For Chelsea Findlay, the worries of her son starting a new nursery after the summer go far beyond the routine “will he make friends” concern.
Instead she is worrying about whether Arran, who is non-verbal and autistic, will get the education and support he needs to thrive.
The three-year-old currently attends the specialist Ladybird Development Group nursery in Lossiemouth.
However, he will lose that place in the summer and move to mainstream nursery due to the extreme pressure for places at the under-pressure centre.
Chelsea fears her outdoor-loving son will not get the number of one-to-one hours he’s been assessed for, which could lead to both Arran and staff being unable to cope and him coming home instead.
The mum-of-two has now joined other parents across the country in forming campaign group ASN Reform Scotland, calling for more funding to provide more teachers to support pupils with additional support needs.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has pledged to meet campaigners to discuss their worries.
Inclusive or exclusive education?
Chelsea believes that despite Scottish Government policies promoting an “inclusive” education for children who need extra support, the result ends up being the opposite and “exclusive”.
The 30-year-old says the current levels of funding only allow for as little of 10 one-to-one hours a week for some children who have been assessed as needing up to 30 hours of support.
And the result, she has heard, is autistic children being taken out of classes and, in some cases, parents being called to take them home.
Chelsea, who also has a nine-year-old daughter, Eva, said: “Imagine a child going into a mainstream setting and not being able to cope, they get taken away into a room called a base or a hub.
“The government believes in inclusion but it creates an exclusive situation because they can’t handle that environment.
“Some kids with additional needs are lucky to get 10 hours a week funded, some who are entitled to 30 are only getting nine or 10.
“Teachers are already struggling, they’re dealing with 27 children in a class and then now having to deal with a child with additional needs and they can’t cope.
“Some parents are being called and basically getting told ‘come and get you child’ because we can’t cope and they’re overwhelmed and they end up sat at home instead.”
Early signs of autism
Chelsea has started sharing Arran’s story on TikTok to share his situation and connect with other families in a similar situation.
The Lossiemouth mum and about 800 others are due to hold a protest outside the Scottish Parliament later this month to demand extra support.
Meanwhile, nearly 8,500 have signed a Scottish Parliament petition backing calls for “adequate additional support funding” to be provided to all schools in the country.
Arran enjoys many things any other three-year-old, he loves playing outdoors and enjoys spinning the wheels on his toy cars.
Initially Chelsea believed he was just a bit slow to develop due to when he was born, before his father Martin spotted his particular needs.
@arrans_journey_asd
She said: “He was born in October 2019, then we had the pandemic the following March so we thought he was maybe just a bit delayed because he hadn’t had the experience of interacting with others.
“My husband has a son from previous relationship who was autistic and he could see some of the same traits and he thought we needed to get him seen.
“When we started him at a two-to-three group and it was an absolute disaster. We had to take him out of there, the health visitor got involved, occupational therapy, I can’t fault the NHS for everything they did.
“I believe he’s entitled to an education too.”
ASN Reform Scotland campaign growing
The plight of families fighting to ensure a proper education for their autistic children is growing with only 19 specialist schools in Scotland.
Stephanie Vavron has more than 330,000 followers on TikTok, where she chronicles her life with her son Max, four, who is also non-verbal and has cerebral palsy.
The Scottish Government has stressed the number of school pupils with additional support needs has “increased substantially” since 2010 with spending reaching a record high of £830 million in 2021/22.
A spokesman added: “We have also invested an additional £45 million since 2019-20 (£15 million per year) and provide over £11 million of funding to directly support pupils with complex additional support needs and services to children and families.
“It is for local authorities to determine the most appropriate educational provision, taking account of their legal responsibilities and the individual circumstances and wishes of the children and young people in their care.
“Notwithstanding, the education secretary would be happy to meet with ASN Reform Scotland to discuss their concerns.”
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