one of the most-cited concepts in effective SEND classroom practice.
A sensory diet is a planned, individualised programme of sensory activities scheduled across the day to help a child stay regulated. The term was coined by occupational therapist Patricia Wilbarger in the 1980s and is delivered by paediatric OTs with sensory integration training.
Sensory Integration is a clinical occupational therapy framework developed by A. Jean Ayres in the 1970s that helps the brain organise sensory input through specific, individualised, play-based therapeutic activities. In the UK, only OTs with additional postgraduate certification from SI Network UK and Ireland or USC/WPS can deliver Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI).
Social Stories are short, individualised, written narratives developed by Carol Gray (1990) that describe a social situation, the perspectives of others, and the expected behaviour. They are most commonly used to prepare autistic children for new or anxiety-provoking events and are formally known as Social Stories™ when written to Carol Gray's specific structure.
Task analysis is the practice of breaking a skill into its smallest teachable steps so each can be taught, prompted, and reinforced individually. It is a foundational technique in behavioural teaching (ABA, Verbal Behaviour, ESDM), in TEACCH structured teaching, and in special school curricula for pupils with learning disability or complex motor needs.
TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped CHildren) is a structured teaching approach developed at the University of North Carolina from 1972 onwards, using visual organisation, work systems, and predictable routines to support autistic learners. It is widely used in UK specialist autism provision and in inclusive mainstream classrooms.
Trauma-Informed Practice is a framework that recognises the impact of trauma on behaviour, learning, and development, and prioritises safety, predictability, and relationship over compliance and consequence. The Department of Health's "Working Definition of Trauma-Informed Practice" (2022) sets the cross-sector UK definition; Trauma-Informed Schools UK and the ARC framework deliver the most-common UK school training.
A visual schedule is a sequence of pictures, symbols, photographs, or written words showing what is coming next, used to support predictability, reduce anxiety, and prompt transitions for autistic and other neurodivergent children. It draws on the structured teaching tradition of TEACCH and PECS and is one of the most widely-used SEND interventions in UK primary schools.
Zones of Regulation is a curriculum developed by occupational therapist Leah Kuypers (2011) that uses four colour-coded zones, blue (low energy), green (regulated), yellow (heightened), red (very heightened), to help children identify and manage their emotional state. It is widely used as a whole-school SEMH curriculum and as a 1:1 ELSA intervention in UK primary schools.
The standardised tests and screening tools used in SEND assessments, including what they measure and what the scores mean.
The Autism Diagnostic Interview, Revised (ADI-R) is a semi-structured developmental interview with a child's main caregiver, covering early development, language, social interaction, and restricted and repetitive behaviours. Administered by trained clinicians and used alongside the ADOS-2 as the developmental history component in a multi-disciplinary autism assessment.
The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, second edition (ADOS-2) is a structured, semi-standardised, play- and conversation-based observation tool used in the diagnostic assessment of autism. Administered by trained clinicians and considered the "gold-standard" observational measure, it is used alongside a developmental history (the ADI-R or 3Di) under NICE CG128 (2017).
The Boxall Profile is a developmental assessment used in schools to identify children's social, emotional, and behavioural learning needs and to plan nurture group provision. Developed by Marjorie Boxall in the 1960s and republished by Nurtureuk, it has two strands (Developmental and Behavioural) completed by the class teacher and a second adult who knows the child.
The British Picture Vocabulary Scale is a standardised, untimed test of receptive vocabulary in children aged 3 to 17. The current UK edition is the BPVS-3 (GL Assessment, 2009). The child points to one of four pictures matching a spoken word, which makes it particularly useful for children with limited expressive language, EAL, or speech sound difficulties.
A centile (also called percentile) is a rank score showing the percentage of same-aged children who would score lower than the child being tested. A child at the 5th centile scores higher than 5% of peers and lower than 95%. The 50th centile is the median, the score the typical child achieves.
