Education system is failing my funny, clever son

MUM'S DESPAIR OVER SEND SUPPORT

- By ELLIOIT JESSETT

WHEN Kerry Garner talks about her son's education, the emotion in her voice is raw, a blend of exhaustion, disbelief, and helpless frustration: “Luke is coming up to 16 in November and he’s only had a few months of proper schooling since he started Year 7. Four or five months in early five years”.

Luke has ADHD and dyslexia, conditions diagnosed when he was still in primary school, but despite years of trying to get him support - letters, meetings, appeals, and assessments - Kerry says the system has failed her son: “I thought getting the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) would be the solution, but that just started a set of new problems”.

Luke's difficulties became apparent in primary school and by Year 5, his behaviour was deteriorating - not out of defiance, his mother insists, but frustration.

“He used to come home and punch holes in the walls,’ Kerry recalls. “He was desperate because he was struggling with his reading and writing, and no one was helping him”

When a teacher at his primary school noticed the signs of dyslexia, Kerry said her son's reaction was instant: “He came out of school that day, ran up to me, and hugged me. He said, ‘someone's listening, Mum. I'm gonna get help’