Is there any difference between the two terms or are they used interchangeably? The language/ terms used by schools as well as support services does confuse many parents and make them ponder around the difference between disability and special needs.
Speaking about the term Disability, it is more about physical and mental inabilities while special needs are related to learning disabilities. There is one more term – differently-abled, which is used for mental as well as physical disabilities.
Special needs actually do mean special education needs as children with learning disabilities need additional support as compared to their peers. Examples of special education needs include –
- Social, Behavioral and emotional difficulties
- Multiple learning difficulties
- Moderate learning problems
- Speech, communication and language needs
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disabilities
- Multi-sensory impairment
Disabilities include all the physical and mental disabilities that affect their daily routine activities. The assistance includes support around emotional, intellectual or behavioral, health and intellectual development.
- Physical disability
- Communication disorder of severe nature
- Developmental delay at pre-school
- Long term learning difficulty
- Sensory impairment like visual, deafness and blindness
- Autism Spectrum disorder
- Multiple complex and chronic conditions
Hence, when you use the term disabilities you are apparently talking about physical and mental inabilities and when you are talking about special needs, it’s actually about the needs of children around managing learning disabilities generally.
