In this week's episode of The Autism Mums Podcast we wanted to share with you our experiences of attending the fight for Ordinary Send Rally at Parliament Square Gardens in London last Monday, the 15th September.
Community Support: The rally highlighted the importance of community and connection among parents and advocates in the SEND space, fostering a sense of solidarity.
The Importance of Advocacy: Attending the rally underscored the need for collective advocacy to bring attention to the challenges faced by SEND families.
Emotional Experiences: Both hosts shared their feelings of anxiety and excitement about attending the rally, illustrating the complexity of leaving their children to advocate for change.
Speaker Impact: Key speakers at the rally, including politicians and advocates, provided hope and insight into the ongoing struggles and needs within the SEND system.
Parliamentary Debate: Following the rally, a significant parliamentary debate took place, emphasising the urgency of addressing SEND issues and the need for accountability in the system.
Recommendations for Change: The episode detailed recommendations made by MPs to improve SEND accountability, including strengthening the SEND Tribunal and ensuring compliance with existing laws.
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Victoria
Bennion: [00:00:00] Welcome
back to the Autism Mums podcast. Today we wanted to share with you
our experiences of attending the fight for Ordinary Send Rally at
Parliament Square Gardens in London last Monday, the 15th. It was so
amazing to come together with the rest of the community but we just
wanted to jump on quickly and do a short episode about it to let
those of you know who couldn't be there, what went down.
Natalie
Tealdi: It was so good to be there. We know many others
wanted to come but couldn't. It isn't easy to coordinate, but somehow
the stars aligned for us to attend. Please know that we took you all
there with us in spirit.
Victoria
Bennion: I felt really lucky that we could be there. I
don't know about you, Nat, but it wouldn't always be possible. And I
know for so many parents and carers who wanted to be there, but they
couldn't. Ironically, because some of them have got their children
out of school, they're driving miles to get their children into
school.
You know, it's specialist
provision. So. [00:01:00] Yeah, I think
we were really lucky that we had the opportunity to be there in the
first place.
Natalie
Tealdi: It was a strange day for me because it's the first
time I've left both of my children for the whole day. It felt very
weird just packing a bag for myself and no one else. It was nice to
not have to feel like a pack horse for once. I did have some anxiety
about how they would be without me, but I felt it was so important
for us to be there, so I just had to focus on...
