(UK) Perth: Autistic 8yo denied special school place; 'I know we’re not the only ones'
- The end of childhood
- Oct 8, 2025
- 3 min read
Oct 6, 2025, Courier: Autistic Perth girl, 8, home-schooled for eight months after child refused specialist school place
A Perth mum says she is “appalled” after her daughter was denied a place at an additional needs school.
Lisa Mooney, 30, moved from Clydebank to Tulloch with her family in February.
Her eight-year-old daughter, Skye, has autism spectrum disorder, global development delay, and heightened sensory sensitivity.
Although Skye previously attended a specialist school in Clydebank, Perth and Kinross Council has ruled that she only qualifies for mainstream education.
Perth mum home-schools daughter for 8 months
Lisa has been in dispute with the council over the decision and kept Skye at home since moving, pending a resolution.
She told The Courier she is deeply concerned about her daughter being placed in a mainstream setting.
Lisa said: “Skye was in a mainstream school in Clydebank and I was told that she couldn’t cope there – that she’d be better off going to a school that would help her and support her needs.
“So she went to Kilpatrick School, for children with additional support needs.
“Ever since we’ve come back to Perth, I was hoping to get her into a similar additional needs school.
“A report from the council said she could cope in mainstream and they were going to just put her in a class with a support worker, which I don’t think is right.
“My worries would be; what if she kicks off, what if something seriously happens, and she wouldn’t be on the same work as a typical child?
“It states in her file that she wouldn’t cope well in a mainstream school so I don’t know why the council are saying she can.
“I’ve had Skye at home with me for eight months while this is ongoing.”
A report by Perth and Kinross Council, seen by The Courier, concluded that Skye does not meet the threshold for an intensive support placement.
The report also stated that the council’s inclusion service had tried several times to contact Lisa, though she disputes this.
She insists no one from education and learning visited the family to properly assess Skye before the report was made.
Tulloch parent vows to ‘take this further and further’
Lisa says she is now considering legal action against the council.
“The council report said she has high levels of sensory sensitivity, so how can a mainstream school deal with that?” she said.
“I’ve told them I’m just going to take it further and further until I get a school that’s going to support Skye.
“The only way she’s going into a mainstream school is if I’m with her.
“That’s my child, I’m not putting her through that again.
“I’ve heard from mums who have kids with additional needs taking them out of mainstream schools because they feel it’s not right for their child.
“I know we’re not the only ones.
“It’s been eight months – I’m just being shoved off.
“I’ve emailed the education board. I think it’s appalling that they’re leaving Skye with no education.. . .
“Kids with special needs need to have a voice and be heard.
“I think they’ve got it wrong.”
Perth and Kinross Council says ‘children supported at a range of levels’
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: “The inclusion of children and young people with additional support needs is core to the delivery of education across Perth and Kinross.
“We are committed to ensuring children with additional support needs have appropriate support to access learning and through staged intervention, children are supported at a range of levels in our schools.
“By supporting almost all children with additional support needs in their catchment schools we are able to help them to be as included as possible in their local communities.
“Allocation of a placement in a specialist setting is undertaken following an assessment of needs based on information from professionals involved with the child.
“Care is always taken to ensure the rights of the child to mainstream education are maintained wherever possible.”
Comments