:00:02. > :00:12.-- Russia. Iran is backing Hezbollah. We are seeing that kind
:00:12. > :00:20.
:00:20. > :00:25.of staging ground. Thank you both huge surge in the number of people
:00:25. > :00:31.-- children needing special help at school? One of them is young Jackie,
:00:31. > :00:34.who has Asperger's syndrome. We will be hearing from his mother. We also
:00:34. > :00:38.look at where we are in our understanding of disorders across
:00:38. > :00:42.the spectrum of autism. Good evening.
:00:42. > :00:44.What are we to make of the huge increase the number of children who
:00:44. > :00:49.need specialist assistance in school? Official figures reveal that
:00:49. > :00:53.in ten years, there has been a fourfold increase in such children,
:00:53. > :00:57.which has led some of our children's charities to call for an enquiry
:00:57. > :01:02.into whether that is all down better diagnosis or whether something else
:01:02. > :01:07.is going on. I be discussing that with a panel of experts in a and
:01:07. > :01:14.hearing about the most recent causes of autism. First, Andrew Black has
:01:14. > :01:19.been speaking to the mother of a child with Asperger's syndrome.
:01:19. > :01:23.This woman is like thousands of mothers across Scotland. Last year,
:01:23. > :01:27.her son Jack Wall was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. It is an autism
:01:27. > :01:35.spectrum disorder which can make it more difficult for him to fit in at
:01:35. > :01:40.school and in the social situations. He got two year seven in school and
:01:40. > :01:43.I was getting called up to the school a couple of times. Jack
:01:43. > :01:49.wasn't fitting in and the school thought there was a problem. I asked
:01:49. > :01:55.the school if they could get him referred to get a diagnosis. They
:01:55. > :02:02.said no, it was a medical problem. I had... I went to the doctor and 18
:02:02. > :02:06.months later, he was diagnosed. Autism causes problems with social
:02:06. > :02:10.interaction, language skills and physical behaviour. To those with
:02:10. > :02:16.the condition, the world can seem a chaotic place. Some people with
:02:16. > :02:22.autism have very mild symptoms but others need round-the-clock care.
:02:22. > :02:27.Its exact causes are not yet fully understood. So, Scotland wide, what
:02:27. > :02:32.is the scale of the issue? According to government figures released to
:02:32. > :02:40.the Conservative party, the number of pupils with additional support
:02:40. > :02:43.needs rose to 38,000 between 2002 to 2008. Then the definition was
:02:43. > :02:51.expanded to include youngsters who were getting extra help on a less
:02:51. > :02:59.formal basis. Under those figures, the diggers rose from around 44,000
:02:59. > :03:03.to 118,000, between 2009 and 2012. Now, a coalition of children's
:03:03. > :03:07.organisations is asking if further investigation is needed. In a joint
:03:07. > :03:10.newspaper letter published today, the groups recognised part of the
:03:10. > :03:18.increase is down to greater awareness and changes in the way the
:03:18. > :03:22.figures are collected. One of the letters signatories is Tom McGee,
:03:22. > :03:30.from spark of genius, an organisation which provides support
:03:30. > :03:33.for truth of autism. -- Spark of Genius. There is a pressured to keep
:03:33. > :03:37.children within these environments for very good reasons. It is
:03:37. > :03:39.probably something we should all applaud. There is also a funding
:03:39. > :03:46.pressure because specialist educational resources and specialist
:03:46. > :03:49.care provision costs a lot more than mainstream does but then again it is
:03:49. > :03:54.specialist and you would expect that. That funding pressure is
:03:54. > :03:58.something that should be part of the mix during any enquiry and it should
:03:58. > :04:02.be considered. He says his aim is to unleash the potential in all young
:04:02. > :04:05.people. The work of the children he has sought help is all over the
:04:05. > :04:11.walls of his officers. Mr McGee says things have come a long way since
:04:11. > :04:16.his time a teacher. The kind of approach a lot of teachers talk was
:04:16. > :04:24.that autistic behaviour was being equated completely wrongly with
:04:24. > :04:27.negative behaviours. It sounds a little bit foreign now and things
:04:27. > :04:30.have greatly improved since then. Teachers are much more aware.
