Failings are all-too familiar

DANIEL’S example is typical of an education system that is failing children with autism.

Not all kids on the spectrum, including my own son, have a learning difficulty.

Many will be very able learners but they may find a mainstream school environment almost impossible.

Daniel is a child with potential who is being denied an education because teachers can’t cope.

That’s frankly pathetic. That his mother has been told he does not meet the criteria for a place at a special needs school is nothing but box-ticking gone mad.

He’s getting just two hours of education a week and he’s nine years old, what else do they need to know?

It is as farcical as the sorry story of the Scottish support teacher who was told to watch an American sitcom to prepare for working with a pupil with Asperger’s.

I hear over and over again from parents whose autistic children are struggling in a mainstream environment without the proper support.

Yes, it will require increased resources to tackle this shortfall head on – but smart thinking can go a long way to righting this wrong too.

A team of specialists touring schools to advise on how to support children with different needs would be a great start, together with guidelines about the types of measure that can be put in place to make the school environment an easier place for them to be in.

Surely a suitable education for every child is not too much to ask for.