(UK) Notts: Mom 'blamed' by council as autistic son misses 2 yrs of school; mainstream "burnout"
- The end of childhood
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Nov 9, 2025, Examiner Live: Mum 'blamed' by council after son missed two years of school
E. Midlands
Baxter's 13-year-old son is autistic with pathological demand avoidance.
A mum says she was "blamed" by the council after her son missed two years of schooling due to special educational needs delays.
Stephanie Baxter's 13 year old son has autism with pathological demand avoidance.
Until September 2025 he had been absent from school for two years due to burnout from his mainstream school environment.
Ms Baxter's battle for her son to have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in place – legal documents detailing a young person's needs, required support and progress – commenced when he was in year six but this was "straight away denied despite having a diagnosis of autism".
The mother says her son experienced burnout from sensory overwhelm starting secondary school, meaning he was unable to properly attend mainstream school for two years and receive a full curriculum other than English and Maths. She revealed: "I had to say 'I have to take you to secondary school, we have to try, can you just try today?'", adding that the ordeal left him "traumatised".
Ms Baxter shared her story of her "fight" with with the local democracy reporting service (LDRS) in Nottingham on Monday (November 3) when she attended the Every Pair Tells a Story campaign movement outside the city's county hall.
The movement occurred across 88 local authorities in England and Scotland, involving parents or guardians leaving pairs of shoes outside council buildings to represent individual children who have been 'failed' by their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
Since September 2025, her son has been attending an alternative education setting in the city, where he goes three days a week and receives tutoring two days a week, as well as occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. He now benefits from a full curriculum.
Ms Baxter claims she was unfairly blamed by the City Council for her son's non-attendance at school. A report from a council educational psychologist acknowledged her son's burnout but suggested she was enabling his state of exhaustion. . . .
Both she and her son's father paid out of pocket for a barrister and private assessments, including an educational psychologist, due to delays in support from the council. However, Ms Baxter said the council remained unyielding and refused to accept the independent reports.
As a result, she planned to take the authority to a tribunal at the end of January 2025, but this was postponed until April of the same year. Before the April date arrived, an agreement was reached between Ms Baxter and the council to provide an appropriate support package for her son.
She revealed that a tribunal judge had ordered the council to implement the support package within seven weeks. However, Ms Baxter claims the council twice failed to meet these deadlines, with her son's education package only finalised at the end of August 2025. .
For Ms Baxter, managing her son's EHCP support through the council became a "full-time job". . . .
She stated: "[We've] spent thousands of pounds to fight over two years... I had to hire an advocate to make [the process] clear – barristers aren't cheap.
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