A good turnout today, around a 100 families and individuals to protest the crisis in SEND funding as part of a National day of action. I almost gave my speech. But it was too windy to read from my script so I did it from memory and made most of points and a few adlibs as well. Good to see some old friends and comrades as well.
The Crisis in Education
My son got his first statement of special educational need when he was at nursery school.
But, even with a statement, his school experience was terrible. He was bullied, excluded, misdiagnosed until the age of 12. And by the time he got his autism diagnosis he had acquired anxiety, depression and OCD. He is still on medication because of the trauma he suffered at school. Our education system failed him completely. He left school with no qualifications. We expected him to need support for the rest of his life.
It was not to be. By his own courage and determination, he got himself to university. He has travelled the world. He is living and working independently away from home.
He is still autistic. He still has the occasional crisis. But he has a good life. AND IT IS ALL DOWN TO HIM AND THE PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT HE RECEIVED FROM ONE OR TWO OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUALS. This only happened after he left school. The system let him down completely and often made things worse.
30 years after my son got his statement you would hope the world has moved on. And you would be wrong.
In 2017 The NAS, together with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism, held an enquiry into education. This is what we found.
Our survey findings
3 years on from the introduction of significant reforms to the special educational needs system in England, children on the autism spectrum are still being let down by the education system.
6 in 10 young people and 7 in 10 of their parents say that the main thing that would make school better for them is having a teacher who understands autism.
42% of parents say their child was refused an assessment of their special educational needs the first time it was requested.
Only 1 in 10 parents say they are very satisfied with the process of agreeing an education, health and care (EHC) plan for their child.
Fewer than half of children and young people on the autism spectrum say they are happy at school. Seven in ten say that their peers do not understand them and five in ten say that their teachers do not know how to support them.
70% of parents say that support was not put in place quickly enough for their child. Nearly 70% waited more than six months for support and 50% waited more than a year.
40% of parents say that their child’s school place does not fully meet their needs.
Fewer than 5 in 10 teachers say that they are confident about supporting a child on the autism spectrum.
With thanks to Axcis Education for their support of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism’s education inquiry.
What’s the Problem?
Funding
On money I just want to say it is no use introducing policies if you don’t fully fund them. Placing additional requirements on schools and local authorities while cutting their budgets in real terms is reckless. There has never been enough money for special needs. But now there is a crisis in education funding for everybody, our kids are being left further behind.
Attitudes
We can fight for more money, but we also need to make sure that the money we do have is spent wisely. We have seen the disaster in the NHS with fortunes being spent imprisoning children with autism and special educational needs in psychiatric institutions where the treatment is inappropriate and often abusive.
The obvious answer is more training, for teachers and support staff. And that training should always include input from parents and from autistic survivors of the education system like my son.
But we have to go beyond training. I believe that our school system, with constant testing, league tables and a hostile inspection system has created a hostile environment and not just for our children. In 35 years of teaching I felt the pressure grow on me. I was off sick with a nervous breakdown and spent 3 years on Prozac. Children’s Laureate and professor of children’s literature, Michael Rosen summed it up like this.
It can be different. And we can do it without placing additional burdens on schools. If we can make schools accessible to children with special needs, if we have SEN friendly schools, we have child friendly schools. Child friendly schools are teacher friendly schools, and everybody wins. We have a long way to go.
Mike Stanton, NAS trustee and founding member of Furness Branch, National Autistic Society.
Well said, well read.
Baroness Warnock supported mainstream schooling for disabled kids and then went agains tthe idea when she found it was not being supported by funding and resources. She was right the first time so very wrong the second time.
But its not just about kids. Inclusion is important for us all. Society needs to learn how to include us equally.