Lianne's story

"My son was diagnosed with autism in 2019. At the time, I asked the primary school if he needed any extra support, and they said 'no.' But as time went on and the years went by, his difficulties increased, and he was more and more unhappy within the school environment. By the beginning of Year 5, he was really struggling and I made school aware I was going to apply for an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) for him. The school said they'd support me with this, but they ultimately didn't.  

"I went ahead and applied for the EHCP; it was declined by the Council who refused to assess. I was then forced to go to Tribunal which took another six months. Thankfully, the Tribunal ruled in our favour, and they said he would need an Educational Psychologist (EP), an Occupational Therapist (OT) and a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) to visit and assess him. 

"The EP came out three months later but by this point in Year 6 he was really disengaged with school. There were times when he wasn't attending and then when he was attending, he wasn't ever in the classroom. He was sat with a desk in what was essentially the cloakroom and played on a computer all day. 

"The school were unwilling to put the correct support in to help him. The headteacher at the time blocked help suggested by Autism Outreach. Ultimately, he was failed by his primary school and carries negative feeling and PTSD symptoms surrounding his primary experience to this day.  

"When we finally got our EP assessment, the school didn't tell us the EP was coming. So unfortunately, the EP turned up to the school on a day when he wasn't there as he was unable to attend due to school-based anxiety. Once it was rearranged, the knock-on effect was that it had to be an online Teams assessment, and my son just didn't engage.

"He wouldn't speak to the EP and in the end, he drew happy or sad faces on the whiteboard in response to the EP's questions. But in the end, I was happy with the assessment, which captured him in the right way. It was disappointed that school didn't inform me the EP was coming, as it meant that she couldn't see him in the environment that she was assessing him for.  

"We got our EP assessment report back five months after the Tribunal, but we had to wait another month for the OT and SALT. It was then another six months until we got the final EHCP as we had to apply to a specialist school, and this had to be approved at panel. 

We had a school approved for the start of Year 7, but he didn't attend for a further three months as the Local Authority couldn't sort the transport, so all in all getting an EHCP took 60 weeks when legally it should take 20.  

"This is a Local Authority issue in my view. They say they've got no EPs but then if you really push for it as a parent they can get you an EP within a few weeks. I think there's a holding back from the LA with their resources sometimes. 

"I think that's because they want to slow down giving out EHCPs because they can't fund it and have been told they need to cut issuing EHCPs by 20 per cent. I have a friend whose child wasn't in school; they complained to the LA and got an EP within the week. It is tricky to know whether to believe the Council.  

"I'm pleased to say that my son is now in Year 8 in a specialist school which he joined in December, and he is loving it. We've had a couple of minor blips but other than that he is getting on very well. He went from a school where they couldn't get him to any work in Year 6 to doing everything set in Year 7 and 8." 

Support our campaign

Charlotte and Connor's story highlights the challenges parents and carers experience when they are seeking additional educational support for their child, and need access to an educational psychologist. 

Find out more about our campaign for more educational psychologists in local authorities.