:04:30. > :04:36.Anything which can give teachers more information and skills in
:04:36. > :04:46.dealing with young people, more and more of whom are moving away from
:04:46. > :04:50.
:04:50. > :04:54.the mainstream environment, has got We had seen a fourfold increase of
:04:54. > :05:00.youngsters identified with additional support needs. With such
:05:00. > :05:05.a dramatic rise, we have to ask the question, is this about better
:05:05. > :05:09.recognition of the condition, about better record-keeping? Or, is there
:05:09. > :05:14.something underlying going on in society which requires further
:05:14. > :05:18.research, either environmental or medical factors are behind this
:05:18. > :05:23.increase. It needs further investigation. The Scottish
:05:23. > :05:26.Government launched its �40 million autism strategy in 2011, providing
:05:26. > :05:33.a dropping service for those diagnosed with the condition and
:05:33. > :05:36.more support workers. Since his diagnoses, Jack has continued in
:05:36. > :05:41.mainstream school, and his mother says she is delighted with the
:05:41. > :05:48.extra help. I think what will happen is he will get extra help at
:05:48. > :05:58.exam time. He will get a scribe because of his poor handwriting
:05:58. > :06:03.skills. He also gets distracted quite easily. He will get help with
:06:03. > :06:06.that and that probably wouldn't have happened without the diagnosis.
:06:06. > :06:08.Jack McLaughlin with his mum Norrina, ending that report from
:06:08. > :06:13.Andrew Black. I'm joined now by Dr Robert Moffat,
:06:13. > :06:16.he's the National Director of the National Autistic Society, Scotland.
:06:16. > :06:19.And in Edinburgh we have Mig Cowp, she's the Head of Direct Help and
:06:19. > :06:29.Support at the Moonroom Charity. And also Mark McDonald, an SNP, MSP,
:06:29. > :06:35.who's young son has autism. Roberts, it might sound an odd
:06:35. > :06:42.question, but what is autism? Are we talking a condition, an illness?
:06:42. > :06:48.What? Good evening. I think it would be more accurately described
:06:48. > :06:55.as a condition. It is a series, lifelong condition which can be
:06:55. > :06:59.severely debilitating. It is Adebola mental condition, which
:06:59. > :07:04.means expected brain development does not take place and the person
:07:04. > :07:10.is left with severe challenges. In terms of autism, the challenges of
:07:10. > :07:14.first and paces on difficulties would social communication, social
:07:14. > :07:19.interaction, difficulties in thinking and behaving in a flexible
:07:19. > :07:28.manner and compounding that, people with autism often have a severe,
:07:28. > :07:33.adverse reactions to sensory stimuli. These are what we need to
:07:33. > :07:40.sow should -- navigate the social world. It can make its
:07:40. > :07:44.unpredictable, stressful and frightening. It is a condition, but
:07:44. > :07:53.people talk about the spectrum, what does that mean? Each person
:07:53. > :08:00.with autism is an individual, just like you or I. Sometimes autism has
:08:00. > :08:04.an accompanying difficulty such as learning difficulties. Other times
:08:04. > :08:10.people with autism can have no learning difficulties whatsoever
:08:10. > :08:15.and have an extremely high IQ. What both ends of that spectrum possess
:08:15. > :08:19.equally, it is the fact is I have just described, which is an extreme
:08:19. > :08:26.difficulty in making sense of the social world, understanding what
:08:26. > :08:32.people say. We don't often mean what we say and say what we mean.
:08:32. > :08:36.We rely on body-language, facial expression and the rules of social
:08:36. > :08:46.interaction on written but complex. Do you have this condition
:08:46. > :08:47.
:08:47. > :08:52.yourself? No, I am talking about just basic... There is a
:08:52. > :08:57.misconception which is reflected in that charity, somehow people with
:08:57. > :09:03.autism are extremely talented at a certain thing. That can be the case,
:09:03. > :09:07.but it is normal Mika case is it? Because of the spectrum ID you have
:09:07. > :09:12.put forward that one end of the spectrum people with autism have
:09:12. > :09:17.these difficulties in terms of social skills, they may also have a
:09:17. > :09:22.lower IQ and learning disability or learning disabilities. But at the
:09:23. > :09:29.other end of the spectrum you could have an IQ of 170. There is no
:09:29. > :09:34.commonality and each person with autism displays these symptoms to
:09:34. > :09:44.varying degrees. Mark McDonald, your son has autism, doesn't he?
