A struggle to get the right support for children with special educational needs “nearly killed me” a Wokingham mother has said ahead of a protest this week.

Lisa-Marie Reid fought for two years to get her daughter into the residential school her care plan said she needed. But a shortage of places meant her family “crumbled apart.”

“The process I had to go through to get both my children in the right provision they need to be in – it nearly killed me,” she said.

Ms Reid’s eldest daughter, 11, needs round the clock care and education at a residential school.

But for two years Wokingham Borough Council could only place her in a special educational needs school without residential care – meaning Ms Reid and her husband had to quit their jobs to look after her.

She said: “For two years I have been putting my heart and soul into trying to keep her alive. She has severely self-harmed, she’s autistic, she’s non-verbal. She’s very physically violent.

“She needed to move into a residential provision. I was having carers come to my house to help me every day. Me and my husband had to give up work.”

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On top of that, Ms Reid also struggled to get a place for her younger daughter, age four, into a special educational needs school. She started at one in September, Ms Reid says, but only “after a huge battle".

Like many councils, Wokingham Borough has seen an increase in the number of children with special educational needs.

The council said this has contributed to delays for many parents in getting education, health and care plans – legal documents that spell out what a council must do to make sure the children get the right support.

Once they’ve finally got their plan, many parents then also face a new battle as councils lack the spaces and resources to meet the childrens’ needs. Ms Reid said that – despite her struggle – she was lucky because spaces had eventually opened up for both her children.

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Wokingham Borough Council said it is investing in new special educational needs services and schools using government grant money. But Ms Reid said the delays mean that many parents have “lost trust” in their local councils.

“They just ignore you and hope you go away. That’s absolutely heartbreaking. It can bring you to tears.”

Now Ms Reid has joined a campaign group SEND Reform England, which campaigns for funding and changes.

The group already held a national protest in London in June – and plans to hold a regional protest in Oxford on Friday, October 13, in Bonn Square.

“We’ve just had enough,” Ms Reid said. “One of us standing alone isn’t enough. We need the parents standing together.”