The Movement Assessment Battery for Children, second edition (Movement ABC-2) is a standardised assessment of motor skills covering manual dexterity, ball skills, and balance for ages 3 to 16. It is the UK standard for diagnosing developmental coordination disorder (DCD / dyspraxia) and is used by paediatric OTs and physios.
A multi-disciplinary assessment combines input from several professionals (e.g. paediatrician, EP, SaLT, OT) to build a holistic picture of a child's needs. The framework is the NICE standard for autism (CG128, 2017), ADHD (NG87, 2018), and the EHC needs assessment process under regulation 6 of the SEND Regulations 2014.
The Sensory Profile-2 is a questionnaire-based assessment developed by Winnie Dunn that maps a child's responses to sensory input across four quadrants: low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation avoiding. It is the most widely used sensory assessment in UK paediatric OT and is normed for ages 0 to 14.
A standardised score compares a child's performance to a representative sample of same-aged peers. The standardised scores used in UK educational and clinical assessment have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, with around 68% of children scoring between 85 and 115, and around 95% between 70 and 130. Scores below 70 or above 130 are statistically unusual.
"Statutory assessment" is the legal name for an EHC needs assessment, the local authority's process under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014 for deciding whether a child needs an EHCP. The term survives in older documents and is sometimes used interchangeably with "EHC needs assessment" by parents and professionals.
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a short behavioural screening tool for children aged 2 to 17, developed by Robert Goodman (1997). It is used in UK education and CAMHS to identify emotional, conduct, hyperactivity, peer, and prosocial difficulties, with versions completed by parents, teachers, and (for older children) the young person themselves.
The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test is a standardised assessment of academic attainment in reading, writing, mathematics, and oral language. The current UK edition is the WIAT-III UK (Pearson, 2017), and it is the most-used attainment battery in UK educational psychology, commonly used to identify specific learning difficulties.
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children is a widely-used, standardised assessment of cognitive ability for children aged 6 to 16. The current UK edition is the WISC-V UK (Pearson, 2016), producing a Full Scale IQ and five primary index scores: Verbal Comprehension, Visual Spatial, Fluid Reasoning, Working Memory, and Processing Speed.
The language parents and the SEND community use day-to-day, including community-led terms and neurodivergent self-description.
Autistic burnout is a state of chronic exhaustion, loss of previously-held skills, and reduced tolerance for stimuli, caused by long-term masking, sensory overload, and unaccommodated demand. Defined in Raymaker et al.'s 2020 community-led research as distinct from depression and from typical workplace burnout, recovery requires reduced load, not pushing through.
Co-occurring conditions describes the presence of two or more conditions in the same person, common in SEND, where autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, anxiety, and sensory differences frequently overlap. Many UK autistic advocates and the National Autistic Society prefer "co-occurring" to the medical term "comorbid", which carries disease-of-body connotations.
Cognitive load is the amount of working memory being used at a given moment. Cognitive Load Theory, developed by John Sweller from the 1980s onwards, distinguishes intrinsic load (the inherent difficulty of the task), extraneous load (load added by how the task is presented), and germane load (the load of building long-term knowledge). Reducing extraneous load particularly helps SEND learners.
Differentiation is adapting teaching (task, outcome, level of support, or pace) so that all pupils can access learning. The 2014 SEND reforms and the Education Endowment Foundation guidance have shifted UK practice from differentiation as the principal approach to "adaptive teaching": broader, less task-by-task, more responsive to the pupil profile.
Executive function is the brain's set of self-management skills: planning, starting and stopping tasks, organising, switching attention, working memory, inhibition, and emotional regulation. Frequently affected in ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, FASD, and trauma-experienced children. The standard model (Miyake et al., 2000) breaks executive function into three core components: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
Interoception is the internal sense that tells us what is happening inside the body: hunger, thirst, needing the toilet, heart rate, breath, body temperature, emotion. The "eighth sense" alongside the seven external senses, interoceptive differences are common in autism and ADHD and have implications across feeding, toileting, emotional regulation, and self-care.
