Parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) have told ITV News Central they have been left at breaking point by a system that was originally designed to help them.
Our survey of 500 parents of children with SEND across the Midlands shows the huge financial and mental strain experienced by families as they try to access vital support.
The exclusive poll for ITV News Central conducted by Opinium found:
• 3 in 5 had experienced challenges getting educational and health support.
• Almost half (49%) of respondents said they had given up work or reduced their hours to negotiate the system.
• 1 in 3 said they had used the legal system to fight Local Education Authority (LEA) decisions - spending on average £7000.
• Parents with more than one child with SEND spent an average of more than £8000.
• 23% have paid for private teaching spending an average of £53833.70.
• 20% spent an average of £5376.70 on educational psychologists.
• 18% paid for speech and language therapy with an average spend of £4093.80.
• Due to the Cost of Living Crisis, 7 in 10 said their current financial situation meant they had cut back spending on supporting their child with SEND, with 29% doing so significantly.
