What is SEN? Detailed explanation of the nine categories + support suggestions for SEN students!

In recent years, we often hear “SEN Special Education Needs”. What are the categories of SEN? What are the characteristics and needs of SEN students? This time, the Ailan Child Development Center will introduce the definition, categories, characteristics, etc. of SEN, and explain how parents and society can support the needs of SEN students!

What is SEN?

SEN is the abbreviation of “Special Educational Needs”. According to the definition of the Hong Kong Education Bureau (EDB), SEN refers to students who have difficulties in learning or daily life and need special education support. Common difficulties include: intellectual disability, language communication difficulties, lack of concentration, physical and mental illness, emotional management ability, etc.

Nine categories of SEN

1. Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

Specific learning difficulties (SpLD) refer to a range of abnormal learning performance. Students with specific learning difficulties have normal intelligence, but only have difficulties in writing, reading, reciting, mathematics, and motor coordination, resulting in differences in learning performance and expectations.

Specific learning difficulties can be divided into dyslexia (dyslexia) and motor coordination disorder. The former has weaker cognitive abilities in learning words, reading and writing, while the latter has difficulties in perception and physical coordination. It should be noted that students with dyslexia or motor coordination disorder may also suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other disorders. The following are common characteristics of people with specific learning difficulties:

Characteristics of dyslexia:

• • Slow reading speed and frequent misreading and forgetting pronunciation

• • Oral expression is better than written expression

• • Unable to write down the words learned

• • They often miss or write extra strokes when writing, or even reverse letters or words.

• • They get tired easily when writing, and need to use more concentration to complete their reading and writing homework.

Characteristics of movement coordination disorder:

• • Perception ability is good

• • Poor control of large and small muscles, inflexible movements, difficulty in using scissors and holding a pen

• • • Weak organizational and self-care skills, such as difficulty buttoning, tying shoelaces, and organizing school bags

• • • • Weak body balance and posture control, prone to tripping

• • • • • Writing speed is slow, often writing out of line and irregular

• • • • • Weak physical fitness

2. Intellectual Disability (ID)

Intellectual disability refers to a student whose intelligence level is significantly lower than that of his peers, resulting in difficulties in learning and adapting to life. The overall development of intellectually disabled students is also slower than that of their peers. The following are common characteristics of students with intellectual disabilities:

Characteristics

• • • • • Abstract and logical thinking skills

• • • • • Weak memory

• • • • • Short attention span, often distracted

• • • • • Weak verbal expression, inaccurate pronunciation, and limited vocabulary

• • • • • Poor coordination of limbs or hands and eyes, weak self-care ability

• • • • • Weak social skills

3. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism is a disorder caused by abnormal brain development. Even after growing up, the intelligence level is different from that of peers. It mainly affects the social, language communication and behavior patterns of autistic people. In addition to general autism, according to the International Classification of Diseases Manual, 11th Edition (ICD-11), Asperger’s disease will also be included in autism spectrum disorders in 2021. The following are their common characteristics:

Characteristics

• • • • • Difficulty understanding other people’s emotions, unable to understand other people’s thoughts, intentions, feelings

• • • • • It is more difficult to master learning related to emotions, such as lyric writing

• • • • • Limited language expression, often using repetitive or stereotyped words and sentences

• • • • • Paranoid behavior patterns, such as insisting on taking a specific route or seat when riding a bus, and refusing to change current lifestyle habits

• • • • • Short attention span

4. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD)

Students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder have significant differences in attention, concentration, activity level, and emotional control compared to their peers, leading to learning and social difficulties. ADHD is more common in boys. The following are common characteristics of ADHD students:

Characteristics

• • • • • Poor concentration and easily distracted by the outside world.

• • • • • Too much activity, difficult to sit still in class

• • • • • Lack of organization

• • • • • Lack of organization

• • • • • Behave impulsively and do not consider the consequences before taking action

• • • • • Low patience, e.g. not completing work according to steps, cutting in line, etc.

5. Speech and Language Impairment (SLI)

Students with speech and language impairment can be divided into four categories, namely pronunciation, language, fluency, and voice problems. The following are their differences:

Pronunciation Problems

Pronunciation problems refer to students’ incorrect pronunciation, resulting in unclear speech, such as saying “long” for “walk” and “drinking water” for “drinking mouth”. Hearing impairment, cleft lip, cleft palate, brain spasm, developmental delay and other congenital defects may be the cause of pronunciation problems.

Language problems

When reading or receiving long and complex sentences, students have difficulty understanding and can only understand part of the meaning, resulting in irrelevant answers. Students with language problems have poor organizational skills, so they use inappropriate words in daily expressions, making it difficult for people to understand what they are saying. Autism, intellectual disabilities, and learning disabilities can all lead to language problems.

Fluency issues

Stuttering occurs when speaking, for example: repeating words multiple times in a sentence, speaking too fast or too slow, opening the mouth but not being able to speak, etc. Stuttering may be caused by genetic, psychological, physiological and other factors.

Voice problems

This includes hoarseness or even loss of voice. Common causes are excessive or incorrect use of the vocal cords by children, such as frequent loud screaming, which can cause polyps to form on the vocal cords, making the voice hoarse and loss of voice. If a child has a neurological disease, emotional distress, long-term respiratory disease, or cleft lip and palate, the voice may be too nasal and abnormal.