Communication and interaction difficulties, also known as a speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), means that children and young people may have difficulties either saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication, which makes it harder to build relationships with others.

The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) is a communication and interaction difficulty.  Children and young people with ASC are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition that affects how people perceive, communicate and interact with the world. Autism is referred to as a spectrum condition because, although autistic people often share certain difficulties, their autism will affect them in different ways.

A child or young person with cognition and learning difficulties might learn at a slower pace than their peers, even when learning tasks are changed to support them.

Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD).

Children and young people with MLD or SLD  are likely to need support in most if not all areas of the curriculum and may also have difficulties with mobility and communication.

Children and young people with PMLD are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.

Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. 

Children and young people may experience a wide range of underlying, unmet social and emotional needs which show themselves in many ways. These may include withdrawal or isolation, as well as verbal and physical aggression or agitation.

Other mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression can cause self-harm, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical / psychosomatic symptoms that are medically unexplained.

Some children and young people may receive diagnoses such as ADHD which do not necessarily explain the underlying cause.

If a child or young person has a physical or sensory difficulty it means that they have a disability which makes it challenging or prevents them from making use of the mainstream educational facilities generally provided.

Sensory Difficulties
Children or young people with sensory difficulties are those with hearing impairment (HI) or vision impairment (VI). Some children may also have a combination of hearing and vision difficulties which is known as a multi-sensory impairment (MSI). Many children with these sensory difficulties will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning.

Physical Difficulties
Some children and young people with physical difficulties (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers, including access to learning. These physical difficulties are usually linked to a medical diagnosis.

Disability

There is no direct link between having a disability and having special educational needs. However, there will be some forms of disability where a child or young person is more likely to have SEN. The critical factor is whether the disability prevents or hinders the learner from using the education or training that is generally provided.

English as an additional language

A child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language (or form of language) in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been used at home.

Healthcare needs

Not all learners with a medical or healthcare need will have SEN. Medical conditions will not be regarded as SEN where:

• They do not cause a significantly greater difficulty in learning, or 
• Where they do not constitute a disability that necessarily affects access to education or training generally on offer.

However, if a healthcare need does impact on a child or young person’s capacity to learn, they may require some adaptation to the curriculum which is set out in an Individual Health Care Plan.