JK Send Education Advice

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JK Send Education Advice I am a local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) adviser.

I have worked in education and within local authorities for over 15 years, I have seen a need for guidance and help in finding the best educational solutions for every young person

19/10/2026

SEND Parents: You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup

I started going to the gym ten months ago, and I genuinely didn’t expect it to change how I show up as a SEND Education Advisor. I thought it was just exercise but it turns out it was sanity maintenance.

As a SEND parent your nervous system is almost constantly activated. You’re managing complexity, advocating, problem-solving, staying alert to your child’s needs. So your brain never fully switches off because there’s always something to think about.

Moving your body isn’t about fitness or weight. It’s about giving your nervous system permission to regulate and doing something for you, that has nothing to do with anyone else’s needs.

Self-care for SEND parents doesn’t mean spa days (though if you can access that, brilliant). It means whatever genuinely helps your nervous system settle. For some people it’s high intensity movement, for others it might be a stroll with friends.

If you’re a SEND parent reading this and thinking “I don’t have time for self-care” ... I hear you, but I also don’t think you have time for burnout, and that’s where we end up when don’t look after ourselves!

Your capacity to advocate, to support, to show up, depends on you actually being well enough physically and mentally!

# SENDAdvocate

October brings three awareness months that matter profoundly for SEND families, and their themes tell an important story...
13/10/2026

October brings three awareness months that matter profoundly for SEND families, and their themes tell an important story about what inclusion and support actually looks like.

ADHD Awareness Month’s theme “A Community of Support” is a reminder that ADHD young people shouldn’t navigate the world alone, apologising for how their brains work. Real community support means other families, accessible resources, workplaces willing to adapt, and most importantly, young people learning they’re part of a community.

Down Syndrome Awareness Month’s theme “Together Against Loneliness”, addresses something profound that often gets overlooked: the difference between being included in spaces and actually belonging. Real inclusion means genuine friendship, being actively welcomed, and having authentic relationships.

Dyslexia Awareness Month’s theme “Dyslexia in Real Life: At Work” is forward-looking, asking young people to imagine dyslexia beyond school. The question isn’t whether dyslexia matters in the workplace but whether workplaces are willing to make reasonable adjustments and whether dyslexic employees can access systems that work for them.

What these three themes share is a call to action for SEND families and educators. It’s not enough to accept neurodivergent children or to tolerate their differences. The call is deeper: to build genuine communities where neurodivergence isn’t accommodated reluctantly but welcomed authentically.

12/10/2026

Four weeks into the school year, and SEND parents often don’t know if their child is genuinely okay or if things are quietly falling apart. Schools rarely volunteer honest information, so parents are left guessing.

Here’s what I actually listen for when parents tell me their child is “fine”. Signs school is genuinely working:

• Your child talks about what they did at school (even if it’s scripted or repetitive - that’s still engagement)
• Transitions at home are manageable, not experiencing meltdowns every single day
• Teachers are communicating proactively, not just when there’s a crisis
• Your child is accessing the same curriculum as peers, even if its in a different way
• You feel genuinely informed about what’s happening, not kept in the dark

Signs that something isn’t working:

• Your child has completely shut down about school or refuses to go
• You’re hearing concerns from school for the first time at half-term review
• Adjustments you agreed on in summer haven’t been implemented
• Your child is coming home dysregulated, aggressive, or completely withdrawn
• Teachers are blaming your child’s SEND for everything that goes wrong
• You feel like you’re constantly fighting to get basic support

The gap between “your child is fine” and “your child is actually thriving” is massive. If you’re reading this and recognising red flags, it’s could be a sign that the school isn’t meeting your childs needs!

I offer a free discovery calls for parents who are noticing their SEND child struggling this term. During that call, we talk about what’s actually happening, what’s within your control to change, and what might need advocating for.

You don’t have to figure this out alone, and you don’t have to accept “fine” when your gut is telling you something’s wrong.

