Special Needs Link

For Disabled Young People and the Parents or Carers Of Disabled Children

What will The Link be used for?

The Link has three main purposes:

1. To send information straight to disabled young people and the parents and carers of disabled children and so keep them up to date with new or developing services.
2. To consult disabled young people and the parents and carers of disabled children about the services they receive and about plans for new services or changes to existing services.
3. To help disabled young people and the parents and carers of disabled children to get in touch with others who have similar experiences or needs, in order to exchange views and information and to form mutual support groups if they wish.

This will be achieved mainly through a free newsletter sent out twice a year to all who are registered.  The information held on the Link database will be used to ensure that the articles in the newsletter are relevant.

Explanation of Categories

The following may help you to fill in the form if you want to register

Learning:

Children with learning difficulties do not achieve, academically, as well as children of average ability. Children with a specific learning difficulty have significant difficulties in reading, writing, spelling or using numbers, which are not typical of their general level of performance.  For example they may speak well but have great difficulty reading.

Consciousness:

Some children suffer periodic loss of consciousness, although some forms of this can be controlled with medication.  The commonest medical condition in this category is epilepsy.

Medical Condition:

Other medical conditions interfere with a child’s mobility, academic ability or daily life.  The commonest such conditions include: congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis, haemophilia, sickle cell anaemia, renal failure, eczema, rheumatoid disorders, autism, Asperger syndrome and childhood cancers.

Behaviour:

Inappropriate or anti-social behaviour may be frequent enough to require some specialist advice or help, but not all the time.  Alternatively, it may be long-term, affecting all aspects of a child’s life.  These children or young people frequently display behaviour which may cause risk to themselves or their carers and Special Education, Health or Social Services assistance is likely to be required.

Communication:

Children with communication difficulties may need to use signing or a communication aid, as well as speech or other non-verbal communications. 

Hearing:

Hearing loss may be permanent or temporary. Permanent hearing loss is usually sensory-neural.

Vision:

There is a wide range of visual impairment including total loss of sight.  Some mild forms of vision impairment can be fully corrected with glasses and these should not be included on this form.  Visual impairment can be present at birth or can develop as a result of disease or injury.

Physical Disability:

A child’s Physical Disability may be the result of illness, injury or a congenital condition (e.g. cerebral palsy).  We have divided this category into separate areas for hand function, mobility, personal care (hygiene) and continence as these categories will not necessarily have the same needs.

Developmental Delay (pre-school children only):

A child has developmental delay if it is poor compared with that expected of children of the same age.  For some children their development is so slow as to be disabling.  Others may need help to catch up with average expectations so that they are not disadvantaged when starting school but are then no longer considered to be disabled.