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Written evidence from Parental Submission 118.

 

  1. I have just watched the BBC news this morning.

 

  1. As well as working for a dyslexia specialist who happens to be my wife, we also have a 16 year old who is about to finish his GCSE’s.

 

  1. Rather than writing an essay I think it is better if I bullet point my thoughts:

 

    1. When our son was at primary school he experienced some real challenges, which I think were partly due to a very specific education need not been met (Dysgraphia).

 

    1. He was very unhappy and a few years later I found out he had tried to strangle himself to death.  Fortunately, he is now doing very well. 

 

    1. I am in position where I proof read many reports.  I find some of these quite upsetting, because I can see how some children have been let down for years and this has had a significant impact on their mental health.

 

    1. There is big difference with what some schools provide for SEND compared to others.

 

    1. Secondary schools generally seem to be better.  The local colleges, [college name 1], and [college name 2] are excellent in what they provide.  Generally primary schools don’t seem to be well funded enough to provide support for SEND, this leads to some children being expelled and can have a significant impact on their mental health.

 

    1. The younger a child’s SEND can be identified and supported the better.

 

    1. There are many highly intelligent and gifted people who have SEND.  Einstein, Alan Turing, Agatha Christie, Thomas Edison all did quite well eventually.

 

    1. There is a high proportion of the prison population who have SEND.

 

    1. The unmet need has a significant effect on mental health and can lead to people taking their own life.

 

  1. Apparently Mental Health costs the country £100 Billion every year, therefore an extra funding of £10 Billion each year to address this problem, which could save a lot of money in the long term, is not unreasonable.

 

June 2018