THE co-founder of an autism support group in County Durham has made an impassioned plea to get more cash for special schools for a national campaign.

In a video for School Cuts, Michelle Abbs shared her fight to get autistic son Charlie into a school which offers enhanced support to children with special educational needs.

The mother-of-three set up Ferryhill-based Little Treasures with Laura Younger to provide advice and support to children with autism and their families in the region.

But now the campaigner has turned her attention to raising the profile of the impact of the developmental disability in education on a national scale.

FUNDING: Michelle Abbs shares her story for the School Cuts campaign Video: SCHOOL CUTS

She said: “I feel people need to understand the real life struggles that parents go through just to get our children a basic education.

“It’s down to funding. That’s the top and bottom of it and all of these kids are getting failed because there’s not enough money to put into schools so they can meet the needs of the kids.”

In the video for School Cuts (schoolcuts.org.uk), which aims to end school cuts and ensure "no child loses out”, Mrs Abbs speaks of the difficulty in securing a place for nine-year-old Charlie in a school for children with autism.

She goes on to describe the turbulence caused by youngest child Charlie attending mainstream school.

“Before he was in his new school Charlie was struggling massively - daily meltdowns, violence and he wanted to kill himself,” added Mrs Abbs.

“It put a strain on mine and my husband’s relationship, put a strain on my family and put a strain on my son because I was forcing him to go somewhere I knew he couldn’t cope and he knew he couldn’t cope.”

It took Mrs Abbs 18 months to secure a place for Charlie at Wheatley Hill Primary School, which offers “enhanced mainstream provision”.

She blames the delay on a lack of special education needs provision in County Durham and a lack of support from Durham County Council (DCC), which initially rejected her request.

Following the process, which she describes as “a fight from start to finish”, the daily life of the Abbs family since April has been transformed.

“Now he’s in his new school I feel like I’ve got my old Charlie back,” she added. “He’s just like a completely different child it’s amazing.”

At the end of the video Mrs Abbs pleads to Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds MP, for “urgent funding” for children like Charlie, who has autism sensory processing disorder and Tourette’s syndrome.

She said: “We shouldn’t have to fight for our kids to get the right education, it should be there for them to receive.”

As well as calling for the government to provide more funds for the education of all children, she has also called on local authorities to listen to and support parents in the process of moving children into special education needs schools.

Paul Shadforth, SEND and inclusion strategic manager at DCC, said: “We have been working with Charlie’s mother over the last 18 months and ensuring he is educated in the environment most suitable for his needs has always been our priority.

“We always try to place children with a special educational need in mainstream schools where this is possible and where it is the best place to meet a child’s individual requirements."

He added: "Sometimes during assessments it is considered a child would make better progress if they attended a school with enhanced provision but the child is always at the heart of the decision making.”