special needs
plural noun
: any of various difficulties (such as a physical, emotional, behavioral, or learning disability or impairment) that causes an individual to require additional or specialized services or accommodations (such as in education or recreation)
students with special needs
special-needs
adjective
or special needs
special-needs children
a special needs teacher
Examples of special needs in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Accommodations for voters with special needs The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that people with disabilities have equal access to voting.
—
Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Apr. 2024
Two teams were recently dispatched to aid a mother of four children with special needs in crisis.
—Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Apr. 2024
An Indianapolis teacher is accused of encouraging bullying and abuse against a 7-year-old special needs student, all while telling the boy’s parents the child was making it up, according to a lawsuit recently filed in Indiana.
—Mitchell Willetts, Kansas City Star, 17 Apr. 2024
Families of three Colorado special needs children held a press conference Tuesday to draw attention to alleged abuse of their children by a school bus aide employed by Littleton Public Schools, and video of one incident has gone public.
—Pilar Arias, Fox News, 10 Apr. 2024
Police need specialized training on how to interact with teens and children, including mentally ill and special needs youth.
—Pamela Appea, Parents, 7 Apr. 2024
The special education director is the person most responsible for a special education program's success, said Peaslee, who is the past president of the Arizona Council for Exceptional Children, a professional association dedicated to improving education for special needs and gifted students.
—Nick Sullivan, The Arizona Republic, 5 Apr. 2024
Working Wonders is a nonprofit organization helping adults with special needs.
—Judith Prieve, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
These Arizona groups help special needs families during Eid al-Fitr.
—USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2024
Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Apr. 2024
Two teams were recently dispatched to aid a mother of four children with special needs in crisis.
—Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Apr. 2024
An Indianapolis teacher is accused of encouraging bullying and abuse against a 7-year-old special needs student, all while telling the boy’s parents the child was making it up, according to a lawsuit recently filed in Indiana.
—Mitchell Willetts, Kansas City Star, 17 Apr. 2024
Families of three Colorado special needs children held a press conference Tuesday to draw attention to alleged abuse of their children by a school bus aide employed by Littleton Public Schools, and video of one incident has gone public.
—Pilar Arias, Fox News, 10 Apr. 2024
Police need specialized training on how to interact with teens and children, including mentally ill and special needs youth.
—Pamela Appea, Parents, 7 Apr. 2024
The special education director is the person most responsible for a special education program's success, said Peaslee, who is the past president of the Arizona Council for Exceptional Children, a professional association dedicated to improving education for special needs and gifted students.
—Nick Sullivan, The Arizona Republic, 5 Apr. 2024
Working Wonders is a nonprofit organization helping adults with special needs.
—Judith Prieve, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
These Arizona groups help special needs families during Eid al-Fitr.
—USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'special needs.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near special needs
Cite this Entry
“Special needs.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/special%20needs. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
special needs
noun plural
: the individual requirements (as for education) of a person with a disadvantaged background or a mental, emotional, or physical disability or a high risk of developing one
Some urban homeschooled kids, particularly those with special needs, were previously enrolled in school but not served well there.—Linda Perlstein, Newsweek
Linda Perlstein, Newsweek
special-needs
adjective
special-needs students
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