Spina bifida and SEN support

Practical support for families and education providers to understand Angelman syndrome, identify appropriate provision and work towards positive educational outcomes.

We help families understand how Angelman syndrome can affect education and secure appropriate support and provision.

Angelman syndrome is a rare genetic condition that results in significant and lifelong special educational needs. Children with Angelman syndrome often require highly structured, specialist support to access education and develop communication, learning and daily living skills.

Boyes Turner’s specialist SEN solicitors support families with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), including assessments, reviews and appeals. This page explains Angelman syndrome in an educational context, how it can affect children, when an EHCP may be required, and how our expert SEN team can help secure appropriate support.

Trusted and nationally recognised special educational needs specialists with decades of experience.
Clear, practical support at every stage, helping families navigate complex SEN processes.

Extensive experience across all SEN appeals, including EHCPs, school placements, and SEND Tribunal proceedings.
Transparent and flexible fee structures, including capped fee options where appropriate.

Why might a child with Angelman syndrome need an EHCP?

Due to the complexity and severity of needs associated with Angelman syndrome, most children will require an EHCP to ensure their educational provision is clearly defined and legally enforceable.

An EHCP can bring together educational, health and care needs into a single plan and specify the specialist support required to help a child learn, communicate and develop safely.

EHCP support and benefits for children with Angelman syndrome

An EHCP can provide legally enforceable support, which may include:

Highly specialist teaching and learning approaches
Support for communication and alternative communication methods
Assistance with mobility, personal care and safety
Access to specialist or highly specialist educational settings
Coordinated input from education, health and care services

The support should be tailored to the child’s individual needs and clearly specified within the plan.

Angelman syndrome FAQs

What is Angelman syndrome?

Angelman syndrome is a genetic condition that affects the nervous system and development. It is typically associated with severe learning difficulties, limited or absent speech, and delayed motor development. The condition is present from birth and affects individuals throughout their lives.

Children with Angelman syndrome require ongoing support across education, health and care settings to meet their complex needs.

How does Angelman syndrome affect a child’s behaviour?

Children with Angelman syndrome may experience a range of behavioural and developmental challenges, including:

Significant learning difficulties
Limited verbal communication
Delayed motor skills and balance difficulties
High levels of sensory need
Sleep difficulties that can affect learning and wellbeing

Many children are sociable and responsive but require consistent, specialist support to engage safely and meaningfully in education.

What other needs to children with Angelman syndrome have?

Angelman syndrome is often associated with additional needs such as epilepsy, movement difficulties, feeding challenges and sensory processing differences. These needs can significantly affect a child’s ability to access education without tailored provision.

Effective educational support often requires close coordination between education, health and care services.

What are common local authority issues for children with Angelman syndrome?

Families may encounter challenges such as:

Delays in carrying out assessments
Disagreement about the level of provision required
EHCPs that lack sufficient detail or specificity
Difficulties securing appropriate specialist placements

Understanding the legal framework governing complex SEN is often key to addressing these issues effectively. Our SEN specialists have extensive experience supporting families with EHCP applications, reviews and appeals where parents feel an EHCP does not adequately reflect their child’s needs.

How do you apply for an EHCP for a child with Angelman syndrome?

Parents and carers have the right to request an Education, Health and Care needs assessment from their local authority. Given the complexity of Angelman syndrome, assessments typically require input from multiple professionals.

Our SEN solicitors regularly advise families on making assessment requests, gathering evidence and engaging with local authorities throughout the process.

What happens if my child with Angelman syndrome doesn’t have an EHCP?

Without an EHCP, a child with Angelman syndrome may not receive the consistent, specialist support they require. This can lead to unmet needs, limited access to appropriate education and increased strain on families and schools.

An EHCP helps ensure that provision is clearly set out and delivered in line with a child’s needs.

What can I do if I’m unhappy with my child’s EHCP or the local authority’s decision?

You may be able to challenge decisions including:

Appeals are usually made to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). Legal advice can help ensure challenges are properly prepared and focused on securing appropriate provision.

How can solicitors help families and children with Angelman syndrome?

Specialist SEN solicitors can assist families by:

Advising on EHCP eligibility and process
Supporting assessment requests and evidence gathering
Challenging unlawful or inadequate decisions
Negotiating EHCP content and provision
Representing families in Tribunal appeals

Our team has extensive experience supporting families of children with complex and lifelong special educational needs.

Why use our special educational needs solicitors?

Specialist experience in SEN law: Our solicitors have extensive experience advising families on the full range of special educational needs legal processes. Our expertise ensures you receive clear, accurate advice grounded in a detailed understanding of the law and how local authorities apply it in practice.

Focused, practical solutions: We take the time to understand your child’s individual needs and circumstances. Our advice is tailored to help you secure the right support, whether that means strengthening an EHCP, challenging inadequate provision, or appealing a local authority decision.

Supportive and collaborative approach: The SEN process can be overwhelming. We work closely with families, schools, professionals and other advisers to ensure all evidence and communication is aligned and coherent. This collaborative approach helps streamline the process and strengthens your case.

A leading full-service law firm: Boyes Turner is recognised by Chambers UK and The Legal 500 as a leading law firm. As a full-service firm, our specialist teams can support you with related legal needs where required, including Court of Protection, community care, medical negligence and private wealth, ensuring a cohesive and coordinated approach to your care.

