The heartbroken parents of a teenager who was given a 1% chance of survival after birth have accused social services of "failing" their vulnerable daughter.
Chloe Jackson was born 13 weeks early and bravely fought back from the brink of death.
After her tough start to life, she was then diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) and chronic lung disease, the Newcastle Chronicle reports.
But her parents Mark and Stacey say social services in Hadston, Northumberland, have ignored their desperate pleas to send Chloe to a special needs school.
Stacey, 35, said: “It has been terrible for the family to see her not get what she needs.
“We feel totally let down because for over five years we’ve been begging social services for help but they just completely ignored us.”
Mark, 42, said his daughter, who has learning difficulties and is also partially sighted, showed signs from an early age she couldn’t cope in mainstream schools.
“As soon as she started at Red Row First School, around four-years-old, the teacher said she was immature which was hard to take,” he said.
“When she left school she was far behind everyone else. She then went to James Calvert Spence Middle School and it got worse.
“She would get frustrated and lash out but she can’t help not being able to pick it up like everyone else.”
Chloe was kicked out of school aged 11 and moved to the Northumberland Pupil Referral Unit, which caters for children with behavioural issues.
Her parents then enrolled her at Skills 4U in Cramlington where over three days she studied Maths and English and took a hairdressing course.
But she left education in the summer this year after 18 months on the course because she again struggled to cope.
While Chloe was rapidly falling behind her other classmates, her desperate family turned to Northumberland County Council special educational needs department for help.
Mum-of-three Stacey, who works as a cook, said: “We begged them for help for years.
“They’d say we can’t take her anywhere outside the county but never told us why, but they were the only schools available.
“She should have always been in a school with teachers who were trained to help autistic children but they’ve just ignored her.”
A spokesperson from Northumberland County Council said: “We do not comment about individual cases.
“We follow national guidance on matters related to education and focus strongly on the needs of each individual child when establishing and education, health, care plan.”