Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Richard Lochhead says there has been a 50% increase in the number of people needing ASN support since 2010 and there are more languages being spoken now.

Mr Lochhead asks for the smartest interventions ministers could make.

Carol Gilmour, parent and foster carer, says frontline staff are really important and well trained teaching assistants are crucial.

The number of these has really dropped, she says, they must get them back on the frontline staff.

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Conservative MSP Liz Smith asks about the lack of ASN training and the emergence of cascading and she asks if that is a serious problem.

Sylvia Haughney from Glasgow City Council says: "Yes I think it is."

Ms Haughney says there used to be direct training in the the ASN of a child.

She says: "If someone has bad practice they are passing on bad practice.

Labour MSP Johann Lamont says there are a pattern of problems being identified rather than individual problems for individual families.

SNP MSP James Dornan says budgets are tight but the responsibilities lie with local authorities as to where they spend their money. 

Image source, Enable Scotland

In December 2016, Enable Scotland, external published its '#IncludED in the Main?! 22 Steps on theJourney to Inclusion for Every Pupil who has a Learning Disability' , external report.

The summary of its findings are as follows:

Feelings of angst, isolation, loneliness and not doing your best are common across all three respondent groups: 

• 60% of young people who have learning disabilities feel lonely at school. 62.5% have been bullied. 
• More than half (51%) of young people who have learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders feel they are NOT achieving their full potential at school. 
• 62% of class/subject teachers have experience stress or professional anxiety about not being able to meet the needs of pupils who have learning disabilities in their classroom. 
• The most common words used by parents/carers to describe their experience of the school system were: battle (67%), stressful (77%) and alone (44%)   

Image source, bbc

Green MSP Ross Greer asks about attracting more people in ASN teaching.

Professor Sheila Riddell from the University of Edinburgh says there needs to be better training for those in the post of principle teacher of learning support.

Labour MSP Johann Lamont says she is in favour of mainstreaming for all children but she has concerns that children with ASN are then seen as the problem.

Ms Lamont says a child has to fail in mainstream before they are moved to a specialist unit so "why are children put through that?" She asks. 

The Labour MSP asks "at what point are we going to identify that the problems are down to resourcing?"

Parent Sharon Veelenturf says those in kinship care require the same inputs as those in care. 

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Kenny Graham from the Scottish Children's Services Coalition says the Curriculum for Excellence which has been described as desperately complicated.

Mr Graham says he backs the aspiration of the C of E but says it is challenging and he details other initiatives arriving at the same time

He says these educational initiatives are incredibly difficult, although laudable.

Mr Graham says: "We need to put our foot on the ball, to use a football analogy, and slow things down."

Colin Crawford from Glasgow City Council (GCC) says it is about "creative thinking".

Mr Crawford says GCC works with other organisations to deliver training and there are online courses available too.

He says he understands that there are time pressures for teachers but there are also challenges around up-skilling such a large workforce and resource implications.

"There are huge challenges at delivering in school and pre-school level," he says.

Professor Sheila Riddell from the University of Edinburgh says the proper training for ASN is "very, very patchy in Scoltland".

Sylvia Haughney from Glasgow City Council says she has had to teach the teacher on how to work with children with visual impairment, due to the lack of training.

Labour MSP Daniel Johnson asks what training is available to teachers and what are the gaps between what is available and what is needed.

Mr Johnson asks what the level of specialist services in schools should look like. 

Colin Crawford from Glasgow City Council says there is a "fairly superficial" coverage at college level on ASN for staff.

Mr Crawford says it is about building that pre-knowledge before staff come into teaching. 

Professor Sheila Riddell from University of Edinburgh says "postgraduate training for teachers is worse now in Scotland."

Prof Ridell says teachers used to get a year's sabbatical to get classroom training and that does not happen now.

Professor Sheila Riddell from the University of Edinburgh says resources are important here and it would be easy for "learning support to be quietly whittled away" and for pupils to be sent to specialist schools as a solution.

There has been a 10% reduction in classroom assistants, which is "very, very poor", she says.

The professor say we should be careful to avoid "moral panic" as things are not worse in schools now than they were in the past. 

Unison, Scotland’s largest public sector trade union, conducted a survey of its members working in schools in September 2016.

It says the survey focused on the impact of cuts on schools and answers to the questions highlighted a range of issues which are relevant to the committee’s inquiry into ASN. 

Image source, Unison

The public sector trade union says the key challenges raised by members were: 

• Increased general workload and physical demands 
• Increasing amounts of challenging behaviour 
• Dealing with medications and personal care

It said almost 80% respondents indicated that their workload is getting heavier. 

Parent Sharon Veelenturf says parents often "can't face the system".

Ms Veelenturf says parents often miss the 30-month assessment because they are just going to be told what their children can't do.

This should be flagged, she says.

Colin Crawford from Glasgow City Council says there are challenges around changing the culture.

Mr Crawford says strong and important leadership at schools is important.

Image source, bbc

Sylvia Haughney from Glasgow City Council says there is an increase of violence in mainstream schools, so children have been moved into mainstreaming without the proper trining.

Ms Haughney says there can then be increased absence because of stress and injuries and staff think autistic children are "at it" due to lack of training.

"We are just not getting it right and it brings GIRFEC into question."

Parent Sharon Veelenturf says "for some children mainstreaming is never going to work".

Ms Veelenturf says some mainstream schools just want the child gone and "as a parent you cannot change that culture". 

Sally Cavers from Enquire says more needs to be done within schools to make sure all children are aware of the range of needs and appropriate responses.

Ms Cavers says parents of children with autism often feel that there is a lack of understanding of the condition.