:09:44. > :09:46.
:09:46. > :09:50.Yes. Gold is he?He is 4 1/2? did his manifest itself? We started
:09:50. > :09:58.to notice on his second birthday, some of the development that had
:09:59. > :10:05.taken place up until the age of two, had started to regress. He stopped
:10:05. > :10:14.waving, which was something he had done, some of the basic words he
:10:14. > :10:19.had used stopped being used. It was at his two year check-up that the
:10:19. > :10:24.health visitor agreed that there were perhaps signs that merited
:10:24. > :10:29.further tests being undertaken and examining whether or not he was
:10:30. > :10:36.autistic. And we received a diagnosis just prior to Christmas
:10:36. > :10:44.2011, just after his third birthday we receive the diagnosis of autism.
:10:44. > :10:47.How have you dealt with that on a day-to-day basis? Well, at the
:10:47. > :10:57.moment a week don't know exactly where on the spectrum he is because
:10:57. > :11:01.he is still very young. He is still non-verbal, so we communicate using
:11:01. > :11:06.the picture exchange scheme, which is where he will use pictures to
:11:06. > :11:12.request items and give an indication of things he will like.
:11:12. > :11:18.There are some words which are coming through, and he is learning
:11:18. > :11:22.some sign language. There is some signing he can do. The
:11:22. > :11:27.communication aspect is probably the most difficult one we face at
:11:27. > :11:31.the moment, because it can be very frustrating for him that he is not
:11:31. > :11:36.always able to communicate his desires. And he cannot always tell
:11:36. > :11:41.us if he is in pain. If he has a sore stomach or a sore head, it is
:11:41. > :11:44.difficult for him to communicate that to us. What I have hopes for
:11:44. > :11:50.him, that would be by example to go through the normal schooling
:11:50. > :11:57.system? At the moment he is at the development will nursery in
:11:57. > :12:04.Aberdeen. He was placed there following his diagnoses, he had
:12:04. > :12:09.been placed in a mainstream nursery environment, but it was clear that
:12:09. > :12:17.developments nursery was better. He has a place next year at Mile End
:12:17. > :12:21.school in Aberdeen where he will get specifically additional classes
:12:21. > :12:26.and also mainstream classes. But there is often times when you will
:12:26. > :12:30.get the classes joining together, or children going into the
:12:30. > :12:34.mainstream class, particularly if they demonstrate an aptitude for
:12:34. > :12:39.something. It might be the mathematics, it might be some of
:12:39. > :12:44.the ICT, so there is the opportunity. But we have obviously
:12:44. > :12:47.been able to get a place, but I am aware there are some people who
:12:47. > :12:54.went fortunately still don't find their child being placed in what
:12:54. > :13:01.they fear would be the most appropriate environment. You help
:13:01. > :13:06.schools deal with this sort of thing. Are we at this stage now
:13:06. > :13:09.where this sort of descriptions that both Robert and Mark had given
:13:09. > :13:18.us are sufficiently recognised within the institutions that
:13:18. > :13:24.children enter? Can I just point out the charity is mind room, so we
:13:24. > :13:30.get that right. It is a postcode lottery across Scotland, as to
:13:30. > :13:35.whether children are put into an appropriate educational environment.
