When Sunita moved to be close to her family, Rajan’s statement was amended to name his new school – one for children with severe learning difficulties. In this school, Rajan was the only autistic, mobile child. “Within a week I knew my son was in the wrong place. It lacked the focus and attention on autism that I knew was best for him. ” When Rajan had been a pupil at the school for a year, Sunita appealed against his statement. Her first choice of school for Rajan was a specialist school for autistic children aged four to 19. With IPSEA’s support, she won a place for Rajan at the specialist school. Rajan has been there since September 2008 and is doing “fantastically”. “The staff communicate with me and they are already potty-training him. I didn’t know that I have rights as a parent and that there is legislation out there to protect us. I can’t do justice to IPSEA with the words ‘thank you’. My little boy’s life is dramatically better.”IPSEA volunteers advise parents who are seeking to secure the special education that their child needs and deserves. Every week our telephone helplines receive hundreds of calls that we cannot answer. Please help us to recruit and train more volunteers so that we can help more children with special educational needs / disability fulfill their educational potential. One in five pupils leaves primary school without achieving the basics of reading and writing. Among these primary pupils, 59% have special educational needs. The statistics are stark. 20% of all school pupils have a special educational need (SEN). 18% have a disability. Given the right support, most of them do well at school. They obtain qualifications and later, employment. However, for those whose special needs are not met, the implications are bleak. Without the right support, children with SEN are much more likely to give up on learning. They are far more likely to be forced out of school. They are also more likely to end up in a young offenders institute. IPSEA helps parents prevent this from happening. A donation of £2,500 will allow us to recruit and train a new volunteer to advise parents. Our volunteers complete 10 self study modules, a 2 day training course and a period of casework mentoring before they are qualified to support families. Thier advice is monitored by experts and they are supported by a legal support team. As Rajan's case shows, IPSEA's advice can change young lives. Please help us change more.