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'Drug education is just as necessary for pupils with special educational needs.' (Department for Education, 1995) The Government says it is important for all children and young people, throughout their schooling, to receive education about drugs. But do young people with special educational needs come into contact with drugs? and Are there special risk factors for young people with special educational needs? Any drug education must be appropriate to pupils' age and ability, and it must be developmental. Thus, in the early years, drug education should address the legal drugs - alcohol and tobacco, and help young children to distinguish between the appropriate use of drugs as medicines and the misuse of drugs and volatile substances (gases, glues and aerosols). Later in their schooling - but hopefully before they are old enough to have to make decisions about experimentation with drugs - illegal drugs will be dealt with in more detail, and there will be harm reduction guidance about alcohol use. Drug education will not only provide information about drugs, it will help children and young people to develop skills for living in a society were drug use and misuse is quite widespread. It will also help them to explore their attitudes towards drug use. The context of drug education is crucial. It should be integrated within a school's Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) programme. There are many connections with other aspects of PSHE, and some knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary in drug education are a central part of any PSHE programme. For example, having some skills to make decisions will be important in choosing a job, in deciding whether or not to have sex, and in making choices about drug use; and an understanding of one's feelings will be needed to form the basis for decision making. Thus, even with children and young people with quite severe learning difficulties, some drug-relevant education is appropriate and possible. This website gives guidance on what this drug relevant education should be. --------------------------------------------------------------- Risk Factors Young people with disabilities can be exposed to several risk factors that may be linked to substance misuse, making them potentially vulnerable to drug misuse. These include: · low self-esteem · insufficient self-control · peer pressure · disenfranchisement · social isolation · lack of friends, partners or general peer acceptance · unemployment · limited access to transport · marginal incomes. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recognised that children with disabilities: '…have and often continue to experience a form of social exclusion which represents a fundamental denial of their basic human rights.' (NCH 1999 Factfile '99 NCH Action for Children, page 159) And many young people with disabilities who take regular medication to treat their condition may have a greater acceptance of drug use, and there may be some confusion in their minds about the role of drugs. For them, it is especially important to understand drug effects and the distinction between medication and 'recreational' drugs.
SEN young people and drug use There is little data on illegal drug use among this group. Lindsay McNair reports that: 'Delancy and Polling (1990) reviewed a number of studies of drug and alcohol abuse in people with learning disabilities and found drug abuse present in this group but at a lower level than that of the normal population. They concluded that: "Little research examining drug use and abuse by mentally retarded people has appeared .... the result is a problem without formal recognition." A recent survey of alcohol and drug use by clients of Glasgow Community Learning Disability Teams found approximately 3% of clients abused drugs and/or alcohol... Drugs used ranged from cannabis to intravenous drugs and such cases tended to be complex with significant multi-agency involvement.' (McNair L 1996 'Substance Abuse and Learning Disability' in: 'Learning disabilities and health education' (Conference Report) Health Education Board for Scotland, 1996) Many children and young people with learning disabilities experience a high level of care and control. This may mean that they have fewer opportunities for drug experimentation in the earlier years of adolescence, but later, when they obtain more independence, they may not be adequately prepared for the challenges that face them. This will be particularly so if the move to independence comes suddenly, or is not adequately prepared for. Partly because they may be more 'protected', some young people with special needs may exhibit greater naivete in their approach to life, and this might make them at greater risk (for example, from peer influence to try drugs). Some children with special educational needs may be less aware of the dangers of chemicals in the home, such as volatile substances. For some, their limited understanding of changing emotions and different states of mind may make it difficult for them to understand the effects of drugs.
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