Guidance

SEND resources for healthcare professionals

Updated 11 March 2016

Applies to England

This guidance is for commissioners, health and wellbeing boards (HWBs), health service providers and professionals.

SEND covers a broad range of conditions and illnesses, including:

  • special educational needs
  • autistic spectrum disorder
  • sensory impairment
  • continence difficulties (bladder and bowel dysfunction)

1. Special educational needs

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

  • Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years is the statutory guidance for organisations who work with and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

  • 0 to 25 SEND code of practice: guide for health professionals

  • for children and young people with literacy difficulties, specific learning difficulties and dyslexia. Also available as:
    • a
    • from the Council for Disabled Children
  • an analysis of children with special educational needs

  • is set up by the Department for Education and the Department of Health and contains a number of resource packs for parents, local authorities and providers, including:
    • , which provides information about local SEND provision
    • , which replaces learning difficulties assessments and statement of special educational needs, sets out the needs and aspirations of children and their parents and informs local authorities of their duties
    • the details the funding identified by local authorities to provide a specific education, health and care (EHC) plan
    • the helps different commissioners across education, health and care to join up their SEND services
    • getting the to make sure the SEND reforms are acted on
    • what鈥檚 required of local authorities and providers in , such as getting a job or going into higher education
  • the (MAPIT) supports SEND service improvements

  • NHS England guidance for commissioners is an overview of

Resources for health service providers and professionals:

  • Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) provides a list of as part of the Children and Families Act 2014, Part 3

  • the is an online portal offering education professionals access to information, resources and training

  • e-learning about disability and disabled children and young people for the workforce

  • British Academy of Childhood Disability is based on SEND and the EHC plan

  • goes through the EHC plan process

  • SEND guide for parents and carers explains the system that supports children and young people with SEND

  • , from RCSLT, outlines how to provide safe and high quality child health services

2. Autistic spectrum disorder

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

  • an overview of from The National Autistic Society helps to understand the condition and its affects

  • the from Autism Education Trust includes practical strategies to support young people on the autism spectrum deal with transition periods

Resources for health service providers and professionals:

  • NICE guidance for children and young people:
  • NICE quality standard for

  • The National Autistic Society have a range of resources and guidance for

  • 鈥楾hink Autism鈥�: an update to the government adult autism strategy sets out how the government will improve lives of people with autism, Annex C includes relevant resources, which can be applied to children and young people

3. Sensory impairment

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

  • RCSLT have , including:
    • Better Communication: Shaping speech, language and communication services for children and young people
  • National Child and Maternal Health Intelligence Network (ChiMat), with RCSLT, have developed a

  • Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) explain how the

  • from The National Deaf Children鈥檚 Society (NDCS):
    • , including 鈥楥ommissioning audiology services for young adults鈥� and 鈥楺uality Standards: Transition from paediatric to adult audiology鈥�
    • for audiology
  • paediatric audiology is included in the

  • an , from RNIB

  • joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) guidance for HWBs and now includes children鈥檚 eye health (chapter 6)

  • research report on children who are deafblind,

Resources for health service providers and professionals:

  • guidance from The Communication Trust

4. Continence

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

  • , including the Paediatric Continence Commissioning Guide

  • from NHS England

  • , from ChiMat, helps with needs assessments as part of children鈥檚 and young people鈥檚 planning and joint strategic needs assessments

  • for support with full service integration

Resources for professionals and providers:

  • NICE quality standard for

  • resources for from PromoCon