A former SEND pupil's thoughts on SEND education

I am autistic and a former SEND pupil, and I wanted to share my thoughts on SEND education. This article does contain quotes of people swearing.

SEND education is under a lot of pressure nationally, and quite rightly, people are giving lots of thought about how to fix it. Locally, the new East Surrey Council will be in charge of delivering it from next year.

To understand my thoughts, I need to tell you the origin story.

A nursery nightmare and getting the right help

Roll back to when I was three. I was non-verbal and very challenging to look after.

I gave my Mother the fright of her life by running away from her in Sainsbury's in Redhill to go and look at digestives.

I attended a mainstream nursery in the village I grew up in. And they didn't know how to cater for my needs. They didn't understand why I kept drawing picture after picture after picture of trains. Why I had to get up and run around. Why I wouldn't eat anything soft like mashed potato.

As I couldn't communicate using words, whenever the teachers tried to make me do something I didn't want, I screamed, I bit hands, I kicked and at least twice, deliberately soiled myself so I was sent home.

And my parents were at a loss to explain what it was. Then a doctor was able to give an explanation as to why I was the way I was. I'm autistic.

Just because it had a name didn't make life easier. People didn't understand why I behaved the way I did. When I had a meltdown over the noise in the supermarket or the brightness of the lights, I'd scream. But because my Mother couldn't stop me or help me, unhelpful shoppers would stop and tell her that "your son is naughty" and "you're a shit parent".

It was clear to my parents that I couldn't have coped in mainstream schooling. So they fought tooth and nail to get me into a SEND school.

In the end, my parents' persistence and pressure on the authorities worked. I got a place in a specialist autism school on the edge of South West London.

The trouble was, it was an hour and a half each way to get there. Every. Single. Day.

Nurture and support: my time at school

At first, I was a challenge. A good friend of mine who I still speak to now had the unfortunate situation of being photographed with her fingers in her ears because I was screaming at being in the school.

However, because I was given speech therapy every week, I became much more able to express myself. It was discovered I was very good at maths, being able to tell my Mother's friends what day of the week they were born just from their date of birth, an ability I've sadly lost.

Going boarding at school taught me to be able to cook for myself, including making homemade chicken nuggets.

Boarding taught me several life skills. I learned how to change a bed and clean a bathroom, how to make a cup of tea and coffee, even how to build IKEA furniture.

Playing the piano at a school concert growing up. I wasn't a Freddie Mercury, Tim Rice-Oxley or Chris Martin.

I was given opportunities to feel a part of something. Going to play football against other schools, going to sing in a choir at a concert in Chertsey, volunteering at a charity in Epsom looking after adults with learning needs. Even changing my school's uniform policy so school fleeces became a thing.

These are all small things but as a young person with autism, it felt so powerful having the ability to make a difference, however small it may be.

When I left school, I felt I was better able to manage my emotions and cope with life's challenges. I went to college, got some GCSEs and a BTEC qualification and got into local politics.

The reason I am able to do what I do now is because of the nurturing and support I got from my teachers at school.

Political point scoring is pointless... because every party is failing SEND pupils

Let's mythbust something very important. Every political party has SEND education failings across the country.

Cambridgeshire's SEND complaints have been rising each year since 2020 as a result of the council's failure to provide education for children with EHCPs and the distress caused to families. Local parents have described their children as "not thriving" as a result of Cambridgeshire County Council's failure to coordinate support.

In Kent, a parent had to move closer to a school that provides the support her son needs as a result of the local County Council's failure in not only not getting her son the right support, but also not giving the speech therapy he needs for seven months.

So parties trying to point score that they're better than someone else isn't constructive in fixing the issue.

So how do we actually fix it in Surrey?

Locally, SEND children are having to travel across Surrey for the right education. I know of pupils living the other side of Godalming having to travel to Limpsfield, near Clacket Lane Services for the schooling they need.

Having been through travel days of leaving at 7:15am and not getting home until 4:45pm as a young child, it's exhausting. You get back and you're just shattered and stressed from being strapped in on the bus for hours.

I welcome the opening of new specialist schools in Leatherhead and one being agreed in Dorking. But we need more. If we're going to offer a more compassionate SEND education, we need to open another specialist school in Reigate & Banstead.

We also need to make use of the spare boarding capacity we have in East Surrey that isn't being used. Each space not being used is one less person able to learn life skills. One less person able to make a tea, change a bed, use a washing machine or cook a meal.

This needs to be offered to more SEND pupils, so that they can learn the life skills they need to live independently and thrive in the community when they are older.

And the new East Surrey Council's SEND policy needs to be led not by bureaucrats, but by former teachers, parents with lived experience, and of course SEND pupils.

Remember how I said earlier how much it meant to me to have felt listened to about getting the school fleeces introduced. SEND pupils are too often forgotten in these sorts of discussions and if we're going to truly fix SEND education, this must change.

We need former SEND pupils at the table guiding the direction of how future pupils should get their education. And East Surrey Council needs to listen to these voices and empower them, not make them victims.

I faced hardship growing up and there were days where I wished I wasn't autistic. But now, I wouldn't change it for the world. It's my superpower that helps me see things in ways others don't.

In Conclusion

Fixing SEND education is not something one person who hopes to be a Councillor after 7 May can do. It requires a team effort and lots of constructive dialogue across the country.

But if we can start that constructive dialogue now, we will go a long way towards finding the answer in East Surrey.