• Academy – A state funded school in England which receives its funding primarily directly from and is owned and controlled by central government, not a local authority.

• ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder.

• ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

• ADHD-PI – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Predominantly Inattentive (sometimes ADHD-I)

• ASD / ASC – Autistic Spectrum Disorder/Condition

• ARO – Assessment and Review Officer – works for LA to support the process and write EHCP

• CAF – Common Assessment Framework. A method of assessment which can be used by social services, health or education. It is non-statutory, i.e. it does not replace statutory assessment.

• CAFA – The Children and Families Act 2014.

• CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

• Care plan – A record of the health and/or social care services being provided to a child or young person.

• CCG – Clinical Commissioning Group. This is an NHS organisation which brings together local GPs and health professionals to take on commissioning responsibilities for local health services.

• CHC – Continuing Health Care

• C & I – Communication and Interaction

• C & L – Cognition and Learning

• Code or CoP – The Special Educational Needs and   Disability Code of Practice 2015. This contains statutory guidance on the Children and Families Act 2014.

• CP – Clinical Psychologist.

• CSDPA – The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.

• DCS – Disabled Children’s Services.

• CDC - Child Development Centre

• CDC - Developmental Coordination Disorder / Dyspraxia

• DfE – Department for Education.

• DLA – Disability Living Allowance – is a benefit paid to children under 16 years that helps with the extra costs that  disabled people face as a result of their disabilities. 

• DLA – is not means-tested, and it is tax free.

• DMO – Designated Medical Officer EA 1996 Education Act 1996.

• EHC – needs assessment An assessment of the education, health care and social care needs of a child or young person conducted by a local authority under the Children and Families Act 2014.

• EHCAR – Education and Health Care Plan Assessment Request.  The paperwork completed by schools or parents to request an EHC assessment.

• HCP – An education, health and care plan as defined in section 37 (2) of the Children and Families Act 2014.

• EHRC – Equality and Human Rights Commission.

• EMS – Enhanced Mainstream School – These schools specialise in working with children with difficulties in specific areas i.e cognition and learning (C&L), social, emotional and mental health (SEMH), communication and interaction (C&I)

• EP – Educational Psychologist.

• EQA – The Equality Act 2010.

• EYFS – The Early Years Foundation Stage.

• FSW / FOW – Family Support Worker/ Family Outreach Worker

• HI – Hearing Impairment.

• ICD-10 – Is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO) used to diagnosis some health problems.

• IEP – Individual Education Plan.

• LA – A local authority in England.

• LAC – Looked After Child – A child which is under the care of the local authority.

• LDA – A learning difficulty assessment under section 139A Learning and Skills Act 2000.

• LDS – Learning Disabilities Service.

• LEA – Local Education Authority. Local Offer (LO) The Local Offer, published by every local authority, tells you what support is available for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and their families. For more information see – www.northyorks.gov.uk/send-local-offer

• Mediation – A method of seeking to resolve disagreements by going to an independent mediator.

• MLD – Moderate Learning Difficulties/Disabilities

• MSI – Multi-sensory Impairment – pupils with a combination of visual and hearing difficulties

• OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

• ODD – Oppositional Defiance Disorder.  

• Ofsted – Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. This is the body which inspects and regulates services which care for children and young people and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages.

• OT – Occupational Therapy, sometimes used to refer to the occupational therapist.

• PALS – Patient Advice and Liaison Service – Confidential Advice and Support on Health related matters and complaints.

• PARO – Principal Assessment & Review Officer—oversees the work of the ARO

• PCT – Primary Care Trust – Health Authority for each area.

• PDA – Pathological Demand Avoidance

• PIP – Personal Independence Payment – is a benefit paid to people over 16 years that helps with the extra costs that disabled people face as a result of their disabilities. PIP is not means-tested, and it is tax free.

• PMLD – Profound and multiple learning disabilities. 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.

• SEMH – Social, Emotional and Mental Health SEN Special educational needs.

• SEND Code of Practice – This is the statutory guidance that supports Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014. It tells local authorities, early years settings, schools, colleges, health and social care providers and others what they must and should do to identify, assess and provide for children and young people with SEN or disabilities.

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

• SEND – Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

• SENDIASS – Special Educational Needs and Disability Independent Advice and Support Service; every local authority must have one. They provide independent advice and support to parents about SEN. For more information see – www.northyorks.gov.uk/send-information-advice-and-support-service or www.sendiassnorthyorkshire.co.uk

• SENDIASS Officer – SENDIASS Officer who operates within the Sendiass Service; They provide independent advice and support to parents about SEN.

• SLD – Severe Learning Difficulty/ Severe Learning Disability

• SpLD – Specific Learning Difficulty

• SLT or SALT – Speech and Language Therapy

• SMART – (Targets) Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed – SMART Targets.

The above SEND Jargon buster is in part, a combination of several Jargon busters that I’ve either found online or been sent over the years.