Common Exceptional Needs

Before You Use This

What this page is for, and what it is not for

This page is here for two reasons. To help you understand a child who already has a label, and to help you know when a conversation with your administration is worth having.

It is not here to help you identify anything. Nothing on this page is a checklist, and nothing on it should be used to decide what a child has. That is not your job, and the cost of getting it wrong falls on the child.

Two children with the same diagnosis will need different things from you. Every entry below describes a range, not a type. Read them as a way of understanding what you are seeing, never as a way of sorting children.

Reference

Tap any of the eleven to open it. Nothing here is in a particular order of importance.

What it is. Specific difficulties in reading (dyslexia), writing (dysgraphia) or maths (dyscalculia), in a child whose general ability is not affected.

What you might see. A gap between how capable a child sounds in conversation and what appears on the page. Reading that stays slow and effortful, letters still reversed well after peers have stopped, or written work that is a fraction of what the child can tell you.

What tends to help. Audio versions of texts, extra time, a scribe or a voice note, vocabulary pre-taught, and never being asked to read aloud without warning.

Worth a conversation when. The gap persists after good teaching and targeted support, or a child is well behind peers in one area while managing comfortably in others.

What it is. An injury to the brain from an external force, most often a fall, a sports injury or a road accident.

What you might see. Usually a child who was managing and now is not. Fatigue, memory lapses, slower processing, headaches, or a change in behaviour and emotional control.

What tends to help. Shorter tasks, planned rest, instructions written as well as spoken to reduce memory load, and a predictable routine.

Worth a conversation when. Any known head injury followed by a change in learning, behaviour or stamina, however long ago it happened.

What it is. A difference in attention regulation, impulse control and activity level. Not a difference in ability, and not a matter of effort.

What you might see. Inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, or any combination. Some children are visibly restless. Others sit perfectly still and are somewhere else entirely, and those are the ones who get missed, more often girls.

What tends to help. Movement built into the lesson, tasks chunked, instructions written as well as spoken, seating away from the door, and a prompt to start rather than a reminder to concentrate.

Worth a conversation when. Difficulties show up in more than one setting, have lasted more than about six months, and are out of step with what you would expect for the age.

What it is. A difference in how a child communicates, relates to others, processes sensory information and copes with change.

What you might see. Differences in social communication and interaction, a strong preference for routine and predictability, intense focused interests, and sensitivity to noise, light, texture or touch. The word spectrum matters: the range is enormous.

What tends to help. Visual timetables, warning before any change, a quiet space that is always available, literal and unambiguous instructions, and building on the focused interest rather than treating it as a distraction.

Worth a conversation when. Consistent differences in communication, social interaction and flexibility that show up across settings rather than only at school.

What it is. Below average intellectual functioning alongside difficulty with everyday practical and social skills, present from early childhood.

What you might see. Learning that is slower across the board rather than in one particular area, together with difficulty in the practical skills of daily life.

What tends to help. Concrete materials before abstract ones, more repetition and more time, skills broken into small explicit steps, and life skills taught directly rather than assumed.

Worth a conversation when. Delay across several areas at once, particularly where practical independence is affected too. This is the area where a modification rather than an accommodation is most often the right decision, so involve your administration early.

What it is. Aptitude or potential well beyond what is typical for the age, in one area or several.

What you might see. Often quick, though not always. Sometimes bored, sometimes disruptive, and sometimes quietly underachieving because the work has never yet required any effort. Potential and attainment are not the same thing.

What tends to help. Depth rather than volume, genuine choice, questions with more than one right answer, and time with others who think at the same pace.

Worth a conversation when. A child is capable well beyond what the work is asking. Watch particularly for high ability sitting alongside a learning difficulty, sometimes called twice exceptional, which is missed more often than either on its own because the two mask each other.

What it is. Reduced hearing in one or both ears, which may be permanent or may come and go.

What you might see. Watching faces closely, asking for repetition, mishearing similar sounding words, appearing not to listen, and tiring by the afternoon from the effort of following. Fluctuating hearing caused by repeated ear infections is common in primary and often goes undetected for years.

What tends to help. Face the class when you speak, cut background noise, write key words on the board, and check understanding rather than asking whether they heard you. Never talk while facing the board.

Worth a conversation when. Any pattern of mishearing, unexplained inattention, or speech that is unclear for the age.

What it is. Reduced vision that is not corrected by ordinary glasses, ranging from partial sight to no functional vision.

What you might see. Holding work very close, squinting, headaches, losing place when reading, difficulty copying from the board, and avoiding fine detail work.

What tends to help. Enlarged print, high contrast, seating near the front, everything visual described out loud, and handouts rather than copying from a distance.

Worth a conversation when. Any of the signs above, particularly where a routine vision screening has not picked it up.

What it is. Difficulty producing speech, understanding language, or using language to express meaning.

What you might see. Speech that is hard to follow for the age, difficulty finding words, short or disorganised sentences, or trouble following spoken instructions. Difficulty understanding language is far easier to miss than difficulty speaking, and it often looks like inattention or refusal.

What tends to help. Shorter instructions given one step at a time, extra processing time after a question, visual support alongside speech, and vocabulary pre-taught before the lesson.

Worth a conversation when. Speech that is unclear to adults who do not know the child, or a persistent gap between what a child appears to understand and what they can say.

What it is. Conditions affecting movement, coordination, stamina or general health, including long term medical conditions.

What you might see. Very wide ranging. Mobility, fine motor control and stamina, plus the effects of conditions such as epilepsy, asthma, diabetes or sickle cell, including absence and fatigue that follow them.

What tends to help. Access to the room and the equipment, alternatives to handwriting, rest built into the day, catch-up planned rather than assumed, and asking the child directly what actually helps.

Worth a conversation when. Any condition affecting attendance, stamina or physical access. Much of this is coordinated with the family and with health services rather than referred in the usual way.

What it is. Persistent difficulties with emotional wellbeing, mental health or behaviour that get in the way of learning and relationships. Some systems call this emotional disturbance, others social, emotional and mental health needs.

What you might see. Anxiety, low mood, withdrawal, or behaviour that is frequent, intense and out of proportion to the situation. The quiet, anxious child meets this description just as much as the disruptive one, and is far less likely to be referred.

What tends to help. Predictable routines, the relationship before the instruction, regulation before learning, one trusted adult, and an agreed way to leave the room that does not have to be earned.

Worth a conversation when. Difficulties are persistent, appear across settings, and are getting in the way of learning or friendships. Involve your administration early rather than late.

The Part That Matters Most

A label tells you where to look, not what to teach

None of these entries tells you what to do in Thursday’s lesson. They tell you which of the four domains is worth looking at first, and which of the four dials is most likely to help. The teaching decision is still yours, and it still comes from the child in front of you rather than from the word on the form.

If you take one thing from this page, take this: the children who most often go without support are not the ones with a diagnosis. They are the quiet ones who have never been referred, because nobody has ever had to deal with them.

Take It Away

Which of these do you have in your class right now, diagnosed or not?

Which one do you understand least well, and who could you ask about it?

Is there a child you have been meaning to raise with your administration and have not yet?

This space is just for you. Nothing here is saved or shared, so write freely.

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