Learning disabilities: education

If your child has a learning disability, their special educational needs can be met either in a mainstream school

with extra support, or in a special school.

There are guidelines outlined in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for how schools should assess and

meet special educational needs (SEN) to ensure that your child gets the right support. The guidelines apply to places

that are provided by the state (state-funded), including nurseries, playgroups and schools.

The GOV.UK website has more information about children with   SEN . For information about the SEN Code of Practice,

see the Department for Education website.

Providing the right support for children at school depends on their needs. All children with a learning disability will have

special educational needs.Identifying special educational needs

Some learning disabilities are diagnosed at birth, others later on. Most are evident by the age of three.

Every child's special educational needs are different, depending on what kind of difficulties they have and how serious

these are. If you're worried about your child's progress or development at school or nursery, talk to their teacher or the

special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO).

The SENCO can spend some time with your child to work out what kind of extra support they might need. For example,

this may be a different way of teaching, or having another adult in the classroom.

If your child doesn't progress with this extra support, the SENCO can organise help from outside the nursery or school,

such as speech and language therapy.

If your child is younger than four and doesn't go to nursery, you can contact your local council's special educational

needs department. Find contact details for your local authority. You can also talk to your doctor or health visitor if you

have concerns.Communicate with your child's teachers

Getting involved with your child's school will help them get the support they need. Let the school know what's going on at

home. Tell them what your priorities are for your child and how he or she is doing at home so that the school can build

on this.Help your child learn

There are things you can do at home to help your child. Being very clear in your communication, getting face-to-face with

your child and giving one-stage rather than two-stage instructions all help.

A one-stage instruction would be telling your child, ''Put on your coat'' rather than "Put on your coat and do up the

buttons so we can go".

You can also help by reducing the clutter in your child's life. Give them two or three toys to play with at a time rather than

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Find out more about helping your child learn.Getting a statement

If a mainstream school isn't meeting your child's needs, you or the school can ask the local authority for a formal

assessment of your child's special educational needs.

If the authority agrees to this and decides that your child needs more support than a mainstream school can provide, it

will produce a statement of special educational needs (often just called a statement). 

Find out more about asking for an assessment.Help for parents and carers

Below are some sources of information and help:

other parents who have children with learning disabilities – parents can be a valuable source of

information, from recommending children's centres and counselling services, to helpful individuals at the local

authority: Contact a Family can help put you in touch 

Family Information Service (FIS)  – every local authority has an FIS, which must provide information about

local services for all families with children (up to the age of 18 if the child has a disability)

Parent Partnership Services (PPS)  – every local authority has a PPS, which provides parents of children

with special educational needs with information, advice and guidance on finding the right school and support