The Real Crisis Behind the FAQs
The stories behind this marketplace aren’t just personal. They’re political.
Every painting, every brushstroke, is shaped by broken systems: the collapse of special needs support, a failing mental health infrastructure, rising autism diagnoses with nowhere to turn, and carers stretched far beyond their limits.
This FAQ page unpacks the deeper context. It’s here to inform, empower, and remind us all that the chaos we’ve lived through isn’t just unfortunate... it’s systemic. Because art doesn’t lie. And neither do the facts.
How The System is Failing Us
Each link leads to a full page of facts, stats, and ways to push back.
SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Crisis
Why is the special needs education system collapsing?
Because it’s underfunded, overwhelmed, and unlawfully obstructive. Thousands of children are without appropriate placements. Every single year.
Post-16 SEND Support Gap
What happens after 16 for young people with SEND?
Support often drops off a cliff. Education, training, and care options shrink- leaving families scrambling and young people isolated.
Explore how the system vanishes after age 16 and what we can do about it.
Mental Health Crisis
Why aren’t we getting the support we need?
Awareness isn’t enough. From CAMHS delays to adult services vanishing post-diagnosis, mental health care is collapsing... Especially for men, carers, and the neurodivergent.
The mental health system is collapsing. Read why awareness alone isn’t enough.
Diagnostic Delays (Autism & ADHD)
Why are diagnosis wait times so long?
Demand exploded, but services didn’t. Families wait years for answers while support stays out of reach.
See why diagnosis takes years and what it’s costing families
CAMHS Crisis
Why are young people waiting months- or years- for help??
Because services are understaffed, underfunded, and inaccessible. CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services) is failing the most vulnerable when they need help most.
Kids in crisis are being left to wait months. Find out why and what we can do.
EHCP Delays & Failures
What’s wrong with the EHCP process?
Everything. It’s slow, combative, and often ignored. Families fight hard for plans. Then fight again to make them happen.
Autism Diagnoses Are Rising. Support Isn’t
Why are families still fighting so hard after diagnosis??
The rise in diagnoses hasn’t been met with funding, access, or trained professionals. The system wasn’t ready and it shows.
The numbers are up, but the support isn’t. Find out what’s missing.
Failure to Support Neurodivergent Adults
What support exists for neurodivergent adults after 18?
Support falls off a cliff post-childhood. Most neurodivergent adults are left to mask, suffer, or burn out in systems not built for them.
Adulthood isn’t an off switch, but services treat it like one. See what’s missing.
Disability Cuts
Why do disabled people keep losing vital support?
Because they’re seen as costs to cut. Services are stripped, lifelines are broken, and families fall through the cracks.
Learn how vital support is vanishing and who’s paying the price
Intersectionality: Race, Poverty, Disability
Why are some families hit harder than others?
Because systems weren’t built with them in mind. If you are disabled, poor, or belong to a racial minority- or all three!- you’re at the harshest edge of every failure.
Carer Burnout & Invisibility
Why are carers struggling so much?
Because they’re invisible and left to carry everything without help. Carers, often women, are sacrificing everything to hold failing systems together.
See why carers are at breaking point and why this affects us all.
Inaccessible Housing
Why is accessible housing so hard to find?
Because it’s barely being built. Most homes don’t meet physical or sensory needs, and gatekeeping blocks the rest.
Disabled families are trapped in unsuitable homes. Learn more here.
These pages aren't just here to inform. They're here to ignite.
Art can do what facts alone can’t- move people.
At NotFine.Art, we believe in sharing stories and turning knowledge into power. Through honest, emotional expression, we refuse to stay silent.
Explore the gallery or share your work. Because together, creativity becomes a force for change.
Performative Awareness vs. Real Change
We’ve all seen the blue puzzle piece or the one-day hashtags. But what happens when the day ends?
✦ What is performative awareness?
Performative awareness is when individuals, brands, or institutions speak about causes (like mental health, disability, autism) without taking any actual action. It's surface-level solidarity. Posts on awareness days, hashtags, token gestures with no meaningful change behind them. Just... Empty. Riding on buzz words to look good.
✦ Why is this harmful?
Because it creates the illusion of progress. It distracts from the real, often brutal, experiences people are facing. When awareness campaigns don’t include the voices of those most affected or fail to push for policy, funding, or rights- they become part of the problem.
✦ How can we tell when something is performative?
+Is it led by lived experience?
+Is it backed by action, funding, or support?
+Does it run year-round — or just appear for one calendar day?
+Does it challenge injustice, or simply make it look “less uncomfortable”?
✦ What can we do about it?
+Challenge empty campaigns. Ask: who does this help?
+Uplift grassroots groups doing the real work- even if they’re not polished or PR-ready.
+Redirect your energy and attention toward spaces fighting for lasting change.
✦ Why this matters to NotFine
Art has long been a tool to cut through noise and call out hypocrisy. Many artists on this platform use their work to expose the gap between performative gestures and lived reality. If you've ever felt erased, patronised, or turned into a campaign prop then this space is for you.