 The final item of business today is the member's business debate on motion number 15289 in the name of Mark McDonald on schools autism awareness week. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would be grateful if those members who wish to speak in the debate could please press the request to speak buttons now. I call on Mark McDonald to open the debate. Seven minutes please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Can I begin by thanking those members across the chamber who supported the motion and made it eligible for members' business? I thank those members who have stayed behind. I know that we have had a very long day in the chamber today, so your sacrifice in sticking around is noted and appreciated. I also note my interest as a member of the advisory board of the National Autistic Society Scotland. It has become something of an annual tradition for us to mark World Autism Awareness Week with a debate in this chamber, often on World Autism Awareness Day itself. That is not going to be possible this year, because Parliament dissolves next week. World Autism Awareness Day is the second of April, and World Autism Awareness Week is from the second to the eighth of April. I am advised that this year we will see the National Autistic Society launch its biggest ever public awareness campaign, of which I have been told more details will follow. I also note that next Tuesday evening the BBC will screen a new drama series, the A-word, featuring Christopher Eccleston. It will portray a family coming to terms with their son's autism, and I shall certainly watch it with a keen interest, but I am also aware that there will be many who will tune in who do not have a direct link to autism, nor an understanding or awareness of the condition. That brings me to the substance of today's debate, Schools Autism Awareness Week, which began on Monday past and ends on Friday. This is the first ever Schools Autism Awareness Week being run by the National Autistic Society, and the NES has established an array of online materials to support those schools who wish to participate in the week's activities. I was delighted to learn that my daughter's school, Dice Primary, which also happens to be my own former primary school, are taking part and will be raising awareness and understanding of autism within the school throughout the course of this week. Why is it that this is important? If we look back to the 2012 National Autistic Society report, Count Us In, which was launched in this very building by the actor Richard Wilson, who is the patron of the National Autistic Society in Scotland, we see that, as part of that survey, 78 per cent of young people with autism thought that people outside their family did not know enough about autism. 65 per cent said that they had faced bullying at school, and 33 per cent of adults said that they had experienced workplace bullying or harassment. In 2007, the National Autistic Society report differently about autism, 92 per cent of people said that they had heard of autism, but fewer had heard of Asperger's syndrome, and 90 per cent of people did not know how prevalent autism was. That all stems, I suggest, from a lack of awareness and understanding, and also, in some cases, a lack of empathy. I watched a video last week, put together by a group of National Autistic Society young volunteers. One of the girls spoke of the misconception that people with autism lack empathy. In fact, it is often the case that people with autism are themselves subject to a lack of empathy, both from individuals and from institutions. Taking awareness raising into schools is important as a means to addressing that. Giving young people a greater appreciation of the difficulties that those with autism can face as a result of any or all of sensory issues, developmental delay and inability to respond to or recognise social cues. Bringing that into the school environment and giving young people a greater appreciation will help to eliminate some of the barriers that can exist and increase awareness and understanding. That will, as a consequence, support greater empathy towards those with autism. Given that 100 individuals are autistic, it is highly likely that a large proportion of children will know one or more child in their school or community with the condition. There is good work out there already. The Autism Toolbox, a resource for schools, launched in partnership by the Scottish Government and Scottish Autism with support from Autism Network Scotland, helps support teachers who have autistic children in their class, sharing practical examples and offering support and signposting. NES Scotland delivers an education rights service, which provides impartial and confidential information for parents and carers of preschool and school-aged children. The service celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. NES has developed a service called My World, which aims to provide education professionals with the tools to ensure that every autistic child is given the best chance. I also learned in researching ahead of today's debate of the work being done at Hill Park secondary school in Glasgow, where it has what is called the Hill Park Autism Unit Buddy Network. People in fifth and sixth year volunteer to become buddies to pupils on the autistic spectrum. The potential buddies learn about the nature of a spectrum of human behaviour and relate that to themselves in areas such as shyness, organisational ability, sociability and so on. The aim is to get the young people to identify that people with autism are not separate from them, do not meet a stereotypical list of behaviours and are diverse in personality. Feedback from an autistic people is that the buddies helped me well with social skills. Classes were better when they were there because it was much more fun and they understood the kind of difficulties I had when I came to secondary school. The buddies can explain how the school works and how to get on with people. I would like to be a buddy when I am older because I like helping people and the buddies certainly helped me. It is good to have older friends in the school because it helped me to feel more a part of the school when I came here. I hope that school's Autism Awareness Week helps to build on that work and as it becomes more of a fixture, addresses the statistics that I cited earlier. Last week, a group of MSPs met with interested organisations and individuals to discuss how we make Scotland a more autism-friendly nation. It was designed to serve as a springboard for a future cross-party group to be established in the next Parliament. I do not know what the election holds in prospect, but I have said that if I am returned to this Parliament again, I would be happy to help to take a cross-party group forward. I know that there are others in the chamber across all the parties who have similarly indicated support in that. Finally, I return to the A word. A scene that has been referenced in advance of the show is where the young boy at the centre of the drama experiences a meltdown at a birthday party. I know families whose child has been the only one in their class not to be invited to a birthday party because of their autism and a lack of understanding and how that makes parents and children feel as a consequence. My hope is that by raising awareness in schools, helping young people to become more aware, understanding and empathetic, we can consign such things to fiction. Many thanks. We now turn to the open debate, and I call Nanette Mellon to be followed by Christian Allard. