"Special needs"

This one is genuinely awkward, because two things are true at once.

Special educational needs SEND SEND is England's word for children who need extra help to learn. The rest of the UK uses other words, and other rules. Read the full definition of SEND is the legal term. It is in the Children and Families Act 2014, it is what an EHC plan EHCP A legal document, used in England, that sets out a child's needs and the support they must get. It is for children who need more help than their school can give on its own. Read the full definition of EHCP is for, and you will need the phrase to make a request or an appeal. Nobody should stop using it.

Used about a child, though, it has fallen out of favour. The National Autistic Society lists special needs and special treatment as outdated language, and prefers describing the actual support: adjustments Reasonable adjustments Changes a school or service must make so a disabled child is not put at a big disadvantage. The duty applies now, and it does not wait for a diagnosis. Read the full definition of Reasonable adjustments , access requirements, support strategies. The problem with special is that it makes ordinary things sound like a favour. A quiet room, a written instruction, extra time Access arrangements Extra help a child can have in public exams, such as extra time, a separate room, a reader or a scribe. The school puts them in place, following exam board rules. Read the full definition of Access arrangements . None of those are special. They are what lets a child take part.

So we write about your child's needs, and about the support that helps, and we keep special educational needs where the law uses it.