A young mum being forced to homeschool her autistic son isn’t just a sad little human‑interest story — it’s part of a national SEND crisis where councils are routinely failing to provide legally‑required specialist placements. The case of Sharanjeet Rodrigues and her son Xavier in Leicester is a textbook example.
A mum is being forced to turn her living room into a makeshift classroom because the council won’t give her autistic son the specialist school place he legally needs.
Xavier, who has AuDHD, experiences such severe emotionally based school avoidance that even imagining himself in a classroom triggers physical pain and overwhelming distress.
Sharanjeet says that every Sunday night, when the thought of school creeps back in, Xavier becomes so anxious he stays awake all night, spirals into severe dysregulation, and feels genuine physical pain because he cannot face the classroom.
Sharanjeet, who has no teaching experience, has been forced to homeschool Xavier because council delays and red tape have blocked him from enrolling him in the specialist school that’s equipped to meet his needs.
Her ordeal is part of a growing national crisis, with charities warning that vulnerable SEND children across the UK are being pushed out of education altogether.
Children who need extra support are assessed for an Education, Health and Care Plan — a legally binding document detailing the provision they require — but Menphys chief executive Robert Martin warns that councils are routinely failing to deliver on those obligations.
Menphys CEO Robert Martin says families are repeatedly forced to battle for appropriate provision, and that too many children whose needs cannot be met in mainstream classrooms are still being denied the specialist support they rely on.
After finding a specialist school perfectly suited to children with cognitive, learning and social needs, Sharanjeet submitted medical evidence of Xavier’s EBSA, private OT reports, educational psychology assessments, and statements from his teachers confirming that his current school cannot meet his needs.
Sharanjeet says she submitted everything to the council, only to be met with cancelled meetings, staff‑shortage excuses and complete silence — leaving her feeling ignored, dismissed and utterly ghosted.
After involving their MP, the council finally issued an amended EHCP in May — but Sharanjeet says crucial evidence had been removed from the document.
She says the council left out the doctor’s note and teacher statements when presenting his case to the panel, and unsurprisingly the panel then named a mainstream school that Xavier is simply unable to attend.
This isn’t a new problem — families have been battling these failures in the SEND system for a very, very long time.
And underneath all of it — the delays, the denials, the panels, the ghosting — sits the same ugly truth: it always comes down to money.
If she’s found a suitable specialist school and the council is blocking it purely on cost grounds, that’s unlawful — she needs a SEND solicitor, because specialists can get results quickly even though it’s expensive, and frankly I wish her every success; the SEND system is failing children across the UK, and Leicestershire County Council in particular desperately needs a full investigation into why so many families are being let down.
There are thousands of families in the same position, and she’s far from alone; many people argue that when past governments closed large numbers of specialist schools in the name of inclusion, it created the shortage we’re now living with, leaving today’s councils unable to provide places for the children who desperately need them — a situation that clearly demands serious investigation.
This is exactly how so many disabled people and their parents or carers end up being treated — with outright contempt — by local councils and authorities across the country.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 