Only one in four parents happy with autism support

A quarter (26%) of parents waited over three years to receive support for their autistic child, according to research from the National Autistic Society.

The report is based on surveys of over 4,000 parents, carers, autistic children and young people in Summer 2021. It found that only one in four parents are satisfied with the special educational needs support their child is receiving; with less than half of autistic children happy in school,

What's more, 44% feel their child’s special educational needs are not being met in general, and seven in ten autistic children and young people said school would be better if more teachers understood autism.

The report found that there are over 160,000 autistic pupils in schools across England. Over 70% are in mainstream school, with the rest in specialist education, home educated or out of education altogether.

Three quarters of the parents we spoke to said that their child’s school place did not fully meet their needs – this has doubled since our previous education report in 2017. Parents also reported facing huge battles trying to get help, with 57% saying they had to wait more than a year for support and 26% waiting over three years.  

On top of all these challenges, the pandemic has had a profound impact on the learning and mental health of autistic children, with 44% of parents saying their autistic child has fallen behind with work and 59% saying their child was more socially isolated than before.  

The National Autistic Society  is calling on the government to intervene with its upcoming SEND Review and create a system that works for autistic children and young people. Without Government action, autistic children will continue to fall behind, with some even being kicked out of school or forced into home-schooling.  

Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive of the National Autistic Society, said: “The education system simply isn’t working for autistic children and their families, and things have been made even harder by coronavirus.  

“Families told us they had to spend months, even years, without the right support, often because there’s no school to meet their needs. And two in five of those who were refused an assessment of their child's needs said they took legal action. I know from my experience with my own autistic son how gruelling this can be, especially on top of the often-unbearable pressures families already face.  

“We won’t accept a world where so many autistic children are falling behind and so many families are being left exhausted and on the edge of crisis. The Government’s upcoming SEND review is an opportunity to change things, to live up to the promise of the 2014 reforms which were never implemented properly. The system is broken, the Government must act.”