Importance of Early Identification and Support for Children with SEND
The essay aims to evaluate the disability models and inclusion to investigate the complexity of Special Education and Need Disability (SEND) child in their early and primary education system. A child needing more assistance to develop and learn than other children of their age or younger than them are known as special educational need (SEN) for receiving extra support (Baines, Blatchford and Webster 2015). SEN child might be unable to do normal functioning of the day-to-day activities (Shukla et al. 2017). The children with SEND must be identified at an early stage so that the care for them could be planned. The system of SEND is applied to individuals of age group between 0-25 years with need for special education (Norwich and Eaton 2015). The SEND support will vary according to the learning disability of individuals. The training facility for a SEND child of 2 or more years is different than for a normal child of the same age. The educational needs of child who are special and disabled is divided into four important areas of support- (a) Interaction and communication (b) learning and cognition (c) mental, social and emotional health (d) sensory and physical needs (Fareo 2015). A disabled child can be requiring special educational need or both special educational need and disability (SEND). Equality Act (2010) in UK has defined disability as “a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities” (Frederickson and Cline 2015).
It is a challenge for UK to offer education to children with requirement of special educational needs and disabilities. It is important for the society to be inclusive of all and considerate towards others to count them valuable. Every child is eligible to receive good education ensuring their needs and support to make them capable of opportunity. A legal framework for education of early year children aged between 0 to 5 years offering the necessary standards for the learning development of the children inclusive of the special needs and care required during early years of their life. Early years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework is followed by nurseries, playgroups and childminders. EYFS is responsible for meeting the needs meet of the SEND children (Hryniewicz and Holman 2020). EYFS mentions that people involved in taking care of the young child should be careful, responsive and alert (Ephgrave 2018). The concerns raised by the parents, caregivers or children must be addressed on priority basis. The support received by the SEN children under the age of 5 comprises (a) a progress check in written form of the 2 years age (b) a visitor of child health conducting health check ups of the age ranging between 2 to 3 years (c) an assessment of children’s preliminary years of primary school (d) making adjustments like for children with disability arranging aids like tactile signs. Settings taking care of SEND children must ensure that the employed staffs must be knowledgeable about the policies and laws and its applications to their operation. It confirms that the need of the children is recognized in earlier years with relevant support. Children whose areas of learning and development is still a matter of concern are introduced to the external agencies. The progress of the SEND is monitored and tracked by the process of identification. To identify and assess the needs and facilities the following processes are used such as teacher assessment, discussions, co operation with external bodies and parents, formative and summative assessments. The arrangements for the need of special education must be made quickly without any delay. The postponement of the provision could lead to difficulty in learning, along with frustration and low self – esteem, behavior difficulties (Alvarez-Guerrero et al. 2021). The early identification of the needs give rise to positive and improved outcomes which helps in shaping the life of the children for future progress.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework and the Index for Inclusion
Inclusive education is a complex and difficult area to be practiced in the society. The inclusion can be implemented by having a positive attitude and a knowledgeable approach in society by comprehending the concept and theory of inclusion (Tiwari, Das and Sharma 2015). The term “Index for Inclusion” secured international recognition, begins with the social model approach of disability and continues with good practice of organizing activities which are curated to direct the users through different stages of preparation, investigation, development and review (Sanchez, Rodriguez and Sandoval 2019). The index is a valuable source to enhance inclusive development in schools, challenging and supporting the organization that already count them as “inclusive” (Westwood 2018). The “index of inclusion” defines inclusion in education as (a) Students and staff to be valued equally (b) Practicing inclusion of more students and reduction of exclusion based on cultures, curricula and school communities (c) cultures, policies and practices in school to be restructured to improve diversification (d) reduction of barriers in learning and involvement of all students (e) Analyzing the existing differences between the students and using it as a resource to develop supportive learning, and not only focused on problems (Suprihatiningrum and Rovik 2016). Models of Disability are used for explaining impairment and as a tool for the society and government to formulate strategies for the necessity of the disabled people. The models are able to offer an awareness about the prejudices, conception and attitudes of the disabled. It has been devised with two basic philosophies such as the first perceives disabled people as a responsibility of the society to be taken care of resulting to discrimination, paternalism and segregation whereas on the other hand disabled people are considered as a value of the society and customers of the products and services offered by the society. There are models of SEND focused on the learning and development of children with needs:
Medical Models of Disability- Medical model is also known as the “Biological-Functional-Limitation Model”. It refers to the physical or mental inability as the reason for an individual’s disability-related to the geographical and social environment; for instance, a person who is blind is considered disabled (Kattery, Lavery and Hasche 2017). The disability is considered as a scope which the professionals of medical and healthcare can cure with medicines. It focuses more on enabling the disabled. The model’s flaw is that disabled people are not always curable and demand more support and care. It stems from prejudices within people because being disabled is not a condition but “medical.”
