Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Special educational needs (SEN) means that a child needs some extra help or support to reach their full potential. It often means that a child has a learning difficulty or disability of some kind, but it is the amount of extra help a child needs, rather than their abilities, that decides whether they have SEN.

Epilepsy can cause problems with memory, communication, learning and behaviour. The anti-epileptic drugs taken to help control seizures can also affect behaviour and may have side effects such as dizziness or drowsiness.

Because of these factors, children and young people with epilepsy are more likely to have some special educational needs (SEN). The majority of children and young people with epilepsy do not have SEN, and a child with epilepsy does not automatically qualify for any provision. The SEN framework sets out how extra help is given to children with SEN.
Extra help can take many different forms, and help children and young people with many different types of educational needs.

The SEN framework is complicated, but support is available for parents and carers. Your child’s school or education setting, and your local education and libraries board (ELB) or the Education and Skills Authority (ESA) should be able to help you. There are also charities and organisations to help parents and carers, such as the SEN advice centre (SENAC).

The SEN framework is described in the Code of Practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs, and the Supplement to the Code of Practice on identification and assessment of special educational needs. Copies of these documents are available from the Department for Education Northern Ireland (DENI). More guidance for education staff working with pupils with epilepsy is in the guide Positive action in education, available from Epilepsy Action’s online shop.

There are two levels of support that can be delivered by schools or early years (pre-school) settings. The lowest level of support is called Stage 1. The next levels, Stage 2 and Stage 3, give a higher level of support. To help provide the support, an Individual education plan (IEP) will be used, to describe the extra help in detail and the targets the child is aiming towards.

If a child needs more support than Early Years Action Plus or School Action Plus can provide, they may need a statement of special educational needs (Stage 5). To decide whether a statement is appropriate, a statutory assessment (Stage 4) is carried out. If the assessment shows that the child needs a statement, then the Local Authority will write one.

The SEN framework:

Throughout the framework, the following principles should be followed by everyone involved.

Provision for a child with special educational needs should match their needs;

• there should be careful recording of a child’s needs, the action taken and the outcomes;
• appropriate consideration should be given to the wishes and feelings of the child;
• parents should be closely consulted;
• outside specialists should be involved where appropriate at any stage, but particularly before a statutory assessment.

Epilepsy awareness project for primary schools