Latest News for Parents & Carers

Great British Bake Off finalist Sandro Farmhouse has become a Celebrity Ambassador for the National Autistic Society, the UK’s leading charity for people on the autism spectrum and their families. TV star and baker Sandro Farmhouse, who makes autism-friendly recipes, will help to amplify the charity’s work to transform lives, change attitudes and create a society that works for autistic people.

Services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England are to be “transformed”, with the introduction of new national standards and thousands more specialist school places, ministers have announced. The long-awaited changes are being introduced to end the postcode lottery that families currently face and ensure that children and young people with Send get “high-quality, early support” wherever they live, the government says.

The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, has described her family’s battle to get the right support for her nephew, who has Down’s syndrome, as the government prepares to publish its improvement plan for special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove delivered a speech at a think tank where he suggested that parents should face child benefit cuts if they fail to ensure their children turn up at school. He first proposed this idea as education secretary in 2014, believing it would “tackle anti-social behaviour”.

A nine-year-old boy has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to tell him his parents feel ‘failed and forgotten’ as he pleaded for better support for disabled children and their families. Nate Courtney, who is autistic, told the PM he feels ‘sad’ due to his parents having to ‘fight for everything’ for him and his disabled sister.