ABSTRACT
Definitions of special needs When working in a school a number of children will be identified as having special educational needs. The 1981 Education Act has defined a child as having special educational needs if:
• S/he has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of the children of her/his age; or
• S/he has a disability, which either prevents or hinders her /him from making use of the educational facilities of a kind generally provided in schools within the area of the local authority concerned for children of his age.
