Have you noticed many schools are trying to assign labels to pupils who may not necessarily need them - why is there a huge increase in SEN statements and the sheer number of pupils being diagnosed ?

[yummymu]

how does it benefit the school to pigeon hole and label children so avidly and relentlessly ? Are they being funded ? What is their motivation for doing so ? Is it in the best interests of pupils ? What about pupils who have a quirk about them ? Do they qualify ? How do we quantify an autism assessment ? Is this just complete nonsense and all children are different ?

I get that you are frustrated with the situation you describe but I must say your school is a real outlier if it is managing to access vast amounts of money for SEN.

No it does not benefit the school - they used to be paid for extra help needed for things like dyslexia which they now don't so it effectively costs the school to have diagnosis.

I think it will be found that microplastics in all of our food and water cause it. Probably a higher % in those that have ready made baby food and formula. Also is already known the smaller babies who need NICU are more likely to have SEN, so is likely a knock on effect of more surviving pre-term birth.

because they recognise the signs

How? Please quote a reputable source for your assertion! Who in a mainstream school is qualified to diagnose SEN?

Ask the school for their evidence, DC has SEN? Tell them you want to see the assessments they have done on him, reports of incidents of behaviour problems, and intervention, they have put in place so far.

If they refuse, put in a subject access request on DC going back 6 years, or the date he started there - whichever is sooner?

Do tell?!

Another school bashing thread. Now we are to blame for SEN, we will add it to the list!

Not read the entire thread but I have three kids with a ehcp because of a genetic condition that the nhs didn't test for until I was pregnant with my third.

Two I had to appeal for two of the ehcps which takes years to do myself. I had no choice as the senco and head was dragging my child into school by the wrist daily. How who you like be dragged into work crying every day aged 5?

School gets no extra funding and both schools actively objected to them.

The only child who got the ehcp from the state couldn't talk aged 7. Would you like him unsupported in your kids class?

My daughter had no TA in her class at all but two kids with ehcps in a class of 30 with one teacher. Fancy her in your kids class?

Her now granted very meager £500 a term got a TA in the classroom. How much do you think a TA earns? Hint - It's not under £100 a week.

Where is this funding? My children's funding is pitiful. I feel sorry the school. In our case we have a genetic mutation. Not sure if that's definitive enough for you OP? I think most parents would be alarmed if their child couldn't talk by 7 buy maybe I'm over fretting. They all talk eventually right?

@yummymu
my son is in year 7 and has no issues at all

school is threatening us with neglect and saying we are obstructing the help they wish to provide for a pupil with sen

What sen are they saying your son may have and what evidence do they have of this?
School cannot diagnose sen, and your views on your child's need would be taken into account with any referral to outside professionals (who would need to be involved in order for there to be any diagnoses made)
How are school threatening you with neglect... this seems like an unusual approach for a school to take, if they have serious concerns about neglect.

How passive aggressive can you get lol - read your response - would you say that to someone’s face ? I thought not.

schools don’t diagnose SEN and don't receive liberal amounts funding to support the children that do receive formal diagnoses.

There nothing wrong with this response. It's based on the posters personal experience. Your reply is very goady as is your post. Are you okay because you seem like your picking an unnecessary fight?

@yummymu you are showing yourself up massively. I would back away now.

Schools can't diagnose anything

But

They have been totally underfunded for well over a decade and they can't pay for support staff unless they are funded via a child's EHCP (the document that replaced statements in 2014)

Out of 242 kids in my daughters year group there are only 5 that have an EHCP

a quirk would not get you past the threshold

it took 8 long gruelling years to get the EHCP

the school thought she may also be dyslexic but could not afford the test £500 and it wasn’t worth getting the “ label” we could not afford it so she does not have that official diagnosis

we are also not nothing to pursue a autism diagnosis as we are utterly crushed and exhausted by the sen process and can’t take any more

teachers are not pushing for diagnosis and are not the ones that diagnose

yesterday I sat through a review meeting and it was 3 hours long

op you sound very very ignorant of the whole process and disrespectful of the horrendous process parents and kids go through

Eh? Why wouldn't I ask you to your face if you'd like a non verbal 7 year old in your kids class with no TA and no funding? Belive me I wouldn't in my NT kids class.

My child has a genetic condition. I'd also ask anyone to their face why they don't belive in DNA. What part of my post don't you think I'd say to your face?

Another goady SEN bashing post. I hope you never have a stroke or car crash and find yourself on the other side of your own disgust.

You clearly have no experience of this. It is a massive fight to get schools to recognise SEN unless the child is literally non-verbal or unable to engage in mainstream school in some extreme way.

Schools deflect, deny and will do anything to avoid accepting an SEN.

Maybe it's time to let this thread die rather than bumping it with more of the same comments. The OP is not responding so presumably (hopefully) now realises they're wrong. If they posted it as a wind-up then they have had their fun.

Anecdotally in my experience it’s parents who push for a diagnosis not schools. Schools would only push for a diagnosis if it would impact their data or it would allow children get special consideration during exams (a scribe, movement breaks, extra time etc).

The money that comes with an echp is almost a moot point because it frequently doesn’t add up and as an ehcp is a legal document it leaves the school out of pocket. For example it may recommend that a child needs 15 hours of small group and 1:1 support a week but only allocate £7,000 to pay for it which obviously doesn’t cover the salary of a TA for 15 hours a week all year.

The huge uptick in send - particularly neurodiversity- is certainly something that needs to be looked into as there’s literally hundreds of theories as to what’s going on (screen time, microplastics in food, more older parents additives in food etc). In Romania I believe they’re looking a lot into the links between screen time and autism and request children have a period of screen free time before they get a diagnosis. In the US I think that MAHA guy started with good intentions of looking into it then detailed it with his autistic people will never pay taxes, never write a poem speech. Personally I believe we’re in the middle of a massive pendulum swing where we’re becoming more and more aware of how these things present themselves and I’m hoping the pendulum settles somewhere in between increased understanding (especially in how they present in girls which has been hugely missed for years) but without every personality quirk being written off as autism or adhd. I'm also wary of anybody who claims to have the answers here - as humans we're very early on our journey of understanding how neurodiversity works.

I think in my daughter’s case it was my refrigerator mothering and all the chicken nuggets she eats 👍

This article doesn’t suggest schools get a vast amount of funding for labelling children with SEN - quite the opposite:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/may/02/headteachers-england-wales-northern-ireland-send-schools-survey

NB - the comment about deficit funding!

Can they?
How much and where from?

People on this thread may be interested in this new BBC 5-part podcast about the rise in autism diagnosis: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002bszl

Schools don’t want you having a ehcp.
I spent 2 years fighting for one, with no support from the school.. all while they only allowed my child 1 hour a day of education. He spent the rest of the time at home.

they definitely were not giving any assistance to help us. Apparently instead he wasn’t entitled to a full time education because he has SEN