Shaping the Future of SEL for Children With Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Key Points

• For children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), social and emotional learning (SEL) can be transformative.
• This is not about adding something “extra” to the curriculum—it’s about rethinking SEL so it truly works for every child.
• The co-CEO of UK nonprofit Partnership for Children shares the factors her organization has identified that make SEL work for children with SEND

Education is rooted in the idea that all children must have the tools to thrive. This is no different for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). For these students, SEL can be transformative.

Across the globe, educators, therapists, and programme developers are breaking barriers, ensuring that children who face sensory, communication, and self-esteem challenges can build the emotional skills they need for well-being, learning, and lifelong success. This is not about adding something “extra” to the curriculum—it’s about rethinking SEL so it truly works for every child.

Evidence-Based SEL for Students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

As co-CEO of the UK nonprofit Partnership for Children, I am passionate about ensuring all children have access to evidence-based SEL.  We have worked with a wide network of educators, specialists, and communities to co-create the programme Zippy’s Friends for SEND.

First developed in 2013 and tailored for pupils aged 6–17 in special schools, it adapts our mainstream SEL programme with Widgit symbols, multiple activity levels, and visual supports to explore themes like feelings, friendship, and conflict. Independent evaluation by the University of Birmingham shows promising improvements in emotional literacy and interpersonal skills, especially for pupils with learning disabilities.

What We Need in SEL Programming for SEND Students

Through our network of teachers, trainers, and therapists in diverse contexts worldwide and backed by research findings, we’ve seen consistent factors that make SEL work for children with SEND. These factors include:

Adaptable

In one classroom, a 10-year-old might be learning to identify “happy” and “sad” using visual cards, while in the same lesson, another pupil uses a tablet app, speech-generating device, or communication board to describe complex emotions like jealousy. In other settings, pupils may rely on the Picture Exchange Communication System, where individuals use pictures to express needs, choices, or feelings.

This variation means a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work. As one staff member put it:

“Generic SEL programmes just don’t work! We need flexibility to meet every child where they are.” Adaptable SEL is personalised and delivered by skilled staff who can adjust activities to suit each learner’s profile, whether that means using objects, movement, visuals, or technology.

Embedded Into Everyday Life

Research shows SEL is most effective when woven into daily routines. In practice, that might mean a teaching assistant using programme language during a playground dispute—“Are you feeling worried like Zippy?”—or a speech therapist using visual prompts from a story to help a pupil navigate frustration during a transition.

When pupils use problem-solving language and strategies spontaneously, you can see that SEL has become a natural part of their daily interactions, as described by this parent:

“…instead of having complete meltdowns … [He] seemed to be more open to discussion about it. … Where we used to get lots of tears … I feel like he must be discussing it more within school and feels more comfortable discussing himself.”

Supported by Skilled Teams

Special school staff juggle intensive teaching, therapy, and care needs daily, so SEL must support them, not add to their load.

For example, a teacher may be supporting a non-verbal autistic child, a pupil with ADHD needing behavioural guidance, and another with speech difficulties—all in the same class. This is where collaboration with therapists makes the difference.

Often, speech and language therapists have worked with teachers to adapt Zippy’s Friends using visual supports, enabling non-verbal pupils to engage meaningfully. Occupational therapists and psychologists also help with sensory and behaviour strategies, ensuring SEL is tailored to each child’s needs. These partnerships not only improve outcomes for pupils but also give staff the confidence, resources, and shared strategies to embed SEL in daily life.

Building on Strengths

Too often, special education focuses on what a child can’t do. SEL flips that narrative by spotlighting what they can do and using those strengths to build confidence.

A child who loves drawing might be encouraged to sketch how a story character is feeling instead of explaining it verbally. A pupil with a strong memory might use that skill to recall coping strategies from a previous lesson. By starting from strengths, SEL becomes a tool for empowerment.

Culturally and Contextually Relevant

SEL is most effective when it resonates with children’s everyday lives, experiences, and cultural contexts. In practice, this means going beyond simply translating materials or using generic examples.

Educators integrate local values, familiar places, and community practices into lessons, helping pupils make real-world connections. For instance, stories and role-play scenarios might reflect family routines, local celebrations, or popular games, while music, movement, and art are used as alternative ways to explore emotions.

In multilingual and multicultural classrooms, visual supports, symbols, and gestures ensure that language differences do not become barriers to participation. Teachers also incorporate strategies to respect different norms around expressing emotions, so every child feels safe and understood. By grounding SEL in the realities of pupils’ lives, it becomes not just a set of lessons, but a meaningful toolkit for navigating relationships, managing feelings, and connecting with others both in and out of school.

A Call to Action

The future of SEL must be one where children with SEND are a driving force in shaping what works. From the UK to the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten, and Mauritius, educators are showing what’s possible when SEL is flexible, culturally relevant, and rooted in children’s strengths.

Now is the moment for global education leaders to embed this thinking into every SEL framework, policy, and programme. By doing so, we can build a world where every child grows up with the coping skills to learn, connect, and flourish.

The views in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CASEL.

Hannah Baker is Co-CEO at Partnership for Children, an international children’s mental health charity delivering school-based SEL programmes worldwide. Special thanks to international colleagues Amélie Saulnier (Konekte, Mauritius), Clare Panyandee (Lighthouse School, Cayman Islands), and Jina Mamtani-Mahbubani (Prins Willem-Alexander School, St. Maarten) for contributing their insights to this blog, as well as our international partners in these countries, The Alex Panton Foundation, Konekte and Stichting EGO.

Related Posts:

• If There’s a Poster Child for the Benefits of SEL, I Am That Person
• The Natural Pairing of SEL and Social Inclusion
• One Man’s Passion for Transforming Nigeria’s Education Sector With Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

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