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For a long time, I've been desperate to produce a film focusing on special educational needs and disabilities.

Perhaps you recognize me from Linda Carter, but I am equally a mother to an autistic son who also has dyslexic traits and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Required months of determination and effort from my husband and I to secure the right education for him. At times, it felt like a struggle.

That is why I decided to create this documentary, so I could meet other families experiencing the similar situation, and speak to educators, councils, and the government about how Send children are educated in the UK.

The Scope of Send in the UK

There are over 1.7 million young people in the country with Send. It is a broad category, including those on the autism spectrum and individuals who struggle with speech and language, have attention disorders, and physical disabilities, along with other needs.

Schools in the UK already provide assistance to these pupils, but if families believe their son or daughter needs extra help, they can make an application to their council for an EHCP.

An Education, Health and Care Plan is a vital document because it is legally binding, states where a pupil should attend, and details how much extra support they should get.

We devoted countless hours completing the application forms to apply for an EHCP, and many families describe the process very frustrating.

A Mother and Son's Journey

Shortly after I meet teenage the young man, he shows me his favourite cuddly toy, Reindeer Dog.

He is on the autism spectrum, meaning his brain processes and reacts to the environment in a different way from others. He faces difficulties in socializing his own age, understanding his feelings, and nervousness. Buddy prefers to keep Reindeer Dog close to him.

After moving to London from north of the border in last autumn, his mother, the parent, started applying for educational placements. She explains she contacted at least 11 schools, but many of them failed to respond, and those that did said they were at capacity or could not give Buddy the necessary help without an Education, Health and Care Plan.

At the start of this year, over 638,000 plans had been granted to children and young people in England, a significant increase on the previous year and an substantial growth in six years.

This rise is in part because families and educators have become more skilled at recognizing pupils who have Send, particularly autism spectrum disorder, as opposed to there being an increase with special needs.

This marks the repeat the family have sought an plan. Their first application was rejected before he was evaluated. Local authorities decline about a 25% of EHCP applications at the assessment stage, according to government data.

When they lived in the Scottish system, the mother says they were not required to apply for the equivalent of an EHCP. Buddy's secondary school provided support for his academic needs, although not for his emotional needs.

Scotland has a alternative approach for supporting children with Send; educational institutions strive to deliver more support without the need for families to apply for the similar of an EHCP.

"It's a madness," Tunde states. "[Securing help] was straightforward, and it could be simple to repeat."

While the teenager is unable to go to school, the local authority is offering him with 19 hours of lessons per week in the community library.

Tunde tells me the procedure of seeking an EHCP has been so demanding she had to pause her career as a birth attendant and community nurse for a period.

"I am unable to do the parenting. I cannot take him to these appointments, and work at the same time… I couldn't secure appointments for my child in the appropriate timeframe and see other people's babies in the right amount time. And it was a toss up - and he prevailed," she comments.

We catch up with the youth after a lengthy communication assessment.

"Draining… that's all I've got for you," he says as he leans against a fence, his toy tucked under his arm.

Finding a Place for the Teenager

It's September and as millions students begin classes, Buddy is still be taught in the library. 60 days after I first met him, he's receiving an Education, Health and Care Plan but his schooling is still not settled.

The council approved the mother's appeal that he go to an private institution that works with children who have difficulties in standard education.

Prior to Buddy can begin there, the institution has assumed responsibility for the lessons he receives in the library. But the parent's now not sure the school will be able to deliver what she believes her son requires to enhance his social skills and self-assurance with children his own age.

"We had been fully ready for the start of term… and he's still without a school place, he's still having individual lessons," she said.

"I think … preparing to be with other kids and then still just being solo with adults has set him back and caused him to be reluctant to go to school."

Southwark Council says it views the family's worries with utmost importance and it will continue to assist her family to ensure they receive the provision they require without further delay.

It says it knows how hard it can be for parents to navigate the process, and how upsetting holdups in obtaining help can be.

The council adds it has invested in a specialist support service, and now ensures children are assessed by specialist teachers at the earliest stage, and it is open to reviewing the situation when families are concerned about education placements.

The Current System is Failing

I am aware there is a different perspective to this issue.

The huge rise in the number of Education, Health and Care Plans is putting local authorities under severe financial pressure. According to projections that English councils are set to run up a total accumulated Send deficit between £4.3bn and £4.9bn by spring 2026.

The government says it has invested a billion pounds to assist authorities pay for plans and further investment on special educational needs placements.

I went to a local authority to interview one of few officials in public service prepared to talk to me publicly about special needs financing.

Jacquie Russell is a elected representative and cabinet member for education and youth.

"The current system is actually highly confrontational. Our parents are increasingly exhausted and worried and frustrated of battling… Employee absence rates are extremely elevated at the moment," she says.

"The current system is ineffective. It has failed. It's not delivering the best outcomes for students."

The need for plans is now exceeding funding in West Sussex. In 2015, the authority had about 3,400 children with an Education, Health and Care Plan. Now there are over 10,000.

As a result the Send deficit has been increasing year-on-year, so that at the end of 2025 it reaches more than £123m.

"These funds is really essentially intended for community resources. {That would have|