SEN Children

SEN stands for “Special Educational Needs.” According to the Hong Kong Education Bureau (EDB), SEN refers to students who face difficulties in learning or daily life and require special educational support. Common challenges include intellectual disabilities, language and communication difficulties, attention deficits, physical or mental illnesses, and emotional regulation issues. While our center primarily serves students with dyslexia, many of these students have comorbid conditions—meaning they experience two or more types of special needs simultaneously, such as dyslexia with autism or dyslexia with ADHD. We also support twice-exceptional gifted students and students with limited intellectual abilities.

What Are the 9 Categories of SEN? What Are Their Characteristics?

1. Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

SpLD refers to a range of atypical learning behaviors. Students with SpLD have normal intelligence but struggle with writing, reading, oral reading, mathematics, and motor coordination, resulting in academic performance that differs from expectations.

Dyslexia is the most common form of SpLD. It involves difficulty in reading and understanding written text, often due to differences in how the brain processes written language. These differences typically appear in early childhood but can also result from brain injury at any age.

Common characteristics of dyslexia:

Slow reading speed, frequent misreading, and forgetting pronunciations
Stronger verbal expression than written expression
Inability to write down learned words from memory
Frequent omission or addition of strokes when writing, or reversal of letters/words
Fatigue during writing tasks, requiring extra concentration to complete reading and writing assignments

2. Intellectual Disability (ID)

Students with ID have significantly lower intelligence levels compared to peers, leading to challenges in learning and daily adaptation. Their overall development is slower.

Common characteristics:

Poor abstract and logical thinking
Weak memory
Short attention span, easily distracted
Limited verbal expression, unclear pronunciation, small vocabulary
Poor motor coordination and self-care skills
Weak social skills

3. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism is a developmental disorder caused by abnormal brain development. Even as they grow, individuals with autism often show differences in intelligence compared to peers. It primarily affects social interaction, language communication, and behavior. As of 2021, Asperger’s Syndrome is also classified under ASD according to ICD-11.

Common characteristics:

Difficulty understanding others’ emotions, thoughts, intentions
Struggles with emotionally expressive learning, such as lyrical writing
Limited language expression, frequent use of repetitive or rigid phrases
Obsessive behaviors, such as insisting on specific routes or seats when commuting, resisting changes in routine
Short attention span

4. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Students with ADHD show noticeable differences in attention, concentration, activity level, and emotional control compared to peers, affecting learning and social interactions. ADHD is more common in boys.

Common characteristics:

Easily distracted
Excessive activity, difficulty sitting still in class
Disorganized behavior
Impulsive actions without considering consequences
Low patience, e.g., skipping steps or cutting in line

5. Speech and Language Impairment (SLI)

SLI includes four main types: articulation, language, fluency, and voice issues.

Articulation Issues:
Incorrect pronunciation leading to unclear speech, e.g., saying “久” instead of “走” or “飲咀” instead of “飲水.” Causes may include hearing loss, cleft lip/palate, cerebral palsy, or developmental delays.

Language Issues:
Difficulty understanding long or complex sentences, leading to off-topic responses. Weak organizational skills result in improper word usage and unclear expression. Causes include autism, intellectual disabilities, and learning disorders.

Fluency Issues:
Stuttering, such as repeating words, speaking too fast or slow, or being unable to speak. Causes may be genetic, psychological, or physiological.

Voice Issues:
Hoarseness or loss of voice due to overuse or misuse of vocal cords, such as frequent screaming. Other causes include neurological disorders, emotional distress, respiratory illnesses, or congenital defects like cleft palate.

6. Hearing Impairment (HI)

HI refers to abnormalities in the auditory system affecting speech and communication. Normal hearing threshold is –10 to 25 decibels. A threshold above 25 dB indicates hearing impairment.

Five levels of hearing impairment:

Mild (26–40 dB)
Moderate (41–55 dB)
Moderately Severe (56–70 dB)
Severe (71–90 dB)
Profound (91+ dB)

Common difficulties:

Trouble understanding soft speech or conversations in noisy environments
Difficulty hearing speakers outside visual range
Challenges understanding videos or audio without subtitles
Reliance on lip-reading and hearing aids for communication

7. Visual Impairment (VI)

VI refers to vision that remains below normal even after correction with glasses or surgery. It is assessed based on visual acuity and field of vision.

Levels of VI:

Severe: Needs to be within 6 meters to see objects visible at 120+ meters
Moderate: Needs to be within 6 meters to see objects visible at 60–120 meters
Mild: Needs to be within 6 meters to see objects visible at 18–60 meters

Common characteristics:

Frequently bumping into objects or injuring limbs
Reluctance to move around
Lack of eye contact during conversation
Tilting head when looking closely
Difficulty describing brightness, distance, volume, or color
Needs to hold reading material close to see clearly
Skipping lines while reading

8. Physical Disability (PD)

PD refers to physical limitations caused by trauma, neurological disorders, or congenital musculoskeletal conditions. Common types include cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, amputations, brittle bone disease, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

9. Mental Illness (MI)

Common types include anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Some children may experience severe conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Others include oppositional defiant disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, and eating disorders. MI affects cognition, emotions, perception, behavior, and physical functions, impacting daily life, learning, and social interactions.