Parents face long battles to get right support for their autistic children

News, 2nd September 2016.

Parents face long battles to get right support for their autistic children, report says

Many parents of autistic children face long battles to get their child the right education and support, despite the government introducing a new system two years ago that was meant to make things easier and less adversarial, according to a report.

The report, by the National Autistic Society (NAS), found that, despite the introduction of the new special educational needs and disability (SEND) system in England, parents say that they are having to fight just as hard and often not getting the right support from local authorities and the NHS.

Surveys by the NAS of about 1,000 parents, carers and children and young people on the autism spectrum found that 74% of parents said it has not been easy to get the educational support their child needs.