(Scotland) Hundreds of special needs children forced to attend mainstream schools
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More families of children with additional support needs are now being rejected and told their kids must attend mainstream schools in August.
Parents, politicians and campaigners have accused the Scottish government of failing vulnerable pupils who urgently need specialist additional support in schools.
The warning comes amid a national explosion in the number of children being diagnosed as having ASN (Additional Support Needs), including autism and ADHD, who are being forced into mainstream schools where they cannot cope.
It comes after a Sunday Mail investigation found hundreds of parents had applications for additional support needs schools rejected for the term beginning last August.
We found more than 500 primary and secondary school pupils were enrolled in mainstream education after being rejected from local authority specialist facilities.
More families of children with additional support needs are now being rejected and told their kids must attend mainstream schools in August.
One mum is Natalie Little, whose four-year-old son had his application to an ASN school rejected by Glasgow City Council.
Instead Jay, who has a global developmental delay, is nonverbal and has been on a waiting list for an autism assessment for three years, must attend a mainstream school this August.
Natalie and husband Peter, 48, say Jay won’t be able to cope in a mainstream setting and fear for his safety.
Natalie, 38, a mental health nurse, from Glasgow’s Tollcross, said: “Mainstream just isn’t right for Jay and we are utterly terrified and devastated we are facing having to send him there.
“Jay was referred for an autism assessment in 2023, but the waiting lists are so long and he hasn’t been seen yet.
“We, his parents, along with several specialists who have seen him – nurses and speech therapists – know he is autistic.
“We just want him to thrive and be supported properly.
“We won’t cope in a mainstream, noisy classroom with 25 other kids.
“Safety is one of our main concerns. He has PICA, so he’ll pick up anything – stones, bits off the floor – and put them in his mouth.
“He also has no awareness of danger. In the playground he’d climb anything and wander off if he found a way out. We know mainstream schools can’t provide the level of support he needs.
“The whole system feels like it’s failing these children.”
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