Elmswell mum told by Suffolk County Council there are no school places for her son at Riverwalk and The Nest in Bury St Edmunds

A mum who fears her four-year-old son will not be able to start at a special school in September said the struggle to get him a place has left her anxious and taking antidepressants.

Toby Edwards, of Elmswell, near Bury St Edmunds, was diagnosed with autism at two years and seven months old and is awaiting a diagnosis for avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).

“ARFID is scary because Toby fears new foods and would starve himself until he got what he wanted,” said his mum Abbie Myers.

The 28-year-old, who gave an insight into Toby’s daily life on Instagram, said her son was a happy, chatty boy who enjoyed his time at preschool in the village, where he receives one-on-one support.

“Toby doesn’t stop and he likes things done in a set way – if something isn’t right we get a meltdown,” said Abbie.

Having previously worked as a childcare practitioner for six years, she spotted signs Toby might have autism when he was just six months old.

Toby was meeting milestones later than other children of the same age and started flapping and making humming sounds.

These are both known as stimming behaviours, which can often be a symptom of autism.

In May 2023, Abbie and Toby’s preschool started a process to get an education, health and care plan (EHCP) for her son.

When she received Toby’s EHCP nine months later, it specified he would need a specialist educational placement.

Abbie then applied for a school place for Toby at special schools in Bury St Edmunds: Riverwalk and The Nest SEND unit at St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School.

She said: “I chose two schools which I visited, they said they could meet Toby’s needs, however sadly both schools have no spaces.

“The local authority knows that Toby needs specialist education but cannot place him in either of the schools, which I can’t wrap my head around.”

“Toby also requires transport and I would not want him travelling up to 45 minutes each way, especially when the school I wanted was only 20 minutes away.

“It truly makes my anxiety sky high just thinking about it.”

Abbie will take Suffolk County Council to appeal at a tribunal hearing in June.

“I now take antidepressants because of the stress and anxiety,” said Abbie.

“It’s just not fair, there’s not enough SEND schools that’s the problem.”

Abbie said it is ‘really hard to feel positive’ about the outcome of the appeal and Toby having a school place from September.

“This has all had an impact on my mental health and quite frankly it has made me feel ill.

“The local authority does not understand what us as SEN parents have to go through to fight for what’s right for our children.

“Toby and many other children are constantly failed and it is not fair, something needs to change.”

In January, Suffolk County Council apologised following a damning SEND inspection and pledged to take urgent action to strengthen and accelerate improvement plans.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “We’ve invested more than £55 million to create more than 1,000 additional places in specialist and mainstream schools.

”Around 700 of these places are now open – and we continue to open those extra places with pace.”