Ready to talk about what’s really happening at school? Link in bio for discovery call booking.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month - What SEND Young People Actually Need to Know About Work!Employment is w...
06/10/2026

National Disability Employment Awareness Month - What SEND Young People Actually Need to Know About Work!

Employment is where many SEND young people encounter their first real test of whether the world will actually accommodate them, or whether they’ll have to squeeze themselves into systems not designed for how they work. As a SEND Education Advisor, I’ve watched young people navigate early careers without understanding they have legal protections that can genuinely change their experience.

The four rights I’ve outlined above aren’t gifts or perks your employer is generously providing. They’re legal obligations, and your employer must make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. They must respond to your requests in writing and they cannot legally discriminate against you for disclosing disability. Government funding exists specifically to pay for support your employer might otherwise refuse to provide.

What concerns me is how many disabled young people accept poor working conditions because they don’t know they’re entitled to better. They assume that struggling means they’re not capable enough for work, when actually it means the workplace isn’t accommodating them properly.

The employment landscape for SEND young people shifts dramatically when they understand their rights and when parents help them navigate disclosure strategically rather than fearfully.

Before your SEND young person starts their first job, talk to them about these four things, and make sure they know about Access to Work, because that single resource can unlock support they might otherwise manage without.

05/10/2026

There are teachers, and then there are teachers who fundamentally change your child’s experience of school. The ones who see past diagnosis to understand who your child actually is, who recognise that reasonable adjustments aren’t special treatment but basic obligation, and who communicate with parents like genuine collaborators rather than problems to manage.

As a SEND Education Advisor, I’ve watched families transform when they encounter teachers like this. The difference is between children drowning silently in systems designed without them and children who finally feel genuinely understood.

These teachers do invisible labour that rarely gets acknowledged. They stay late preparing differentiated resources; they notice when something’s not working, then escalate immediately rather than hoping adjustment will magically happen, and they document your child’s progress honestly, celebrating wins and communicating genuine concerns.

What strikes me most is however, is how they treat the parents I work with. The teachers who also advocate for SEND children will recognise that parents have lived expertise about their child, instead of positioning themselves as the expert and families as the problem. They invite collaboration, genuinely listen to concerns, and follow the parent’s lead on what matters most. They celebrate neurodiversity as difference, not deficit, and they model that attitude for entire classrooms.

So World Teachers Day is for all teachers, but today I’m especially celebrating the ones advocating alongside SEND families, the ones who see potential where systems see problems, and the ones who understand that supporting SEND children well is actually the highest form of teaching.

Thank you for being the difference.

Most parents ask their SEND child “how was school today” and get one-word answers that reveal nothing about their actual...
02/10/2026

Most parents ask their SEND child “how was school today” and get one-word answers that reveal nothing about their actual experience. That’s not because your child doesn’t want to share, it’s because the question itself is overwhelming, requires synthesis of an entire day, and doesn’t give them a framework for answering.

Communication with neurodivergent young people requires different approaches, and understanding those approaches transforms how much you actually learn about their September experience.

What matters is meeting them where they feel safe, instead of insisting they communicate in neurotypical ways. This doesn’t mean accepting silence, but it does mean adjusting your approach so communication actually happens. Naming what you observe gives permission for feelings, offering specific options makes identification easier and asking them to notice their own patterns builds self-awareness.

September is a critical time for understanding how your child is actually managing transition:
• Are they genuinely settling, or are they masking and dysregulating at home?
• Are they anxious about specific aspects, or generally overwhelmed by change?
• Is their sleep disrupted, appetite affected, emotional regulation stretched?

These details matter, because they tell you whether the current support structure is actually working or whether you need to escalate and ask for adjustments.

The way you communicate now sets the foundation for how openly your child shares their experience throughout the year.

I’m pleased to share that another Tribunal case has been settled early, with the LA naming the parental preference and a...
01/10/2026

I’m pleased to share that another Tribunal case has been settled early, with the LA naming the parental preference and avoiding the need for a hearing. This is one of many Tribunal cases I’m currently supporting parents through, and it’s encouraging to see an LA take a sensible, child‑centred approach that also avoids unnecessary public expense. The hope is that other LAs will see the same sense and choose to do the right thing for children, young people, and their families.

