EastEnders' Kellie Bright on the challenges of being parent of an autistic child

I've been desperate to make a documentary about special educational needs and disabilities (Send) for ages.

You might know me as EastEnders' Linda Carter but I'm also a mum to my autistic son. He's also dyslexic and has ADHD.

It took months of perseverance and hard work from my husband and I to try to get the right education for him. At times, it felt like a battle.

That is why I wanted to make this film for Panorama, so I could meet other families who were going through the same thing, and speak to teachers, councils and the government about how Send children are educated in England.

There are more than 1.7 million children in England with Send. It is a broad group, including autistic children and people who struggle with speech and language, have ADHD and physical disabilities, among other conditions.

Schools in England already provide some support to these students but if parents think their child needs extra help they can make an application to their council for what's called an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

An EHCP is a crucial document because it is legally binding, states where a child should go to school and outlines how much extra support they should get.

My husband and I spent hours filling in the forms to request an EHCP and many families find the process very frustrating.

Buddy and Tunde

Not long after I meet 15-year-old Buddy, he shows me his favourite cuddly toy, Reindeer Dog.

Buddy's autistic, meaning his brain experiences and reacts to the world in a different way from many people's. He struggles with meeting people his own age, understanding his emotions and anxiety. Buddy likes to keep Reindeer Dog close to him.

After moving to London from Scotland in October 2024, Buddy's mum, Tunde, started applying for schools. She says she tried at least 11 schools but many of them didn't get back to her, and those that did said they were full or could not give Buddy extra support without an EHCP.

At the start of this year more than 638,000 EHCPs had been issued to children and young people in England, a 10.8% rise on the year before and an 80% increase in six years.

The increase is partly because parents and schools have got better at identifying children who have special educational needs, especially autism, as opposed to there being more children with Send.

It is the second time Buddy and Tunde have applied for an EHCP. Their first application was turned down before Buddy was assessed. Councils reject about a quarter of EHCP applications at the assessment stage, according to the Department for Education.

When they lived in Scotland, Tunde says they did not have to apply for the equivalent of an EHCP. Buddy's comprehensive school arranged support for his learning, although not for his emotional needs.

Scotland has a different system for helping children with Send; schools there aim to deliver more support without the need for parents to apply for the equivalent of an EHCP.

"It's a madness," Tunde says. "[Getting extra support] was so easily done, and it could be easily done again."

While Buddy is not able to go to school, the council is providing him with 19 hours of lessons per week in the local library.

Tunde tells me the process of applying for an EHCP has been so time consuming she had to stop working as a midwife and health visitor for a time.

"I can't do the parenting. I can't get him to these appointments, and work at the same time… I couldn't get my son seen in the right amount of time and see other people's babies in the right amount time. And it was a toss up - and my son won," she says.

We catch up with Buddy after a lengthy speech and language assessment.

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

Buddy often takes Reindeer Dog to give him comfort

A school for Buddy

It's September and as millions of children start term, Buddy is still being taught in the library. Two months after I first met him, he's getting an EHCP but his education is still not settled.

The council agreed to Tunde's request that he go to an independently run school that works with children who struggle in mainstream schools.

Before Buddy can start there, the school has already taken over the lessons he receives in the library. But Tunde's now not sure the school will be able to deliver what she believes her son needs to improve his social skills and confidence with children his own age.

"We were all prepared for September… and he's still not at school, he's still having one-to-one," she said.

"I think … preparing to be around other kids and then still just being one-to-one with adults has really knocked him back and made him not want to go to school."

Southwark Council says it takes Tunde's concerns very seriously and it will continue to support her family to ensure they receive the provision they need without further delay.

It says it knows how hard it can be for families to navigate the system, and how distressing delays in securing support can be.

It says it has invested in a specialist information and advice team, and now ensures children are assessed by specialist teachers at the earliest stage, and it is open to reviewing the situation when parents are concerned about education placements.

'The current system is broken'

I know there is another side to this story.

The huge rise in the number of EHCPs is putting councils under severe financial pressure. It is estimated by the Department for Education that English councils are set to run up a total accumulated Send deficit between £4.3bn and £4.9bn by March 2026.

The government says it has invested a billion pounds to help councils pay for EHCPs and £740m on new Send school places.

I went to West Sussex County Council to interview one of few people in local government prepared to talk to me on the record about Send funding.

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 increasingly tired and anxious and fed up of fighting… Staff sickness levels are really, really high at the moment," she says.

"The current system doesn't work. It is broken. It's not delivering the best outcomes for children."

Jacquie Russell says the current Send system is putting unsustainable pressure on councils

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

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

"That [money] is really essentially meant to be for local services. That would have ordinarily gone to repair your roads… and other local services," she says.

"The current position is not sustainable."

The government agrees. It is planning major reforms of the Send system, though final plans have not yet been agreed.

The minister for school standards, Georgia Gould, told me the upcoming reforms were "not taking support away from families".

"We're wanting to put more support in earlier," she said. "Where people have fought for support, and that's in place, we want to make sure that that support continues."

She also told me she wanted to work with parents to get the reforms right and to get support at the "earliest possible point rather than having to battle". The minister added that parents would still have a "legal basis" to get support.

Worried parents held a rally in Westminster last month as the government mulls over reforms to the system

For me, and thousands of other parents of Send children, applying for an EHCP feels like a battle about your child's future. Who does not want the best possible education for their son or daughter?

But for every parent fighting, there is a council counting the cost.

All eyes are now on the government to see if its reforms can relieve the pressure on so many families.