Hansard

I, too, thank Mark McDonald for bringing the debate to the chamber because, at the end of the day, the Parliament has maybe not been as good as it could have been regarding the autism awareness week initiative from the National Autistic Society Scotland. Such initiatives have to be celebrated, and there is a time and a place for doing that. I am delighted to be part of the debate and to make a contribution in it.

As Mark McDonald said, the lack of awareness and understanding affects us all. The week is about how we can live in a better society. Autism awareness week in schools increases the understanding and acceptance of the different struggles that we have to deal with. We have to reflect on that. Schools all over Scotland are improving the understanding of the effects of autism and encouraging people to be mindful of those effects.

One example is Fraserburgh academy, whose awareness week has been quite celebrated and mentioned in the local press. The school kick-started the first autism awareness week by turning the school clock face purple, to show the commitment to the week. A local councillor, Charles Buchan, commented on that. He knows a lot about the issue, because he taught at the school before retiring and becoming a councillor for the town. He said:

“This awareness week can only be a good thing in removing some of the stigma which is associated with it.”

In his 43 years working in Fraserburgh academy, he will have met a lot of people with autism. Well done to the pupils of Fraserburgh academy. It is important to ensure that the same thing is replicated across Scotland.

Other schools are doing fantastic work. For example, St Andrew’s school in Inverurie offers a unique experience in an educational setting for pupils with a wide range of abilities and additional support needs, including a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum disorder. That is a fantastic and important school in a quiet area of Inverurie, which provides easy access for children and young people from three to 18 years. Of course, Aberdeenshire Council provides transport. Other schools in the north-east, such as Mile End school and Hazlehead primary school, are also participating in the initiative.

An organisation that Mark McDonald knows very well is the charity SensationALL in my home town of Westhill. It is doing fantastically in providing great support for families and young people with autism. The co-founders are two Susans. One of them is Susan Kay, who is a mum of two children, one of whom has autism. She has great experience. As Mark McDonald knows, we are fighting hard just now to secure a proper setting for the charity in Westhill old school. I have been living in Westhill for a long time. It is important that we have that kind of charity to prove that we can be a lot more inclusive. The other co-founder is Susan Strachan, who is very well qualified and who has a lot of interest in autism, sensory issues and dyslexia. The charity’s development co-ordinator, Adele Lindsay, has a postgraduate certificate in autism and learning.

All those people in that third sector organisation have fantastic expertise and they can help our local school to understand better what it is all about.

Mark McDonald talked about last Wednesday’s round table, which was run by the National Autistic Society Scotland at Our Dynamic Earth. I was very impressed by the many organisations that took part in the group discussions. They asked why this Parliament has not done more for people on the autism spectrum. It was a real eye opener for me—just the idea that looking at people in the eyes is very difficult for some people on the spectrum. More important, maybe, was understanding that some people with autism will react differently from other people with autism. We need to understand that. It is not a homogeneous group of people; autism can have different effects in different people.

That made me think that it is not an autism-friendly society that we should strive for—a people-friendly Scotland is what we need. It is about people more than anything else.