East Sussex parents in special needs school row

Parents of children with autism and other special educational needs claim they are being forced to keep them at home as there are no suitable schools.

They have accused East Sussex County Council of denying children access to "appropriate education".

Julie Forsyth said her eight-year-old daughter has been kept at home for 18 months because the council's chosen school had not assessed her needs.

The county council said it was working with parents to find the right schools.

Nathan Caine, head of special educational needs services, said: "In the majority of cases we are finding a suitable local alternative and what some parents are doing is choosing to keep their child out of school because they believe there's a better different option."

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Ms Forsyth said she took her daughter Amber out of mainstream school because of a lack of support staff, adding this resulted in her child being left alone and hurting herself.

"The school that they [the council] ruled she should go to had never met Amber, they have never assessed her needs," she said.

She said her daughter, who she is home-educating, suffered from separation anxiety issues as "the only person in her world is me".

The controversial campaign was labelled "offensive" by parents

Earlier this month the council launched a campaign clamping down on school absences, telling parents whose children had missed three days in one term to "Get a Grip".

Parent Jo Nye has a 14-year-old son with autism who has not been to school for three years after he was bullied at a mainstream school.

Ms Nye said the authority had failed to offer a suitable alternative, but "if they're so worried about three days being missed at school what's the impact of months and years?".

East Sussex Council has insisted it does have enough facilities.

Mr Caine said: "I think what we're doing is absolutely congruent with our campaign in saying that all children should be going to a school."