01/10/2026

This year has been a season of grief. In April I lost a dear friend and this summer brought another wave; I lost three of my five pets, each one a companion and a source of unconditional love.

My grief doesn’t always look dramatic. It weaves itself into routines, into the car between appointments, into late-night moments when the world finally stops demanding something from me. As a carer for two elderly relatives, my grief has had to adapt and find space in a life where space is rarely available.

I know too well the fear of showing vulnerability. When you’re used to being the strong one, the advocate, the protector; it can feel unsafe to admit you’re hurting. So I’ve learned to hold my emotions quietly, but I am realising that grief doesn’t diminish my strength, it actually reveals my humanity.

What keeps me moving forward is a new connection with Faith, a horse that was a companion to mine one that passed. She is grieving too and as I navigate my loss, she navigates hers, and we’re doing it side by side.

Grooming her, standing with her, feeling her presence, these are the moments that help me reclaim emotional space. Faith doesn’t ask me to explain my grief, she simply stands with me, offering warmth and quiet companionship that asks nothing except honesty.

I carry the memory of my friend with tenderness. I carry the memory of my animals with truth. Their presence remains part of my story, woven into my strength, my compassion, and my capacity to love.

Being a carer and SEND parent can feel isolating, but it is also a place of extraordinary depth. We hold others up even when our heart is heavy, but we must remember that our grief is valid and deeply personal, so we mustn’t be too hard on ourselves!

22/09/2026

September doesn’t just restart school, it restarts everything at once. Various appointments resume, school coordination begins again with new staff who don’t know your child, multiple professionals need to communicate; and somehow you’re supposed to balance work, while constant school emails arrive about concerns.

The mental load is genuinely crushing, and most parents are just expected absorb it all at once!

The exhaustion comes partly from genuine complexity, but partly from believing everything is equally urgent. School emails don’t all require an immediate response, and every concern doesn’t demand your attention in that moment. Not every professional actually needs your detailed input simultaneously, yet you’re prioritising everything as crisis, which means nothing gets the attention it deserves.

Setting boundaries isn’t selfish, it’s survival:
• Decide which communications you’ll respond to same-day versus within a week.
• Identify which professionals truly need your input versus, which ones are just informing you.
• Choose what you’ll monitor closely versus what you can trust school to handle.
• Protect time for work, for rest, for your own mental health, because you cannot pour from an empty cup.

Practically, this looks like, designating 30 mins each day to check school emails, creating a single document where you compile all your child’s information, giving clear communication about your preferred contact method and response timeframe.

You’re doing extraordinary coordination work, and you deserve to protect yourself from burnout rather than running at full capacity until you break in October.

21/09/2026

Here is what each question achieves, when promised support isn’t actually happening:

“What specific adjustments have been implemented, and how are you measuring whether they’re working?”

You’re entitled to know exactly what adjustments have been made and the evidence that shows they’re having impact. Ask for examples, timescales, and measurement methods. Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must make reasonable adjustments, and those adjustments must be documented.

“When was the last review of my child’s provision, and what changed as a result?”

Reviews should show changes based on what’s working or not. If nothing has changed between reviews, or if reviews haven’t happened, that’s a breach of duty. Your child has a right to regular reviews of their support, and these should result in adjustments.

“Are staff trained in the strategies outlined in my child’s EHCP or support plan, and how do you ensure consistency?”

A brilliant provision means nothing if staff aren’t trained to deliver it. Ask directly whether teaching assistants have received training in the approaches your child needs, who provides that training, and how consistency is monitored.

“If current provision isn’t improving outcomes by [specific date], what’s the escalation process?”

This question establishes a clear timeline and shifts responsibility. Get their response in writing, because this becomes your evidence base if you need to escalate to the SEND tribunal.

If support still doesn’t happen, escalation options include formal complaints to your local authority, requesting an EHCP assessment/review, and then tribunal if EHCP provisions aren’t being delivered.

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