text: The boy is from Northern Ireland, but his family do not want him to be named to protect his identity. His mother had to give up her job to look after him.
  In June, his parents made the difficult decision to remove him from mainstream schooling because he was not coping.
  They requested a place for him at a special school but are still waiting.
  In September, the family was told that all the special schools in the South Eastern Education Board area were full to capacity and no time frame could be given as to when a place would become available.
  The boy's mother told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that her son does not understand why his brother and sister are able to go to school but he is not.
  "He really misses being around people, he doesn't like being isolated, but unfortunately the way the system has been working so far has actually worked to isolate him more," she said.
  The family has now been told that an extra classroom assistant has been employed at a local special school and the hope is that their son will be able to start there in the next few weeks.
  However, the boy's mother is worried that this same situation will happen to other families as the special needs school system is packed to capacity.
  "The schools are being put in the position where they have a family like us who desperately require a place in the school, but they really have no capacity there because the school is already over-subscribed."
  The BBC asked the Education Authority for a response to the concerns the family has raised but its spokesperson said they could not comment on individual cases.
  "As we have a duty to protect the privacy rights of the child, it would be unacceptable to publicly discuss their specific and highly sensitive needs", they said.
  In relation to special school provision in general, they said the Education Authority was "currently reviewing the profile of need for special school places in Northern Ireland and is endeavouring to ensure that places are available close to where the children reside".
  "This work is ongoing and is designed to assist with the placement of children with effect from 2016," the spokesperson added.
target: A nine-year-old boy with autism has been unable to go to school for three months because all the special schools in the area near his home are full.