Chamber and committees

Petitioner submission of 10 September 2021

PE1870/C - Ensure teachers of autistic pupils are appropriately qualified

Autistic children at mainstream schools are not understood by teachers who do not have the knowledge or training in Autism. Teachers are not aware of the ‘Triad of Impairment’, ‘sensory issues’ or of all the ‘co-morbid conditions’ attached to Autism which gives the Autistic pupil very complex additional support needs.

Evidence points that to teach Autistic children, teachers must have training and understanding of the children who have deficits in ‘executive functioning’, ‘theory of mind’ and ‘cognitive impairment’. At this time teachers do not receive this training. They cannot possibly be expected to be able to teach or understand the behaviours of an Autistic child.

At the very beginning of their primary schooling many autistic pupils are made out to be disruptive or have ‘behavioural problems’ which sets the precedence of the child’s treatment throughout the rest of their mainstream schooling. Many of these children end up on reduced hours, part-time, flexi learning or out of school.

An autism qualified teacher would understand that behind every behaviour of concern (or as the terminology used by education authorities ‘challenging behaviour’) there is an unmet need.

We know many autistic adults and young people who have been badly let down by their Education Authority. Many had the real potential of attaining good qualifications but were not supported or understood at school and were forced to leave with nothing by age of 16.

Many have just been abandoned and have no purpose in their life even ending up destitute as they do not have the skills to navigate the system to claim benefits they may be entitled to. Some with help receive benefits for the rest of their lives with no prospect of ever attaining a job. Many of these Autistic people could have gone on to have productive lives working and contributing to society, if only they had been given the chance of an appropriate education.

Others have in fact managed to educate themselves in adulthood and are now realising how badly treated they were in education misunderstood and failed. Some can in fact get through university in later life. Many are now on social media groups stating that they would like answers to why they were failed by the education system of Scotland and what can be done about it, and they want their voices to be heard.

The first case I dealt with 12 years ago was a child excluded from school for challenging behaviours, since then I have helped support many others in a similar situation. All that has changed is more multi agency meetings but still the teachers are not trained to teach the Autistic child.

Recent cases involve Autistic children being put through the children’s hearing system for not attending school. Autistic children are being recorded as non-attendance and the children and their families are having the ordeal of going through the criminal justice system.

I am now meeting parents who have gained their own qualifications in Autism, Post Grad and Masters. The parents are far more qualified in Autism than the professionals dealing with their children. These parents get qualified to help understand their own child but when they attend meetings with the professionals dealing with their child they are faced with people who are not on the same level of understanding and they are still being treated as though it’s their parenting skills at fault.

The Scottish Government’s report, The Microsegmentation of the Autism Spectrum: research project, published in March 2018 stated:

“3.17 In terms of outcomes for families, a number of these have been well documented since the 1970s. Historical findings in relation to parents include the following: mothers of children with autism suffer more stress than mothers of children with Down’s Syndrome (Holroyd & McArthur, 1976; Sanders & Morgan, 1997); one third of mothers of children with autism suffer from depression and marital relationships are often adversely affected (DeMyer, 1979); the chronicity of the disorder can leave parents exhausted, pessimistic and at risk of burnout (DeMyer & Goldberg, 1983); and families suffer economic impact and financial worries (Bristol & Schopler, 1983).”

Many of the families we have dealt with over the past 12 years have suffered the experiences above which can all be contributed to their child not receiving the correct help in the education setting.

Our two local Authorities do not have an Autism Strategy that has been actioned which means services and supports that are needed may not be in place. Having teachers qualified in autism would be a positive step.

I ask the Government to introduce legislation requiring teachers of Autistic children to be appropriately qualified to improve educational outcomes.