What are the different types of Special Educational Needs?

Broad area of needs are broken down into the following areas and are known as primary needs. This information is entered into the school census and this information is shared with the Department of Education. 

Primary Needs categories are:  

- Specific learning difficulties (SpLD); - Moderate learning difficulty (MLD); - Severe learning difficulty (SLD);

- Profound and multiple learning difficulty (PMLD); 

- Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN); 

- Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH); 

- Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD); - Visual impairment (VI); 

- Hearing impairment (HI); 

- Multisensory impairment (MSI); 

- Physical disability (PD); 

- ‘SEN support’ but no specialist assessment of type of need (NSA

Some children may have SEND needs in all four Broad Areas of Need but there will only be one primary need.