“SEN” and “neurodiversity” often turn up in the same conversation, and they’re easy to blur together. They come from different places and do different jobs. Understanding both helps schools get support right for pupils with dyslexia, and for many others too.

What SEN means

In England, special educational needs (SEN) is a legal and educational term, set out in the SEND Code of Practice. A child has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision: support that is additional to, or different from, what is usually provided for others of the same age.

The Code describes four broad areas of need:

• communication and interaction

• cognition and learning

• social, emotional and mental health

• sensory and/or physical needs

It is also clear that these are not boxes to fit pupils into. In its words, “the purpose of identification is to work out what action the school needs to take, not to fit a pupil into a category.” Many pupils have needs that cut across more than one area, and those needs can change over time.

What neurodiversity means

Neurodiversity is not a legal category. It is a way of thinking about the natural variation in how people’s brains work: how we learn, focus, process information and communicate. “Neurodivergent” describes someone whose thinking differs from what is typical, for example in dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism or attention differences.

The neurodiversity lens shifts the emphasis from what a pupil can’t do towards understanding how they learn, including their strengths, and changing the environment around them rather than only trying to change the pupil.

Where dyslexia sits in both

In the SEND Code of Practice, dyslexia is one of the specific learning difficulties (SpLD), alongside dyscalculia and dyspraxia, within the “cognition and learning” area of need. SpLDs, the Code says, “affect one or more specific aspects of learning.” A pupil with dyslexia may need SEN support, and for a few, an education, health and care plan.

Through the neurodiversity lens, dyslexia is a difference in how the brain processes language, especially written language. A 2025 consensus definition agreed by dyslexia researchers and practitioners begins: “Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling.” It also describes dyslexia as sitting on a continuum rather than being a yes-or-no category, and as often occurring alongside other needs. That’s one reason two pupils with the same label can need very different support.

So dyslexia belongs to both conversations. The SEN framework gives a route to support and sets out schools’ duties. The neurodiversity lens reminds staff that a pupil is more than their difficulty.

Why the difference matters in school

Support shouldn’t wait for a label. The Code’s graduated approach, a cycle of assess, plan, do and review, starts with what the school can see and do now. It doesn’t depend on a formal diagnosis.

Labels are a starting point, not a plan. A label can open doors and give families a shared language. But what changes teaching is knowing a pupil’s actual profile: which skills are secure, which take extra effort, and what helps.

Strengths are part of the picture. Many pupils with literacy difficulties have real strengths, such as visual reasoning or rich spoken ideas. Planning lessons that use those strengths can do as much for confidence as targeted intervention.

Inclusive teaching helps everyone. Clear, visible instructions, pre-taught vocabulary, extra thinking time and accessible materials help pupils with dyslexia, and they rarely disadvantage anyone else.

How screening can help

Screening gives schools an early, consistent way to see where pupils may need support, without waiting for a referral. Talamo’s Cognitive & Dyslexia assessment, for example, reports each pupil’s strengths and challenges across nine areas, along with a dyslexia risk level and a Level of Need. Because every pupil’s results use the same scale, SENCos can also see patterns across a class or year group and decide where to focus.

Screening is a snapshot, not a diagnosis, and it doesn’t measure progress over time. Its job is to help schools decide what to do next. For the bigger picture on why timing matters, read Why early screening matters: what the evidence says in 2026.