‘Make some noise for access to Educational Psychologists for young people’

I am a neurodivergent Educational Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). I am also a parent to a child with special educational needs who has an Education, Health, and Care Plan. As someone with both professional and personal experience, I wholeheartedly support the latest BPS Campaign to ensure young people are able to receive Educational Psychology support when they need it within their Local Authority.  

Clearly, it is not just the BPS and I concerned about the current situation. Right now, the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) system is in crisis. In a recent BPS survey, 70 per cent of respondents felt that children and young people in their local authority did not have fair and equal access to an Educational Psychologist. There are 20,000 children waiting for an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) needs assessment in England. Put simply, there are not enough Educational Psychologists to keep up with the number of young people that need to be seen as part of completing the EHC needs assessment, which leads to long delays. Enough is enough.

The sheer fight

The EHC needs assessment process for my child was a really difficult experience. During it, I was asked if I could deliver some CPD to fellow psychologists about the parent/carer perspective during an EHC needs assessments. I felt so stressed, I literally could not talk about it at work! And I was one of the 'lucky' parents – I had a school that were fully on board with applying for an Education, Health, and Care Plan, and were really trying to help my son and the rest of the family.  

Like most families who have gone through this, we had applied for the EHC assessment at a crisis point. At the time that we and his teachers applied for my son's EHC needs assessment, he was not coping at school. His anxiety was sky high, he wasn't sleeping well, and he was really dysregulated. It was taking huge effort on my part to be sleep deprived, parent him and his two brothers, be an Educational Psychologist supporting other young people, co-regulate my son, and support my son through this nightmare. It was definitely an added pressure to juggle parent life and work demands, and squeezing in meetings with the other professionals that were part of the EHC needs assessment process, who were completing their assessments and reports within the time limits. What I totally did not have the capacity for was the sheer 'fight' to get him the Educational Psychologist assessment that he needed, in order to finally obtain a draft and then finalised EHCP.  

Despite my son being flagged with our Local Authority as a 'priority' for the EHC needs assessment due to his mental health needs at the time, the Educational Psychology assessment was not completed until well beyond the statutory time frame. This led to an unfortunate position, where I felt compelled to complain and chase up the Educational Psychology Service (a service I had previously worked at myself, by the way), in order to advocate for my child. 

At no point did I feel that this was personal and the 'fault' of the Educational Psychology Service. I am sure everyone was trying their best to carry out the EHC needs assessments. However, the reality is that there just aren't enough Educational Psychologists. This leads to highly stressed parents and carers, who feel disappointed and let down by the Educational Psychology Service, before they have even met an Educational Psychologist. This doesn't exactly aid the consultation process, or build trust towards the profession.  

The complaints and pressures also put strain on the Educational Psychologists themselves. Alarmingly, a recent BPS survey found that 26 per cent of Educational Psychologists said they are thinking about moving on from the sector or changing their employment model in the next 12 months. This would only make the subsequent delays and professional disillusion worse, without radical action now.

Fortunately, when my son finally met an Educational Psychologist for his EHC assessment, she was brilliant. She clearly identified his strengths and needs across all areas of development, and outlined provision that clearly met those needs. This is what is so frustrating. Us Educational Psychologists are so useful and valuable within the SEND world. I receive gratitude daily from schools and families about the work I deliver, to support young people to thrive. It is not an option to reduce the role of Educational Psychologists within the SEND system to solve the issue of long waiting lists, if we are working in the best interests of young people. The only solution is to ensure there are more Educational Psychologists, either working for or alongside Local Authorities.  

Getting the environments right

Nowadays, I am really glad to say that my son, due to his EHCP now being implemented and a few other changes, is doing well in his education. His story is not the first personal experience I have had that illustrates just how important getting the environment right is for young people. I myself am multiply neurodivergent, and I had great variation within my own school experiences as a child. At points, I experienced emotionally-based school avoidance and periods of limited school attendance. However, later on, I loved school so much that I was inspired to attend the University of Cambridge to train to be a teacher. Setting up environments that are nurturing, build strengths, and support needs is massively important for our young people. Yet, we can only get these environments right, when schools, families, and young people can access the professionals they need in order to inform that environment.

These days, my company Dr Joanne Ltd. specialises in helping families and educational settings provide neuro-affirming support for young people, informed by the Neurodiversity Paradigm. This focuses on the different ways individuals learn, experience the world, and process information. Our education system fits neurotypical individuals best – those who experience the world, and process information in the most commonly occurring way. The architects designing schools are more likely to be neurotypical, the teachers are more likely to be neurotypical, policy makers are more likely to be neurotypical, and so on. Yet it is totally unrealistic that a 'one size fits all' education system suits everyone. Ensuring that those who do not fit the majority norm are able to receive an education that suits their diverse needs, is an equality issue that we should all care about. For those of us who are practicing Psychologists, highlighting this equality issue for service users within the SEND system and taking action is part of our ethical duty. 

Time to make some noise

So, what can we do if we want to support this campaign from the BPS, and ensure appropriate and timely access to Educational Psychologists for young people? First, we need to make a lot of noise about this issue, and ideally before the Autumn Budget is announced by the Government on 30 October 2024. If you can, consider talking about this topic in the press, on podcasts, and social media. You can link the BPS campaign on their website, to support you. Consider writing to your MP, explaining why the lack of Educational Psychologists is an issue locally and nationally. 

Finally, be understanding to the families stuck in the middle of this. I have lots of interactions with families on my business Facebook page and during my parent/ carer workshops, and I hear the huge amount of stress this is causing them and the young people at the centre. A change is needed for everyone, and we are much noisier together.

• Dr Joanne Riordan BSc (Hons), PGCE, QTS, DECPsy, CPsychol, AFBPsS; Independent Educational Psychologist and Director of Dr Joanne Ltd. Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Founder of the Differently Parenting Programme
• Find more SEND stories in the 'Psychology Matters' collection. See also our Educational Psychology collection.