The Social Model- The social model is referred the “Minority-Group Model of Disability” (Williams 2017). In this model, the framework of disability is based on the context of society and the environment (Degener 2017). Disabled people are limited from participating in social activities on the same level as a normal person due to a social or physical obstacle. Social barriers make it difficult for people to live a life of normalcy; removal of it will create an opportunity for equality, control and independence for disabled people (Shakespeare 2017). The social model theory focuses on creating a society for disabled people by challenging the attitudinal, communication, physical and social environment for normalizing the existent diversity among humans (Forber-Pratt, Mueler and Andrews 2019). The emphasis is on changing society and not the person with a disability. However, the model has two drawbacks such as, with the increase in age, the disability among people will increase, and the concepts of the model might be a difficult approach for professionals in rehabilitation and charity.
Four Areas of Support for Children with SEND
Biopsychosocial Models of Disability- WHO published the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) in 1980, which categorized disability into three aspects: impairment, handicap and disability (Hogan 2019). According to ICIDH, Impairment was referred to abnormal structure of the body, malfunctioning of body organ system and appearance (Itoo 2019). The other aspect of disability was conceptualized as the effect of impairment in the functionalities of an individual and daily activities. The Biopsychosocial Model of disability defines disability as the union of the health condition of an individual and the external environment that is society (Kazou 2017). The biopsychosocial model of disability emphasizes that disability is caused due to lifestyle and psychosocial factors. Among all the models, the biopsychosocial model is the most competent and integrated as it combines both the social and medical models.
The SEN child should be identified in schools for supporting them, inclusive of maintained schools and special schools (Hornby 2015). If a child is identified who requires special needs, will be offered special learning programs, assigned to work in small scale groups, encourage participation in-class activities and assist in enhancing communication. In schools, there must be a governing body or members of the sub-committee to make school arrangements for the special child with disabilities. Schools are involved in inspecting the usage of expertise and resources for SEN to develop a school as their objective of school improvement. Primary year education for the SEN/D child is designed after the identification. The teachers at school make a progress report for all the students which will help in differentiating children with special needs and care. The child will be slower, failing to grow at the same pace and closing the gap between their peers. The needs of the children vary over time and the identification helps in working out the plan of action that the school needs to adopt. The teacher and members of SENCO working along with the specialists and parents must attempt to attain efficient teaching and training approaches based on evidence (Webster 2020). A qualified member must work at school as SENCO, a national award winner in “National Award in Special Educational Needs Coordination” within three years of employment (Glazzard et al. 2019).
Inclusive education means delivering teaching within a normal educational set up to adults with special needs and those who do not as well. Inclusive education is moving forward from the medical model to the social model of disability. It is believed that in medical model, the child can be cured by medical techniques whereas in social model the problem is with society and the environment (Retief and Letsosa 2018). Each and every person is different with some evitable differences. Inclusive education necessary means to offer education to all despite the disabilities. Inclusive education are of three major types of principles (a) Every child is special in their own way (b) Learning occurs in a safe environment (c) Teacher is a facilitator and not just an orator. Inclusion must be practiced at school with the support of teachers and school authorities. The school analyses effect of the help being offered to the SEND child. Schools consult with local bodies and authorities for exploration and upgradation of services that could be provided in order to meet needs. Equality Act 2010 states that it is the responsibility of the school to look after the disabled people and children (Cowne, Frankl and Gerschel 2018). Schools must arrange aids and assistance to the children, remove discrimination and promote equal opportunity and good relationship. In primary years, children need assistance in wider areas such as communication, interaction, cognition, learning, social, sensory, physical needs, emotional and mental health difficulties (Martin 2016). The school must offer training to the teachers to cater to the ever-changing demands of the student. The teachers must incorporate the strategies for enhancing the teaching experience among special children. Like any other children, a disabled child must get the scope to participate in co-curricular activities for developing necessary skills (Nayor and Loh 2015). The inclusive practices is well channelized in special schools as it is continuously evolving to attend to the needs of the special children with complex demands and impairment.
Models of Disability Used in Formulating Strategies for Disabled People
Hence, it can be concluded that Children with Special Needs require more attention and effort to be able to perform their daily activities. The models of disability help to understand the different aspect of disability with addition of new reforms and concept for redefining disability properly in an influential environment. As education is the right of all children, a child with disability should be provided with necessary educational facilities and assistance at their early and primary years. Promotion of Inclusivity ill broaden the opportunities of the SEN child to get assistance in their society and environment among normal people. Barriers in society should be eradicated with increase in inclusion and positive attitude towards children with special needs. Teachers must be able to identify the areas where the child needs more care and attention to suggest better alternatives and environment. The early years and Primary years are nascent stage where the child needs extra care for future development.
References:
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