Types of SEND: physical and sensory needs
No two children with SEND are the same and as such require different provisions. It’s important for school staff to understand the different types of SEND, how they may present and how to support students with such needs. In this article, we take a look at physical and sensory needs, including hearing and visual impairments, physical impairments and sensory processing difficulties.
What are physical and sensory needs in SEND?
Physical and sensory needs refer to impairments, sensory processing difficulties and physical difficulties in children which impact their ability to learn in a standard school environment. These may occur for a number of reasons, including congenital conditions, injury or disease.
Examples of physical and sensory needs include:
Hearing impairments
Children with hearing impairments are not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing. This can be minor hearing loss through to total loss of hearing; it can be classed as mild, moderate, severe or profound and can affect one or both ears.
Vision impairments
Vision impairments describe children with a loss of sight that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. This can range from minor impairments through to a total loss of vision and can cover a wide range of conditions (both stable and degenerative) including:
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Central vision loss
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Peripheral vision loss
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Cerebral visual impairment
Multi-sensory impairment
Children with multi-sensory impairment have a combination of hearing and vision difficulties. A child is regarded as having multi-sensory impairment if their combined impairment causes difficulties with communication, access to information and mobility. Because of this, learning may be limited.
Physical impairment
Children with physical impairments have limited capacity to move, coordinate actions or perform physical activities. This includes physical functioning, mobility, dexterity or stamina which has a substantial and long-term negative effect on a child’s ability to do every-day activities.
Such impairments can be mild or severe and can range from degenerative, trauma, chromosome disorders, musculoskeletal conditions, limb differences and complex medical needs. Children can be born with these conditions or acquire it them later in life due to accident, injury, illness or as a side effect of another condition.
Sensory processing difficulty
Children with sensory processing difficulty experience challenges in how the brain receives, interprets and responds to sensory information from their environment. They can be overly sensitive or under sensitive to sensory input such as touch, light, sounds, taste or smell to such an extent that that impacts their ability to participate in everyday activities.
Assessing physical and sensory needs
Most children in the UK with physical and sensory needs will likely have been identified and provisions assigned before entering education, but this is not always the case. Where teachers notice signs that children may need additional support for physical and sensory needs, this should be raised with the SENCO for observation and escalation.
Some signs that a child might have physical or sensory needs include (but are not limited to):
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Not making expected progress for their age group
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Greater difficulty with language-rich subjects, especially phonics
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Social relationships may suffer
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Being abnormally clumsy
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Poor self-esteem and independence
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Reluctance to write
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Frequent trips or falls
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Poor motor skills
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May have difficulties with engaging in educational, functional and play activities and peer relationship development
The SENCO will take note of such observations and, where appropriate, may consult with the child’s GP to learn more about the condition. They will then put together a tailored learning plan to support their needs.
Supporting physical and sensory needs
The findings of an assessment should be collated and analysed by a SENCO to consider the student’s needs. This can then inform the creation of an individual learning plan which maps and manages individual SEND needs.
Learning plans outline the specific needs of the student, as well as targets, strategies and the support required to meet the student’s needs. It’s important to regularly monitor, review (at least three times per year formally) and amend learning plans as required to ensure that the student has the continued support needed to succeed.
Additionally, it’s also important that the learning plan is easily accessible to all relevant school staff, whilst remaining confidential.
In the interim, before a learning plan can be developed, teachers may wish to implement strategies that reduce distraction and make communication more straightforward to improve the learning environment. However, ultimately, once provisions are in place, these should be strictly followed to ensure a supporting learning environment.
Such strategies may include:
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Check and improve the listening and visual environment in the classroom
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Reconsider seating arrangements
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Simplify displays
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Individual support as a reasonable adjustment
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Check if furniture meet’s the child’s physical needs
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Introduce physical resources such as pen grips or writing slopes
Plan physical and sensory provisions with Tes Provision Map
Tes Provision Map is smart provision mapping software that allows SENCOs to easily and efficiently plan and keep on top of SEND provisions. It’s a powerful yet simple to use tool that makes everyday actions for SENCOs more efficient, leading to improved outcomes for students.
