Learning difficulty

In education law, learning difficulty is a legal test, not a diagnosis. A child has one if they find learning significantly harder than most children their age, or if a disability stops them using the facilities other children use. Meeting the test is what makes a child count as having special educational needs SEND SEND is England's word for children who need extra help to learn. The rest of the UK uses other words, and other rules. Read the full definition of SEND , which is the doorway to SEN support SEN support The everyday help a school in England puts in place for a child with special educational needs. It is based on what your child needs, not on having a diagnosis. Read the full definition of SEN support .

Because it is a test about difficulty in learning, not about intelligence, a very able autistic child Identity-first language Saying autistic child rather than child with autism. Many autistic people prefer it: being autistic is part of who they are. Read the full definition of Identity-first language can have a learning difficulty in the legal sense. It is also much broader than the health term learning disability Learning disability A health term for finding it much harder to learn and to manage everyday tasks, starting in childhood. It is not the same as a learning difficulty at school. Read the full definition of Learning disability : dyslexia, for example, is a learning difficulty but not a learning disability. The two phrases get swapped casually in meetings, so it is always fair to ask which one a professional means.