“Great expectations” for SEN reforms
David Ward MP has attended the launch of The National Autistic Society's (NAS) Great Expectations campaign which aims to highlight the specific challenges faced by autistic children and their families in getting basic educational support.
Research that the NAS conducted with over 1,000 families with autistic children found that nearly half of families have to wait over a year to get the right support for their child and 1 in 5 autistic children feel threatened at school.
The Government have recently announced proposals to reform the special education needs (SEN) system to give parents more control over the support available to their children.
Commenting David Ward said:
"The NAS research clearly shows that far too many autistic children are not getting the right support at school and their parents are left feeling that they have to fight for them to get the help they need.
"The current overhaul of the SEN system is a great opportunity to change this for all those who need additional support in education. The NAS report does a great job of highlighting the specific problems faced by autistic children and I hope the Government will listen to their concerns.
"I recently met with Children's Minister, Sarah Teather, to discuss these issues and am encouraged that the reforms will help give parents more control over the support that is available to their child, through the introduction of personal budgets.
"The reforms also aim to increase the amount of training available to teachers so that they are able to support their pupils with special educational needs in the best possible way. The report highlights the particular need for this kind of training when dealing with a complex problem like autism."