Richard Tice: Apologise to SEND families

Dear Mr Tice,

Your recent remarks calling the use of ear defenders in classrooms “insane,” along with your claim of a “crisis of overdiagnosis,” reveal a serious misunderstanding of the challenges faced by children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. Sensory tools like ear defenders are not indulgences, they are essential, low-cost supports that help children manage overwhelming environments and access their education with dignity.

Your suggestion of widespread overdiagnosis is equally inaccurate. In reality, receiving a diagnosis is extremely difficult. In terms of ADHD alone, around 549,000 people are currently waiting for an NHS ADHD assessment, with waits of more than four years for children in some areas and up to eight years for adults. Families face huge delays, repeated assessments, and constant battles to have their child’s needs recognised. The crisis is not in diagnosis, it is in support.

Comments like yours deepen stigma, spread misinformation, and make life harder for neurodivergent children who already struggle to be understood. Sensory sensitivities are real and can be debilitating. Without tools like ear defenders, many children simply cannot cope in busy, noisy classrooms. Educators see every day how crucial these supports are, and how harmful public ridicule can be.

Parents across the country have made clear the damage caused by your words. Parents of children with SEND often express the extreme difficulty of getting EHCPs, finding SEND school places, or even accessing basic support - often forcing children to travel long distances because local provision doesn’t exist, which in turn means families rely on transport for their children to access education. Tribunal outcomes overwhelmingly back families, showing it is children who are being failed, not the system being exploited.

Please sign and share this open letter to show your support!

Written by Laura Edie, Green Party councillor for Newtown, Dartford.