Liza Turner says many children who have special education needs, like her four sons, are left behind
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Recent criticism of former education secretary Ruth Kelly for sending her son, who has special educational needs, to a private school prompted viewer Liza Turner to tell us her story.
As a mother from Liverpool with four sons, all of whom have special educational needs or disabilities, she says more work should be done to improve schools.
Our oldest son was out of school for a year before he got a place at a special school for autism. This was after attending three mainstream schools and having a psychotic breakdown at age nine.
The local authority told us our son was lucky; the waiting list for this school is so long that some children were unable to get in for years. Things finally changed for him, I only wish they did not have to become so desperate.
Now one of my other sons has missed three months of school since September 2006 because the mainstream one he attends doesn't understand or support his special education needs.
The truth is most schools are not up to scratch for most children, so how can they be good for kids with additional needs?
Different students need different priorities
It's about time this country remembered that not all good qualities can be measured by tests.
We should think more about humanity and compassion and less about academics. When you have children with disabilities, you soon realise the most important thing is for your children to be happy and feel good about themselves and less about the limitations and pre-judgements society puts on them.
So shouldn't we, as a society, make sure all children have a fair and good education, not just the ones without extra needs or whose parents can afford more?
That's why I campaign for the Special Needs Action Group. I make connections with MPs and try to get policies changed.
Bigger issues
We should look at the issue that's much bigger than Kelly's choice: why education is failing children with disability and special education needs.
For as long as I can remember, parents have been saying that their children need a whole lot more than they are being given at the schools they are attending. Our story is just one of many; it has happened to loads of people.
In an ideal world, we parents would all have the money to pay for a better education.
In an even better one, a great and fair education would be the right of all children, regardless of their parents' income.
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