A ten-year-old girl has been rejected by every school she has applied for, leaving her "desperate for friendship" and "feeling different", her mum has said.
Daniella Gallagher, 39 has said her daughter Leyla is "big and bold" and should not be hindered by the conditions that affect her.
Leyla has autism, ADHD and Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) which makes social interactions and everyday expectations difficult for her.
She has been out of school since June 2021, with local mainstream schools in Leeds finding it difficult to place her, Leeds Live reports.
Daniella said : "It's been hell for Leyla. She's socially isolated.
"A lot of Autistic people have special interests - Leyla's special interest is people.
"She's desperate for friendships. She's a 10-year-old girl that is full of life, energy.
"She's big and bold, has a great sense of humour, and is a fantastic character.
"She's desperate for friends but she can't maintain friendships well because she's not in a school environment where she can meet and see friends regularly.
"Leyla is of an age now where she's aware she's different and obviously that has a huge impact on her and her self-esteem.
"She hasn't identified how she fits in yet and who she is as a person and tried to copy other people.
"It's such a difficult time for her and she isn't in a school environment where she can work out who she is."
Leyla was previously in mainstream education but began to struggle from around year one onwards.
In 2019, she was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD, and Daniella started looking at alternative provisions Leyla could attend.
She found her a place at a partnership school with an attached provision to start in January 2020.
In December 2020, Leyla had PDA traits added to her diagnosis by CAMHS.
Leyla's time at the alternative provision started off well, but she was affected by lockdowns, and quickly became anxious as before.
In June 2021, the school admitted it couldn't meet her needs.
Daniella said: "Mainstream schools just looked at her as 'that naughty child'.
"While she was in mainstream schooling she was locked in classrooms when she was having meltdowns before she was diagnosed," Daniella said.
"She was running out of school with no shoes on onto main roads when she just seven years old.
"Getting her into school was a nightmare. The anxiety was so high, I'd have to peel her off railings.
"If I was successful I'd get a phone call within half an hour that she'd run out or had a meltdown.
"Even once she joined her new specialist provision in 2020, her anxiety got to the point of being through the roof - at that point, it was just impossible.
"She was trying to escape and abscond all the time."
Since then, Leyla has been at home and out of full-time education while Daniella has desperately been trying to find somewhere that can accommodate Leyla.
In the time since the summer, both Leeds City Council and Daniella have been contacting provisions across Leeds to see if they can fulfil her needs as per her Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC).
EHCs set out the specific needs of children with special educational needs in order to provide the support those children need.
But so far, every single provision has said no - Daniella estimates Leyla has been rejected by 10-12 schools in the local authority area.
One primary school said it could potentially meet Leyla's needs - but it has no space until 2023, by which point she will nearly have aged out of primary education.
Daniella added: "Leyla doesn't get the chance to experience lots of different peer groups and social interactions.
"We try to do lots of different activities, climbing, swimming, and more but she ends up stuck with me all the time.
"She's run away before, she's been bullied, she's been hit by people claiming to be her friends, she gets horrible messages.
"She's quite an intense person who doesn't really understand social boundaries all the time and that can make her very vulnerable for being bullied. It's really hard for her."
According to Daniella, the reason Leyla has been refused many alternative provisions is that she is often too academic to fit in with the peer groups.
Daniella also said she has had a "nightmare" trying to get hold of someone to speak to at the local authority since autumn 2021 to discuss suitable schools.
She has since made an official complaint.
The school Leyla was at until June 2021 have helped sort out a six to 12-week placement at a provision at another school in the area.
But the provision isn't permanent as a solution.
"It's heartbreaking for me. She's my baby and I want her to be happy. I know she will be amazing at whatever she does when she finds herself," Daniella said.
"She's a very strong, resilient, creative young girl and she's going to do amazing. Leyla changes and educates people all around her because she's that type of character.
"She will do amazing once she finds the place she fits in. It's hard to watch your child struggle so much.
"The gaps in her learning are just growing and growing and that's becoming more apparent as she gets older.
"I do worry about her future but I will help her do whatever she needs to do to get her GCSEs, whether she wants to do them later in life.
"My expectations for her currently are more around focusing on her social and emotional wellbeing."
She added she was saddened by the fact that there are no options for children like her daughter.
Daniella said: "I can't make a school happen by clicking my fingers - there just seems to be nowhere out there for children like Leyla with PDA.
"There's very little knowledge in this area around the condition. We're lucky to have really good support groups in the area as there's also very little official support.
"I'm a single mum with two kids and they take up every second of my life.
"That can impact my own mental health - it's not easy. I used to work at a school but I had to leave my job because of all this.
"You don't realise until you're in this situation how dire it is. Even just trying to get a bit of help and support from anybody is impossible."
A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “Whilst we are not able to comment on individual cases, the local authority is committed to work in partnership with parents and in the best interests of children.
"We strive to meet the provision needs of children with SEND and aspirations of parents and we take the concerns of parents seriously.
“PDA is a clinical diagnosis and therefore we are led by our clinical partners in their use of diagnostic terminology.
"Our statutory processes, consultation with specialist and mainstream settings and provision offer is not restricted by a diagnostic framework.
“We endeavour to work restoratively with all families to ensure children with SEND meet their aspirations and outcomes.
