MUM fears her son will join the growing numbers of children who are dropping out of school because of a lack of special educational needs support.

The mother is concerned that she will have to home school her 10-year-old boy, who has Asperger’s.

She said her son has a poor attendance rate at school because he becomes overwhelmed by the environment.

The mum, from Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, said: “His school raised concerns about his attendance [in January] and asked us ‘can you not just bring him in’.

“We said we feel he’s close to a breakdown. He can wake up in this mode of panic or he can go through the day and by the end he comes home and has to let it all out.

“The school was saying ‘if he isn’t coming to school and you are concerned he will have a breakdown then you need to stop sending him to school’.

“I think ‘off-rolling’ is looking to remove responsibility for that individual child and that’s what they are doing.

“The number of local children with special educational needs that are dropping out of school has risen recently.

“On Facebook groups I’m in there’s a constant stream of parents saying ‘I’ve got no choice, I’m going to have to take them out of school’.”

The mother, who did not want to be named, claims a GP told her that her boy did not qualify for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) because he had not attempted to kill himself.

Another Worcestershire mother, Louise Hunt, aged 42, took her autistic son, Noah, out of his school due to a lack of support.

She said: “He has been out of school for over 12 months as his school cannot meet his needs. He is not receiving any alternative education, despite the local authority being legally obliged to do so.

“Parents, like me, are forced to give up work, to care for their children when there are no appropriate alternatives, in turn creating further pressures for the family.”

Mrs Hunt emphasised that she is caring for her son and not home educating him.

Worcestershire County Council said 163 of the 712 children that are home educated in the county have special educational needs.

Councillor Marcus Hart, cabinet member for education and skills, said: "We're committed to ensuring all children across the county have access to a good quality education which meets their individual needs and circumstances.

“We, as the local authority have a duty under to identify children who are residing in its area who may not be in receipt of a suitable education.

“It is important that we continue to thoroughly explore all reasons why children transfer from mainstream schools into home-schooling, or between schools and incorporate these into our actions going forward." 

A Channel 4 documentary on Monday revealed a spike in the number of kids dropping out of mainstream schools.