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In-Between

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  • CDK13 children are globally delayed (Global Developmental Delay), which does not mean however that all areas of their development are delayed to the same degree. Each child has a unique profile, and it is helpful to establish areas or relative strengths and difficulties by a professional Educational Psycologist. Simply teaching a CDK13 child at a uniformly delayed level (say, Year 1 instead of Year 4) will likely not adequately address difficulties or develop relative strengths. Correct input is of the essence if each CDK13 child is to develop to their full potential. 

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  • CDK13 children commonly have moderate SEN (Special Educational Needs). In the UK, they often fall academically between normally developing children who thrive in Mainstream schools, and those deeply affected by autism or other syndromes and who benefit from Special education. 

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  • The existing UK education system presents parents of the CDK13 children with a tough choice: to have their children struggle in a normal school, often with full time individual support and an individual SEN plan called EHCP (Education and Health Care Plan), 2-4 years behind their peers, albeit learning and making steady progress, - or - to place their children in a special needs school where learning self care and basic life skills is given priority over academic progress. This choice is often unsatisfactory.  

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  • It is common that CDK13 children begin Primary School in the Mainstream setting, and transfer to a SEN Secondary school upon becoming 11 years old. Many parents express anxiety over this change. It is helpful to bear in mind that many children with moderate SEN make their transition from Mainstream to Special Education at the time of transition from Primary to Secondary School. As many more moderate needs children populate Special Education classrooms, the overall average level of special needs improves from to a more moderate one. 

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*Please see my Blog articles on Working Memory as well as on the Learning Strategies for CDK13 and other SEN children. 

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