Contact us

If you would like advice about a related matter, please complete the form and one of our SEN specialists will be in touch as soon as possible.

Please note we do not offer legal aid. Read about our fees.

Or give us a call:

0118 467 6547

Special educational needs insights

Our special educational needs solicitors

Our SEN case studies

What our clients say

Tribunal for placement

Laxmi helped with my son tribunal case in regard to section I of his EHCP. Our tribunal got brought forward by 6 months early, not giving us much time to get everything in place. Laxmi was great and said we can do it even with just little time left to get prepared and ready for the Tuesday. As a parent, I didn’t know what we needed to send or do, Laxmi took the time to explain everything to us and what we needed to do to prepare for the tribunal. Laxmi went above and beyond to help us and successfully won getting the school we needed for are son to start in September 2024. I would highly recommend Laxmi to take on the local authority in regard to any EHCP appeals. Thank you for everything you’ve done for us.

Natalie

What our clients say

We were immediately impressed

We were immediately impressed with James and our initial judgment proved correct as we went on to negotiate with Essex a care package for our daughter. Throughout the process, James supported us and was always on hand to give us excellent advice, source and guide an ISW in writing a report for us, and assist with crafting skilfully worded emails to the Authority. More importantly for us, James was always kind and understanding, and brought a wonderful sense of humour to our meetings. We feel most fortunate to have found him and would not hesitate to recommend him

Kitty Carrick

What our clients say

SEN Tribunal

Laxmi’s exceptional understanding in SEN law combined with her professional, honest and empathic approach gave us the assurance that we had a solicitor who was and would continually do her best on our behalf. We would highly recommend any one seeking a SEN solicitor to use Laxmi.

David Bernstein

What our clients say

Support with the EHCP appeal

We would like to thank the Boyes Turner team, especially Janata Ali, for the exceptional support throughout the process. Just over a year ago we were lost and scared for our child’s future. It is a completely different reality today. Our child is much happier in the new school, with all the support and the quality of teaching, mentoring that he is receiving. It was the right battle to fight. It would not have been possible without Janata’s help, guidance, experience and commitment to our case. We are endlessly grateful, as this means that our child can have a better quality of life now and better prospects in the future.

Boyes Turner Client

What our clients say

SEN support for EHCP

Janata Ali is an expert in n her field which resulted in us winning our case against the local authority to issue an EHCP for our son. Our son will hopefully now thrive and we will be forever grateful for her help and support with our case.

Boyes Turner Client

What our clients say

I would most definitely recommend

James, Laxmi and Daisy, worked so Patrick’s case, due to his very complex profile we had to go through three tribunals. They all worked so hard to secure our son’s placement. I would most definitely recommend James and Laxmi to anyone wishing to pursue the right provision for their young person.

Cath and Phil

What our clients say

I’m thankful

I’m thankful that we found James, without him my son would have been abandoned by his Local Authority. Moving on from college is a stressful process for all the family, & Local Authority knows this & uses this to try & push parents to the limit, by ignoring their responsibility hoping that you will give up . In came James, took pressure off me & onto them . Highly recommend. We won , my son now can start his transition to his next chapter. Thank you.

Rebecca Wallace

What our clients say

James was a pleasure to deal with

We contacted Boyes Turner earlier this year after we ran into a dispute with our local authority. This was about a social care matter and learning disability. The case was handled with professionalism and tact. James was a pleasure to deal with. Clear communication, humour and detailed knowledge of the law in this area.

Andrew

What our clients say

James was knowledgeable but at the same time very approachable

The help and support we received from James for our son’s EHC plan has been absolutely invaluable. With his help, we were able to secure an outcome that suits our child. James was knowledgeable but at the same time very approachable and made a very stressful process much more manageable.

Boyes Turner Client

What our clients say

Guiding us through EHCP and transition

James Pantling-Skeet helped us prepare my daughter’s EHCP to gain a good placement for the future. He was patient, extremely knowledgeable, had brilliant contacts, helped withe emotional upheaval and organised meetings with all parties to keep everything on track. We had the best outcome we could have had due to his professionalism. He was very caring too. He and his team worked tirelessly and answered our queries promptly. I would highly recommend their service.

Boyes Turner Client

Recognised leading UK law firm

Boyes Turner is consistently ranked as a leading law firm by top legal directories Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500.

Spina bifida and SEN support

We help families understand how Angelman syndrome can affect education and secure appropriate support and provision.

Why might a child with Angelman syndrome need an EHCP?

EHCP support and benefits for children with Angelman syndrome

Angelman syndrome FAQs

Why use our special educational needs solicitors?

Contact us

0118 467 6547

Special educational needs insights

Our special educational needs solicitors

Laxmi Patel

James Pantling-Skeet

Rachael Allison

Emma Trevett

Steven Baylis

Janata Ali

Lacie Smith

Rachel Baxter

Daisy Fox-Clarkin

Libby Buxton

Amber Puri

Our SEN case studies

What our clients say

Tribunal for placement

What our clients say

We were immediately impressed

What our clients say

SEN Tribunal

What our clients say

Support with the EHCP appeal

What our clients say

SEN support for EHCP

What our clients say

I would most definitely recommend

What our clients say

I’m thankful

What our clients say

James was a pleasure to deal with

What our clients say

James was knowledgeable but at the same time very approachable

What our clients say

Guiding us through EHCP and transition

Recognised leading UK law firm

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