In the United Kingdom, 10-15% of school-aged children have a special educational need (SEN). Children with SENs have impairments in language, learning, cognition, and social functioning. The diagnostic criteria for SENs are not, however, always fit for purpose. At-risk children can be missed or mislabelled meaning that they go without the support they need. This is compounded by the fact that SENs often co-occur with mental health difficulties but diagnostically they are usually considered separate. Therefore, a fundamental rethink of how children’s SENs and mental health difficulties are conceptualised is needed.
We will use data from two large UK-based datasets to 1) investigate the inter-relations between, and clustering of, SENs and mental health difficulties. Rather than looking at diagnoses, we will focus on how underlying strengths and difficulties in language, learning, cognition, social functioning, and mental health co-occur. In doing this, we will identify skills dimensions that map directly on to children’s needs, regardless of diagnostic label. Next, 2) we will investigate how these dimensions of skills cluster in children and how they compare with existing diagnostic labels in predicting children’s outcomes.
Finally, 3) we will identify environmental pathways through which risk is transmitted whilst controlling for genetic confounding. This will determine who and which environments should be the targets for early intervention to mitigate genetic risk for SENs and mental health difficulties.The proposed project will, therefore, mark a fundamental shift in how SENs and mental health difficulties are conceptualised, identified, and how at-risk children are supported.