Autism needs understanding

Published on 29/01/2007 01:44

OF THE many problems facing schools today, the diagnosis, care and treatment of children with autism deserves particular attention. It is a daunting challenge. For all the advances in medical science, there is much that we do not know about this condition: what causes it, and why its incidence has grown so sharply in recent years.

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects children from birth or the early months of life and results in delays in, and deviance from, "normal" patterns of behaviour. Many might not accept the suggestion of the National Autistic Society of a possible prevalence rate of almost one in 100 in the UK for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). But that its incidence is rising and bringing real problems for our educational system is broadly accepted. Scottish Executive figures show state secondary schools had 825 pupils with autistic spectrum disorders in 2005, compared with 114 in 1999 - an increase of 623 per cent. Overall, there are an estimated 8,000 school-age children with ASD in Scotland.

The report we highlight from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education is critical of Scotland's education system for being "frequently deficient" in addressing the underlying needs of autistic children. It finds that teachers are not tackling the academic progress of autistic pupils, that staff training is inadequate and that parents feel let down. But, this, as many in the field will recognise, is a difficult and challenging area for teachers.

The nature of the condition is such that the specific disorders of developmental progression will not necessarily be apparent for many months or even years. In today's school classroom environment where noise, disturbance and disruption are more prevalent than in previous generations, it may be difficult for pressurised teachers to be able to distinguish between anti-social, unruly behaviour and that resulting from an autistic condition in the child.

This is what makes the case for greater information and understanding on the condition all the more pressing. The NAS is right to campaign for autistic children to be sent to the right school rather than the current Scottish Executive policy of keeping special needs children in mainstream schools. And its other calls make good sense, too: for teachers to receive training to enable them to help autistic children and for appropriate teaching methods to be adopted for autistic youngsters. But the most urgent requirement is for greater and wider understanding of autism across the schools system and for practical, specific and positive help to be given to teachers to enable them more accurately to identify the condition.