6. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments made by the National Autistic Society Scotland that some autistic pupils in Scotland have to “fail” in mainstream education before receiving the support that they need. (S6O-03237)

We want all children and young people, including those with autism, to get the support that they need to reach their full learning potential. The Scottish Government continues to work in partnership with Education Scotland and a range of stakeholders to improve professional understanding of and support for autistic learners in all settings.

In commitment to that work, a range of information, guidance, resources and professional learning opportunities continue to be supported and collaboratively developed for school staff to access. In addition to that, we fund a number of services to support children and young people with additional support needs and their families to get the support necessary to thrive. That includes funding a national autism implementation team.

The situation around additional support needs was discussed earlier in these questions.

I will quote Suzi Martin, the external affairs manager for the National Autistic Society. She highlighted the distressing reality faced by families of autistic children, who often find themselves having to “fight the system” to access the necessary support. We have heard that there are 392 fewer specialists in schools, and we have heard from the cabinet secretary about record high spending. What is the Scottish Government going to do to assist families of autistic children so that they do not feel that they have to “fight the system”?

The member may be aware that the Education, Children and Young People Committee is currently carrying out an inquiry on this very issue, and those comments were discussed at the evidence session yesterday. I am very sympathetic to the points that Ms Martin has raised in relation to parents’ experience of the current system.

In responding to the Morgan review, which was published back in 2020, the Scottish Government, in collaboration with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, committed to the additional support for learning action plan. We have been able to progress more than half of the actions contained in the plan, which include improving parents’ and young people’s experience of the system.

The member is right to say that we are investing in record numbers of pupil support assistants in our schools. However, the experience of parents is often challenging, and I look forward to engaging with committee members about their report, which I understand will be published in the coming weeks.

In the coming weeks, the Government will also publish our additional support for learning action plan review. I hope that that plan will identify further tangible steps that we can take to improve outcomes for our young people with additional support needs and to improve the system for our parents and carers, too.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

There are a couple of brief supplementary questions, and I ask for brief answers, if possible.

Will the cabinet secretary say more about the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to improve the support available to autistic learners and to equip teachers with guidance to support the inclusion of those learners?

As I said, we fund the national autism implementation team, which produces materials to support professional learning and development for practitioners working in the system. The NAIT has also developed a framework for assessment and planning to support multidisciplinary target setting for autistic children. That was written by allied health professionals, and it is fundamentally important that we recognise the link between health and education, which is another factor that we considered at the Education, Children and Young People Committee yesterday.

We have also refreshed the autism toolbox, which provides school staff with professional advice and guidance on supporting the inclusion of autistic learners.

The education committee recently heard from May Dunsmuir, the president of the health and education chamber of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, who highlighted the impact that masking is having on cases involving neurodivergent children. Will the cabinet secretary agree to work with Mr Whitfield and me, and with members of the education committee, to analyse the impact that masking is having on autistic and neurodivergent young people in schools and to look at how we can best support them?

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Please be as brief as possible, cabinet secretary.

I am happy to engage with the member on that issue. She should also recognise that the Government is committed to bringing forward legislation in that area. I think that the bill may offer some protection in relation to the issues that have been highlighted to the education committee.