SEMH, SEND — or Developmental Need?
⏱️ Quick research overview
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❓ The question
When a young child is struggling socially or emotionally, how do we know what might be going on?
Could we be seeing SEMH, another SEND, a social or emotional developmental need — or an overlap between them?
This research explores why the answer is not always straightforward.
Research: So, what is it then; special need, SEMH, both or none? An assessment framework to value their interplay
Authors: Alicia Blanco-Bayo & Maria Reraki
Journal: Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
Published: 3 April 2025
Volume: 30, Issues 1–2, pp. 88–101
DOI: 10.1080/13632752.2025.2481013
📌 At a glance
Select a finding to find out more.
1. What we see may have more than one explanation
A child’s social, emotional or behavioural difficulties do not automatically tell us what the underlying need is.
The authors explain that what appears to be an SEMH difficulty may sometimes reflect social and emotional developmental needs. SEMH can also overlap with other SEND. [1]
2. It does not always have to be one or the other
SEMH is itself one of the four broad areas of need within SEND.
However, the authors argue against an either-or approach when trying to understand children’s difficulties. There may be SEMH, another SEND, an overlap between them, or developmental difficulties that do not necessarily indicate a disability. [2]
3. What is happening around the child matters too
The paper asks us to consider the child and their environment together.
A child’s individual characteristics can interact with their experiences, relationships, educational environment and wider social context.
This means social and emotional difficulties may not always be best understood as something that sits entirely within the child. [3]
The researchers describe this as an “interactionist” approach.
4. Everyday relationships can give us useful information
The authors place particular value on what practitioners notice during everyday interactions with children.
Children’s spontaneous emotional responses and interactions may provide information about their needs that predetermined questions, categories or scores do not fully capture. [4]
5. Assessment tools can help — but may not show everything
The paper considers three approaches used in relation to SEMH assessment:
Early Years Boxall Profile · Behaviour Assessment System for Children (BASC) · Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF)
The authors recognise useful elements within these approaches. Their concern is that structured or category-based assessment may not fully capture the immediate emotional and relational responses seen during everyday interactions. [5]
💡 The key message
What we observe is important — but it may not tell us the whole story.
Understanding a child’s needs may involve considering:
the child + their development + their relationships + their environment
rather than relying on behaviour or a category alone.
🎯 Goal of the Research
The authors wanted to explore:
How can we better understand a young child’s social and emotional difficulties when SEMH, other SEND and developmental needs can overlap?
The paper focuses particularly on children from birth to seven years old.
The authors reviewed existing research and considered three approaches used in relation to SEMH assessment: the Early Years Boxall Profile, BASC and PTMF.
They also explored what practitioners might learn from children’s relationships, emotional responses and everyday interactions.
The aim was to consider what existing approaches can help us understand — and what they may miss — when trying to distinguish between SEMH, other SEND and developmental needs.
🌱 What does this mean in context?
Two children can show very similar difficulties and have different things happening underneath.
A child’s social or emotional difficulties might be connected with another SEND. They might relate to social or emotional development. Their environment or experiences might be influencing what we see. Several factors may also be interacting at the same time.
The authors describe social and emotional difficulties as something that can emerge through the interaction between environmental factors and personal characteristics.
The paper is not saying that SEND categories or structured assessments are unnecessary.
Instead, it argues for building a fuller picture.
Rather than assuming:
“This is what the child is doing, so this tells us what they have.”
the research encourages us to remain curious about:
“What is happening for this child within their relationships, experiences and environment?”
This additional information may help practitioners better understand what they are seeing and what might need exploring further.
💡 In a nutshell
What we see can have different explanations.
A behaviour or emotional response does not automatically tell us what need sits underneath it.
Needs can overlap.
SEMH, other SEND and social or emotional developmental needs do not always fit neatly into separate boxes.
The environment matters.
Understanding what is happening around the child can add important information.
Relationships can tell us more.
Everyday interactions may reveal aspects of children’s social and emotional needs that structured assessments do not fully capture.
Assessment is about building a fuller picture.
Existing tools can provide useful information, alongside what we learn about the child’s development, relationships and everyday experiences.
🔗 Research & references
[1] Can perceived SEMH difficulties have different explanations?
Blanco-Bayo & Reraki (2025) · Abstract, p.88
The authors explain that perceived SEMH difficulties may sometimes reflect social and emotional developmental needs and highlight difficulties distinguishing these from other SEND.
[2] Does it have to be SEMH or another SEND?
Blanco-Bayo & Reraki (2025) · SEMH assessments, p.92
The authors argue against an either-or approach and explore the possible interplay between SEMH, SEND and developmental difficulties.
[3] Why does the child’s environment matter?
Blanco-Bayo & Reraki (2025) · SEMH literature, p.91
The paper describes how environmental conditions and individual characteristics can interact and argues that children’s social and emotional difficulties cannot always be understood separately from their educational and social context.
[4] What can relationships tell us?
Blanco-Bayo & Reraki (2025) · Relational pedagogy, p.95
The authors argue that spontaneous interactions between practitioners and children can provide useful information when making sense of social and emotional needs.
[5] What might structured assessment miss?
Blanco-Bayo & Reraki (2025) · Assessment discussion and Conclusion, pp.94–96
The authors argue that prescribed or category-based approaches may not fully capture children’s immediate emotional and relational responses.
Read the full research paper →
⚠️ Worth knowing
This paper does not prove that one assessment method is better than another.
It is a review and discussion of existing research. The authors did not test a new assessment model with a group of children.
They considered three selected approaches — BASC, PTMF and the Early Years Boxall Profile — and argue that greater attention should be given to children’s everyday relationships and emotional responses.
The authors acknowledge that considering only these three approaches is a limitation.
They propose developing a new observational assessment model with relationships at its centre as part of their future work. That model was not tested or validated in this paper.
The paper also focuses specifically on early childhood, particularly children’s experiences from birth to seven years. We should therefore be cautious about applying its conclusions directly to older children and young people.
🔎 Things to be Curious About
When trying to understand a young child’s SEMH or SEND needs, this paper argues for looking at the fuller picture — including the child’s development, individual characteristics, relationships and environment — rather than relying on behaviour or categories alone
