ABSTRACT
The complex nature of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) with its categories of need, language used and competing models identifying the causes of disability and how these impact children and young people, their families and practitioners add to the debate. This chapter examines some of the theoretical and practical issues. It aims to define the terms Inclusion, Integration and Segregation. The chapter analyses some of the key issues within the area of inclusivity. It outlines how the Index for Inclusion might relate to a school. The chapter reviews what characteristics an inclusive teacher might possess. It discusses the role of the Waves Model within the Quality First Teaching approach to SEND. The chapter explains how the medical, social and biopsychosocial models of disability relate to SEND. It examines how the notion of the “Dilemma of Difference” relates to labelling. The chapter provides some examples of the language and discourses surrounding SEND.
