by Daniel Johnson MSP for Edinburgh Southern
It’s not often I read a report and I have an emotional reaction, but I would challenge anyone to read the report on autistic children’s experience of the school system in Scotland, co-authored by Children in Scotland, the National Autistic Society Scotland and Scottish Autism, and not feel angry.
It’s why I brought forward a members’ debate in parliament on the issue.
That report said that 13% of parents of autistic children had had their child formally excluded in the last two years; 28% said that their child had been placed on a part-time timetable; 34% of parents said that their child had been sent home without formal exclusion – that is simply not right and it’s unlawful.
These awful figures and the number of teachers specialising in learning support are linked. In 2017 it sat at 2,835 a drop of 152 since 2016, and the lowest number of these teachers since 2010.
Simply put, The Scottish Government needs to do much, much better.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