:13:35. > :13:39.Some children have their needs recognised and met. Mandarin
:13:39. > :13:45.supports parents and carers of children living with a broad range
:13:45. > :13:48.of additional support needs. Not just autism. When you say your
:13:48. > :13:53.postcode lottery, do you mean literally that, even within the
:13:53. > :14:00.same local authority? Absolutely. Even within the same local
:14:00. > :14:05.authority. A huge amount can be put down to a headteacher's
:14:05. > :14:08.inspirational use of the resources they have. Or, we have other
:14:08. > :14:13.schools where children with additional support Leeds may be
:14:13. > :14:19.classed as they are not the worst in the class, so their needs are
:14:19. > :14:25.not acknowledged or met. Do we know, Roberts, this apparent huge
:14:25. > :14:31.increase in the number of children affected by autism and related
:14:31. > :14:36.conditions, is this just that we are more sensitive to it and it is
:14:36. > :14:43.being diagnosed? Or is it your belief it is something else? There
:14:43. > :14:47.is a number of factors we need to take into account. There is for
:14:47. > :14:53.instance, the developments of a more sophisticated diagnostic
:14:53. > :14:57.method. There has been a recruitment and training of more
:14:57. > :15:04.diagnostic technicians and also diagnostic units in Scotland. As
:15:04. > :15:09.well as that, there is undoubtedly we think, a greater professional
:15:09. > :15:14.and public awareness. So I think all of those factors... Does that
:15:14. > :15:17.accounts for it? Some people are saying it may be that it is largely
:15:17. > :15:22.accounted for by what you have just described, but it cannot be
:15:22. > :15:26.entirely accounted by that and so my else must be going wrong,
:15:26. > :15:31.something in the environment, something in the society? That
:15:31. > :15:35.would require some form of research. Another factor we have to take into
:15:35. > :15:41.account, if they go back 15, 20 years ago, it would be fair to say
:15:41. > :15:48.the number of children and adults who were recorded were grossly miss
:15:48. > :15:55.under represented a. Do you think there is something else going on,
:15:55. > :16:02.or are we coming also unsuited in reporting these things? I think we
:16:02. > :16:08.need to have an inquiry looking at this. Then there can be environment
:16:08. > :16:12.it -- environmental factors. In 2000 late, we carried out a survey
:16:12. > :16:16.which showed one in six children in Scotland showed an additional
:16:16. > :16:19.support in need. These figures are not entirely news. There is a
:16:19. > :16:28.difference in the way the Scottish Government records the figures now,
:16:28. > :16:36.and the way schools... When you say an inquiry, an inquiry into what?
:16:36. > :16:40.Let's have some true investigation into the data that is provided by
:16:40. > :16:45.schools, about the children in schools. What are the additional
:16:45. > :16:52.support it? How many have a diagnosis? Is the diagnosis of
:16:52. > :17:00.autism, autism Specific? Are there also ADH deep traits within that?
:17:00. > :17:04.It is rare for a condition to exist in isolation. Mark Mac Donald,
:17:04. > :17:10.presumably an inquiry into what is causing an increase in orders and,
:17:10. > :17:14.other than something like better reporting, is more a sign to be a
:17:14. > :17:18.thing, some think the governments and politicians can get involved in.
:17:18. > :17:24.But what about us that is normal inquiry along the lines we had just
:17:24. > :17:31.mention? She makes an interesting point. There are a couple of things
:17:31. > :17:35.to look at. If you expand the definition as the 2009 acted as to
:17:35. > :17:39.what would be captured as additional support needs, then by
:17:39. > :17:44.definition you will capture more people who need additional support.
:17:44. > :17:49.If you put an emphasis into early diagnosis and intervention, you are
:17:49. > :17:54.likely to pick up more children with autistic spectrum disorder.
:17:54. > :17:58.These things will be a factor. If you look at the National autism
:17:58. > :18:02.strategy, which is now feeding down into the development of local
:18:02. > :18:08.strategies, it will help in terms of identifying support required by
:18:08. > :18:11.individuals. As Roberts identified, autism is not something you can
:18:11. > :18:15.lung everybody together with the. We are out of time. Thanks very
:18:15. > :18:25.much. I will be back tomorrow. Until then,
:18:25. > :18:35.
:18:35. > :18:40.The weather will change. A band of rain spreading north. It will
:18:40. > :18:47.brighten up in Northern Ireland, England and Wales in the afternoons.
:18:47. > :18:57.Bright spells but a fresher feel with a stronger breeze. The far
:18:57. > :19:04.
:19:04. > :19:14.north of Scotland but with some warmth. Some bright spells, breezy
:19:14. > :19:23.
:19:23. > :19:28.It stays unsettled as we go through the rest of the week. For Wednesday,
:19:28. > :19:32.most of us will see a spell of rain. Another spell of rain coming
:19:32. > :19:37.through from west to east for most parts of the UK during Thursday.
:19:37. > :19:43.The difference on Thursday, there will be an even stronger wind. So