Nancy, Oscar and Holly's story

"My son, Oscar (now 16 years old) was struggling as early as nursery. In fact, the nursery he was in asked for support from a specialist worker visiting the setting. His playgroup also highlighted concerns and met with his primary school before he started, saying he would need support. We contacted the health visitor who supported a referral to community paediatrics. He was under a paediatrician from age 4-7, when he eventually got his Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. 

"His initial primary school struggled to understand his behaviour and how to manage it. They put him on the list to see an educational psychologist (EP), but he had to wait his turn as they only had access to 2-3 visits per year, and there were older children waiting. He was eventually seen after about a year and a half because another child left the school. 

"The EP, who worked for the local authority and had a relationship with the primary school, visited and provided them with a series of suggestions about how they could better support Oscar. After a little while though, it was clear the school needed to have with more time with the EP to understand how to implement some of these suggestions in practice. 

"After that, Oscar continued to struggle. He didn't have the support of his teachers, and the school didn't seem to know how to help him, despite the original input from the EP. This led to anxiety, school attendance difficulties and further falling behind academically. 

"This meant that even after he got his EHCP, Oscar still struggled in class, with long term anxiety, CAMHS and medication intervention. He ended up in and out of school for three years until he was finally placed in a SEN school costing the local authority £60k a year. My view is that much of Oscar's situation was preventable, with the right early, holistic support. I'm left feeling 'if only'; if only the primary school had the ongoing support from an EP, and the resources they needed to implement the original EP's support plan, Oscar's situation may not have escalated as it has. As well as medication, we also now pay for him to have private counselling. 

"My daughter Holly, 13, has never liked school, and she struggled with friendships and attendance since nursery. But, unlike Oscar, she had no 'behavioural issues' and apart from 'chatting', was no issue in school. After a while, her anxiety and reluctance to go to school increased.  

"By the time Holly needed support, her school no longer had access to an EP. In the end we made the decision to hire an EP working in private practice – who formerly worked in the local authority - who diagnosed her ASD. This got her a little extra support in school, however no further external help was provided.  

"Holly has increasingly struggled and is now out of school. We've been forced to apply for an EHCP to get support, however at present, she is receiving no education or support while we wait for an EP assessment. The current waiting list to see an EP in our county seems to be at least five months, but I know for many it's much longer than that.  

"With Holly being out of school, we've again had to make the decision to recruit a private EP to assess her for the EHCP.  We've also had to recruit a SEN solicitor, because the local authority is notorious for not accepting assessments from a private EP - even if they then go on to appoint the same EP. For Holly, if this continues, she is likely to miss the start of her GCSEs. 

"The main issue is that local authorities use EPs to write reports that go into big, unwieldy EHCPs. The information and advice in these plans then just sits there. It's not seen or explained to the teachers on the front line. Many don't understand the behaviours they see in front of them, and or understand how to implement the advice and strategies set out in the plans.  

"It is just so frustrating as a parent to see your children, who are so capable, keep failing due to the lack of support and understanding of neurodivergence, and how to support neurodivergent children in mainstream school.  

"I understand that finances are short but genuinely believe that early support not only has the biggest impact on long-term success for young people, but also saves money and stress in the long term.  

"The lack of support not only leads to a disruption to young people's education but also has a long-term impact on their mental health and that of their families, resulting in systems generated trauma for the whole family. 

"The desire to save money also just transfers the financial burden to families who are increasingly having to go private. This has a twofold consequence of putting huge financial stress on families but also creating a two-tier system – where those that can find the money have a better chance to access support than those that can't. 

Support our campaign

Nancy, Oscar and Holly'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.