Understanding Jargon

The world of Special Educational Needs and Disability is full to bursting with jargon. Here are some common examples and acronyms with explanations which may help you negotiate the maze.

Advice: written reports from parents, teachers and other professionals on a pupil’s special educational needs

Advisory support teachers (AST): specialist teachers who advise teachers and parents on a child’s special educational needs and support, especially for hearing and visual impairment.

CAF: Common Assessment Framework

Connexions: personal advisers from the Connexions service attend the transition review of young people with a statement in Year 9 and subsequent reviews. They replaced the careers service (except in Wales where CareerWales is the equivalent body) and are expected to help young people 13–19 who need support in moving to adulthood. It is proposed that the service be transferred back to local authorities in 2008/9.

DCSF: Department of Children, Schools and Families (replaced the DfES, Department for Education and Skills, in 2007)

DDA: Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Disagreement resolution: a service aimed at securing agreement between parents and LAs and preventing appeals to SENDIST. Parents have no automatic right to services but can ask the LA to provide mediation. Using the service is voluntary and does not affect parents’ right of appeal.

Early Years Action/ Early Years Action Plus: support for under-fives (equivalent to School Action and School Action Plus).

EBD: Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (now SEBD is more commonly used – see below)

EP: Educational Psychologist

IEP: Individual Education Plan

IPS: Independent Parental Supporter – a volunteer whom parents should be able to access through their LA or Parent Partnership Service although many services are unable to provide such a person.

LEA / LA / CSA / children’s trusts: as local authorities (LAs) move over to becoming children’s services authorities (CSAs) or children’s trusts (incorporating health as well as education and social care) the terms in common use are changing. As a result local education authorities (LEAs) are becoming subsumed in bigger departments and many people are resorting to the “local authority” description to avoid confusion.

LSA: Learning Support Assistant

Mainstream school: state school which can meet the needs of most children.

Note in lieu: document produced by a LA following a statutory assessment in place of a statement; it has no legal force.

Ofsted: Office for Standards in Education; inspects and reports on schools. Welsh equivalent is Estyn.

OT: Occupational Therapy

Paediatrician: doctor specialising in the health needs of babies and children

Peripatetic specialist teacher: teacher with knowledge of particular disabilities or special educational needs, who travels from school to school.

PPO / PPS: Parent Partnership Officer who operates within a Parent Partnership Service; every local authority must have one but they range from large services sometimes run by voluntary organisations to services run by a single part-time member of staff.

Portage: home-based educational support for pre-school children with SEN

PRU: Pupil Referral Unit for children who need to be educated out of school, often because they have been excluded; hospital schools are also PRUs. They have the same legal status as schools in some respects but do not have to teach the national curriculum.

SEBD: Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

SEN: Special Educational Needs

SENCo: Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator – the teacher with responsibility for co-ordinating special help for children with SEN at their school

SENDA: Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

SEND / SENDIST: Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal

SLT or SALT: Speech and Language Therapy

TA: Teaching Assistant

WAG: Welsh Assembly Government