Fay Watson’s eight-year-old son Charlie has not had a suitable school place since October and has missed out on his education for most of the past year.
Charlie previously attended a special unit within a mainstream school, but the placement was not sufficient to meet his requirements.
“He does want to go to a school, he does want to feel like he belongs somewhere, ” Ms Watson told the BBC’s Nolan Show.
“But he does have some trauma from the experience not working out for him.”
She added: “He needs somewhere very nurturing for his needs and it is going to take a lot of time to reintegrate him, especially given how long we’ve waited this year.
“The longer he’s out of school, the harder it’s going to be to reintegrate him into a new placement.”
Faye tried to get emergency tuition for her son since he left school but said her request was rejected “because he has nowhere to go, so that’s kind of ironic”.
She said special units within mainstream schools are “very good environments” for many SEN children, but not all pupils can be accommodated.
“They definitely need a lot of resourcing to help them. They need OT (occupational therapy) equipment, they need access to OTs (occupational therapists), to speech therapists.
“There are quite complex children who are now going into these unit environments.”
Charlie is now waiting on a special school place for September but his mother said it has been difficult and stressful.