ABSTRACT
This chapter picks up the line of argument in the previous chapter about special educational needs, barriers and disabilities with an analysis of the purposes of identification and classification systems. It starts by considering how the term ‘special educational needs’ is understood internationally and then focuses in more detail on the system in England. This is followed by discussion of some examples of international differences in classifying special educational needs. The usefulness of the SEN category in England is then discussed by comparison with the move in Scotland to the concept of ‘additional support needs’. The chapter then examines the purposes of identification and the tensions and dilemmas that arise in the process in terms of dilemmas of difference. A way of resolving these tensions is presented as an educationally oriented bio-psycho-social model, informed by the International Classification of Functioning (iCF) model. The final section discusses the promise and limitation of a neurodiversity perspective by considering different ways to resolve dilemma of difference over identification, using label/model focused resolutions. The chapter concludes with a discussion of whether the ICF can be reconciled with the neurodiversity stance.
