By the age of twelve, the average young person with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has likely heard negative attributes like “lazy,” “stupid,” “loud,” or “clumsy” over 20,000 times, a stark contrast to their non-ADHD peers. This statistic sheds light on the challenges faced by young people with ADHD and underscores the importance of understanding their unique needs.
Students with ADHD are just one of the groups included in the relatively new SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) subset referred to as SEMH (Social, Emotional, and/or Mental Health). This category replaced the term EBD (Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties) in the 2014 SEND code of practice, marking the first step in acknowledging the complexities of emotional and behavioural dysregulation.
Eliminating the word ‘behaviour’ from the label was a deliberate effort to emphasize their needs and move away from stigmatizing terms like ‘naughty children’s schools’ or ‘sink schools’. However, despite these efforts, there is still much progress to be made on this journey.
Many students identified with SEMH needs continue to experience a well-worn path of challenging behaviour, struggling to fit in, facing uncertainty, and encountering failure within the education system. Moreover, we still do not fully recognize the profound impact on young people of trauma, emotional neglect, abuse, or the effects of deprivation and poverty.
The problem is evident in our schools, where the prevailing attitude often remains, “it’s outside the school gate, so it’s not my problem.” However, the impact of deep emotional damage extends far beyond school grounds, affecting families who adopt children dealing with trauma and emotional neglect.
Furthermore, this issue is becoming increasingly urgent. SEMH needs represent the second largest category of SEND after speech and language needs. In the 2021/22 academic year, over 250,000 young people were identified with SEMH needs. Unfortunately, it is often challenging behaviours that lead to a diagnosis and the help they require.
This problem is also marked by inequality. Only 12% of 4-year-olds with SEND are identified as having SEMH needs, while this percentage rises to 21% among 14-year-olds with SEND, highlighting the persistent link between behaviour and SEMH. Nationally, roughly 80% of all young people with SEMH diagnoses are male, and female students with SEMH needs are often held within mainstream settings due to their less challenging behaviours. Additionally, there are significant disparities in SEMH diagnoses within BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) communities.
Meanwhile, we face an attendance crisis and approximately 116,000 young people who are “electively” home-educated. The term ’emotionally-based school avoidance’ (EBSA) is also gaining recognition.
In summary, every day, young people with SEMH needs are failed by mainstream settings in the name of comprehensive and inclusive education. Specialized settings designed to support them should not be labeled as ‘behaviour schools,’ where students are merely contained until they age into the criminal justice sector. Instead, they are experts in their field, and local collaboration should be built around their specialization.
