Feb 10, 2024, BBC News: Warwickshire special needs row: 'Our children aren't naughty - they're neurodiverse'
Midlands
Three councillors in Warwickshire came under fire this week over comments about increasing special needs demand. People with experience of neurodiversity explain their outrage and put forward reasons behind the growing numbers.
It started as a discussion about how to curtail a £17m [$21M] overspend on the high needs of children in the county over the past financial year.
But suggestions at the meeting - which was filmed - about why there were so many children presenting with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) led to fury, a demonstration and calls for resignations.
Parents and campaigners were incensed by comments such as not "automatically" accepting a child had ADHD when they were just "really badly behaved", how parents had been swapping tips on how to get their children diagnosed on social media and one councillor musing whether "something in the water" was leading to increased need. . . .
When Freya started school Joanne applied for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), but Warwickshire County Council pushed back, she said, citing "too many children, not enough provision, not enough money".
After a two-year fight the EHCP was granted, but Joanne said she now home-schooled Freya because her needs had not been met. . . .
Joanne had little sympathy for the council's £17.5m overspend on its high needs budget this financial year.
"I think it's poor management and poor admin - I think they are spending the money but they are not spending the money to the advantage of children that need it," she said.
More than 1.5m pupils in England have SEND, according to government figures
About 389,000 (4.3%) have an EHCP
The number of students with an EHCP has increased by almost two thirds since 2016
In Warwickshire, there are 15,575 pupils (17.4%) with SEND in state-funded schools
About 6,000 youngsters in Warwickshire have an EHCP, a 37% increase over the last five years
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust said some people were waiting over three years for ADHD assessments due to "unprecedented demand"
Average autism wait to assessment times are currently 48 weeks, the service said. . .
Jo Van Herwegen, professor of developmental psychology and education at University College London and the Centre for Educational Neuroscience, described rising SEND numbers as "a very complex story".
Citing large class sizes and limited school resources, she said: "Parents sometimes feel that in order for their child to get the support they need to get this official recognition.
"That's not because these children are naughty, it's because these children have certain needs. Everyone's fighting for resources."
Prof Van Herwegen said public campaigns around neurodivergence had led to increased awareness and "with that then comes people looking for it and what support can be put in place".
She has worked with many adults who believe they would have benefitted from SEND support as pupils.
"Back in the day we didn't have a name for it," she said. "But they struggled, they made do with what they could.
"The question for those adults is often, 'what could have happened if I did have that support?'"
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