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For a long time, I was eager to produce a film focusing on special educational needs and disabilities.

Perhaps you know me as Linda Carter, but I'm also a mum to an autistic child who also has dyslexia and ADHD.

It took months of determination and effort from my husband and I to obtain the right schooling for him. Sometimes, it seemed like a struggle.

This is the reason I decided to create this documentary, so I could connect with other families going through the same thing, and speak to educators, local authorities, and the government about how children with special needs are educated in the UK.

Understanding Send in England

There are more than 1.7 million children in England with Send. This represents a broad group, including autistic children and individuals who face challenges in speech and language, have ADHD, and mobility issues, among other conditions.

Educational institutions in the UK do offer assistance to these students, but if parents think their child needs additional support, they can make an application to their local council for an Education, Health and Care Plan.

An EHCP is a crucial document because it is enforceable by law, specifies where a pupil should go to school, and details how much extra support they should receive.

We devoted countless hours completing the application forms to request an plan, and numerous parents find the procedure extremely challenging.

A Mother and Son's Journey

Shortly after I meet teenage the young man, he presents his beloved stuffed animal, Reindeer Dog.

He is on the autism spectrum, which means his mind experiences and reacts to the world in a different way from many people's. He faces difficulties in meeting people his own age, understanding his feelings, and nervousness. Buddy likes to keep his toy nearby.

Following their move to the capital from Scotland in last autumn, Buddy's mum, Tunde, started applying for schools. She explains she tried at least 11 schools, but many of them didn't get back to her, and those that did indicated they were at capacity or could not give Buddy extra support without an Education, Health and Care Plan.

At the start of this year, more than 638,000 plans had been granted to students in England, a 10.8% rise on the previous year and an substantial growth in six years.

This rise is in part because families and educators have got better at recognizing children who have special educational needs, especially autism, as rather than there being an increase with Send.

This marks the second time Buddy and Tunde have applied for an EHCP. Their first application was rejected before Buddy was assessed. Local authorities reject about a quarter of EHCP applications at the assessment stage, according to government data.

When they lived in Scotland, the mother notes they did not have to apply for the comparable of an Education, Health and Care Plan. Buddy's secondary school provided support for his academic needs, but not for his emotional needs.

Scotland has a different system for supporting pupils with Send; schools there strive to deliver more support without the requirement for families to seek the similar of an EHCP.

"It's chaotic," Tunde states. "[Getting extra support] was so easily done, and it could be simple to repeat."

Although Buddy is unable to attend classes, the local authority is providing him with nearly 20 hours of lessons per week in the local library.

The mother explains the process of applying for an plan has been so time consuming she had to stop working as a midwife and community nurse for a time.

"I can't manage my duties. I can't get him to these appointments, and work at the same time… I was unable to get my son seen in the right amount of time and attend to other people's babies in the right amount time. It became a difficult choice - and he prevailed," she says.

We catch up with the youth after a long speech and language assessment.

"Exhausting… that is the only word I have for you," he remarks as he leans against a fence, his toy tucked under his arm.

A School for Buddy

As autumn begins and as countless students start term, he is continuing to be educated in the library. 60 days after I initially encountered him, he's getting an Education, Health and Care Plan but his education is still not settled.

The local council agreed to Tunde's appeal that he go to an private institution that works with pupils who have difficulties in standard education.

Before he can begin there, the school has assumed responsibility for the sessions he receives in the library. But Tunde's now not sure the school will be able to provide what she believes her child requires to improve his interpersonal abilities and self-assurance with peers his own age.

"We were fully ready for September… and he's still without a school place, he's still having individual instruction," she stated.

"I think … getting ready to be with fellow students and then still just being one-to-one with instructors has really knocked him back and caused him to not want to attend school."

The local authority says it takes the family's worries very seriously and it will keep assist her household to ensure they receive the provision they require without further delay.

It says it knows how difficult it can be for families to navigate the process, and how upsetting delays in obtaining help can be.

It says it has invested in a dedicated support team, and currently guarantees children are evaluated by specialist teachers at the initial phase, and it is open to reviewing the circumstances when parents are worried about education placements.

Existing Framework is Broken

I am aware there is another side to this story.

The huge rise in the quantity of Education, Health and Care Plans is putting local authorities under intense financial pressure. It is estimated that UK local governments are set to accumulate a total accumulated Send deficit of £4.3bn and £4.9bn by spring 2026.

Ministers says it has invested a billion pounds to assist councils pay for EHCPs and additional funds on special educational needs placements.

I went to West Sussex County Council to speak with among the few officials in public service willing to discuss publicly about special needs financing.

Jacquie Russell is a Conservative councillor and cabinet member for children, young people and learning.

"The current system is actually very adversarial. Our parents are more and more exhausted and worried and fed up of battling… Employee absence rates are extremely elevated at the moment," she says.

"This system is ineffective. It has failed. It fails to provide the optimal results for children."

The need for EHCPs is now outstripping funding in West Sussex. In 2015, the authority had about 3,400 children with an EHCP. Today there are more than 10,000.

Consequently the Send deficit has been growing annually, so that at the end of 2025 it stands at over £123m.

"That [money] is primarily meant to be for local services. {That would have|