Masking is the conscious or unconscious suppression of natural neurodivergent traits to fit in with neurotypical expectations. The CAT-Q (Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire, Hull et al., 2019) is the most-used research measure. Masking is associated with autistic burnout, anxiety, depression, and significantly delayed diagnosis, particularly in autistic girls and women.
A meltdown is an involuntary nervous-system response to overwhelming sensory, social, or emotional load. It is not a tantrum: it is not goal-directed, cannot be ended by consequence, and the child is not in conscious control during the event. Recovery requires reduction of input and time, not negotiation or discipline.
Neurodivergent is a descriptor for someone whose neurological functioning differs from what society considers typical, for example autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, dyspraxic, or Tourettic people. The term was coined by autistic activist Kassiane Asasumasu in 2000 and is now widely used in UK SEND, employment, and clinical contexts.
Neurodiversity is the idea, originating with Australian autistic sociologist Judy Singer in her 1998 honours thesis, that neurological differences (autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette's, dyspraxia) are natural variations in human neurology rather than deficits. The framing locates difficulty in mismatch between brain and environment rather than in the brain alone.
Neurotypical (NT) is a descriptor for someone whose neurological development and functioning falls within the range society considers typical. Coined in autistic community discourse in the late 1990s, the term works as the implicit counterpart to "neurodivergent" and frames the typical brain as one variant rather than the default.
Sensory overload is a state where one or more senses receive more input than the brain can process, leading to distress, meltdown, or shutdown. Common triggers in school settings include fluorescent lighting, dining hall noise, fire alarms, crowded corridors, unexpected touch, and competing auditory streams (a teacher speaking while a fan hums).
A shutdown is an internalised nervous-system response to overwhelm where a child becomes withdrawn, non-verbal, or unresponsive. Often missed at school because shutdowns are quiet, shutdowns are the freeze response in fight/flight/freeze and are particularly common in autistic girls and in trauma-experienced children.
A special interest is an intense, deep, often long-standing area of focus and joy, most commonly used to describe autistic interests but also relevant in ADHD, gifted, and hyperlexic profiles. Autistic-led writing reframes special interests as strengths, sources of expertise, regulation tools, and identity markers rather than as symptoms to be limited.
A spiky profile is a pattern of unusually uneven strengths and difficulties across cognitive or learning domains, common in neurodivergent learners. It typically shows up across WISC-V index scores, attainment measures, and adaptive functioning, with significant differences between the child's strongest and weakest areas.
Spoon Theory is a metaphor coined by Christine Miserandino in 2003 to describe limited daily energy. Each task costs "spoons", and disabled or chronically ill people have fewer to start with than non-disabled people. The metaphor has been adopted across chronic illness, autism, ADHD, and mental health communities, with "spoonie" as community shorthand.
Stimming is the use of repetitive movements, sounds, or actions to regulate sensory input, emotion, or focus, for example rocking, hand-flapping, humming, finger-flicking, or using fidget tools. It is generally healthy and should not be suppressed. Stimming is most-associated with autism but is common across ADHD, anxiety, and the typical population.
Theory of mind is the cognitive ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions, knowledge) to oneself and others, and to understand that others may hold different mental states from one's own. Differences in theory of mind are widely discussed in autism research; the framing remains contested, with autistic-led research (the "double empathy problem", Milton 2012) re-shaping interpretation.
The Window of Tolerance is a model from Dan Siegel (1999) describing the zone of nervous-system arousal in which a person can think, learn, and engage productively. Outside the window, a person is either hyper-aroused (fight or flight) or hypo-aroused (shutdown / freeze). The model is widely used in UK trauma-informed practice and SEMH provision.
Working memory is the ability to hold and manipulate information in mind over short periods, for example following multi-step instructions, mental arithmetic, or holding the start of a sentence while writing the end. The Baddeley-Hitch model (1974, revised 2000) is the standard framework, dividing working memory into phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, and episodic buffer.
Every Beaakon specialist is a vetted SEND professional (SENCOs, specialist teachers, EHCP advocates) who can talk you through any of these terms in plain English.
Find a specialist