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Stark warnings from one Inverness mother about the impact of cuts to additional support needs (ASNs) have forced Highland Council onto the defensive


By Scott Maclennan

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Carrie Watts said the cuts to staff are likely to cause a spike in mental health problems and suicide particularly among children who have ASNs like autism.

But the local authority maintained there was “a lot of misinformation and rumour circulating” and this was causing "unnecessary worry” to parents.

There ongoing anger as the effects of measures agreed in February’s budget are beginning to be felt, with a reduction in pupil support assistants on the horizon,

Parents have banded together fearing the impact on the entire classroom if ASN teachers or pupil support assistants (PSAs) are reduced because that would leave teachers with even more to do.

Mrs Watts, who has two autistic sons Noah (5) and Joseph (10) who require “substantial support,” has hit out at the “horrifying” move.

Carrie Watts and sons Noah(5) and Joseph(10)...Picture: Gary Anthony. Image No.043610.
Carrie Watts and sons Noah(5) and Joseph(10)...Picture: Gary Anthony. Image No.043610.

“I had a councillor send me an email and tell me that parents want support for their children and the children don’t need it – that is absurd.

“Not a single parent wants an adult to walk their children through eating lunch. That is not what parents want,” she said.

“The earlier the intervention the better because they need to identify strategies to help that child navigate a world that is not set up for that child – if you don’t identify somebody until they are 14 and suicidal it is too late.

“We will see a decrease in mental health for children.

“That is something that particularly worries me because 70 per cent of autistic people have mental health issues already.

“They have a higher proportion of that, they are 28 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than their peers – they are nine times more likely to die of suicide than their peers, their neuro-typical peers.

"We can not sit and say, we will wait and see how it goes for autistic people with learning disabilities because for autistic people it is the number one reason for premature death.”

A Highland Council spokeswoman cautioned that the policy is still being developed and there is unlikely to be any concrete information until May on what cuts there are to PSA staffing.

“There is a lot of misinformation and rumour circulating, particularly on social media and this will cause unnecessary worry,” she said.

“We appreciate that this is an uncertain time and we will do everything we can to clarify any queries staff have.

“We are not able to provide details on the PSA staffing for individual schools or associated school groups for the new school year, until early May when the allocation process will be completed.

“However, the staffing numbers actually affected by the change this year are relatively minor in terms of the whole PSA workforce.”

In the budget papers issued for the full Highland Council meeting on February 14, it was stated that Highland has among the highest numbers of reported ASN levels in Scotland well over 10 per cent higher.

But a cause for concern, according to the local authority, was that “our family group of comparator councils do not report such high levels and are achieving improved outcomes.”


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