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I also extend my thanks to my North East colleague Mark MacDonald for once again sponsoring a debate on autism. Over the period of this Parliament, we have looked at many aspects of understanding and coping with the condition, such as relaxed cinema and theatre performances, which have made such a difference to people, especially children, in enjoying pursuits that most of us take for granted. The motion before us this evening moves the campaign to raise awareness of autism to a new and, to my mind, an exciting level. The focus today is on the roles that our schools across the UK can play in assisting their pupils in their understanding of autism. I was interested to learn that the approach taken by the National Autistic Society is not through lecturing but through activities that could be described as enjoyable, as well as educational. This very much complements the autism toolbox that was launched a few years ago and already mentioned this evening, which is designed to support education authorities, schools and preschools in the delivery of service and planning for children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders. The purpose of the toolbox is very much focused on supporting the inclusion of children and young people with ASD in mainstream education services in Scotland. It also introduces and describes some of the more common challenges that a pupil with autism might face. As Alasdair Allan, the Minister for Learning, said, the toolbox will help managers and teachers to review their practice, as well as providing advice on building relationships with parents and carers to create an inclusive environment that allows all pupils to learn and thrive. The innovative approach taken by the National Autistic Society, both at UK and Scottish levels, regarding how children in schools view autism, is to be applauded. I was very impressed by the availability of resource packs that identify ways in which fundraising activities can be made fun for pupils and staff. The guide provides many suggestions that schools can engage in. If I was a teacher, I would probably happily take part in the bake sale, although I would be less than enthusiastic in being part of the ones that are on Wednesday. Having said that, I think that this non-uniform day is a great way to bring students and staff together. The impressive work that is done by the National Autistic Society in preparing an A to Z of proposed activities demonstrates that the charity takes very seriously this special week, designed to raise the awareness of autism in schools as part of their overall strategy in raising awareness of the condition. However, the NAS does not lose sight of the underlying importance of those activities. For far too long, we have ignored how children with autism feel in an environment that does not always know how to approach them. Therefore, this form of initiative is crucial in educating pupils to be inclusive and to learn to understand the problems that some of their classmates may face on a day-to-day basis. There is an inspiring book called 10 Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, on which one of those 10 things is that it may look like I don't want to play with the other kids in the playground, but it may be that I simply do not know how to start a conversation or join in their play. Teach me how to play with others and encourage other children to invite me to play along. I might be delighted to be included. That, I think, is the sort of message that Schools Autism Awareness Week wants to get across. It is that children need to know that children on the autistic spectrum are no different. We cannot go back to an age when children with ASD are educated in separate facilities. Although that is not my final speech in this Parliament, it is the last of the 126 or so member's debates that I have contributed during my time as an MSP. I am pleased that the subject matter of it has been this often very poorly understood condition, which affects so many people, not least Mark MacDonald and his own family. I wish Mark and all those involved in raising awareness of autism all the very best for their future endeavour. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I would like to add my thanks to Mark MacDonald to bring this to the chamber. At the end of the day, I think that this Parliament has not been as good as it could have been regarding this initiative from the National Autistic Society Scotland. I think best kind of initiatives have to be celebrated and there is a time and place to do it. I am delighted to be part and to make a contribution on it. As Mark said, this lack of awareness and understanding is very much about all of us and how we can make sure that we live in a better society. This autism awareness week in school allows for having an understanding and an acceptance of different struggles we have to deal with and we have to reflect on this. There are a lot of schools all over Scotland who are doing better understanding of the effect of autism and to be mindful of its effects. I would take one example, the one in the Fresable Academy, which was quite celebrated and I was happy to see it in the local press. It kissed out the week by turning the school's clock's face purple to show the commitment to the first school's autism awareness week. One of the local councillors, Charles Birkin, commented on it and Charles will know a lot about it because he taught at the school before retiring and become a councillor. He did say that this awareness week can only be a good thing in removing some stigma which is associated with it and he would have, along these 43 years, he would have met a lot of people with autism when he was in Fresable School. Well done to the people of Fresable Academy. I think it's so important to make sure that this is replicated all across Scotland. But there are other schools who are doing fantastic well, cent on to the schools, or first, for example, a unique experience in an education setting for people with a wide range of abilities and additional support needs and a diagnostic of an autistic spectrum disorder. It's a fantastic school which we find in Inverry. It's in a quiet area of Inverry. It's got its very easy access for children who are taught there and I've been a councillor, of course, to provide transport for children and young people from three to 18 years old. So it's a very, very important school and other schools as well will, of course, be participating to this initiative. My land has her head. I'll join you as well in the North East. Now, what I would like to talk about the North East is something that an organisation, my mother-in-law knows very well, a charity, which is in my hometown of Westill and we are very, very proud to have a charity in our hometown of Westill. It's called Sensational Hall and it's doing fantastically great support for families, particularly families, to support young people with autism. And there is the two-season, season K, both of them co-founder. Season K herself is a member of the children one with autism and she's got a great experience and we are fighting very hard, particularly just now, as Mark Myddon will know, to secure a proper setting in the old schools in Westill and it's so important that we think about Westill and me living a long time in Westill, I think it's important to have that kind of charity to prove that can be a lot more inclusive of what I wish to do. Susan Strachan, the other co-founder, is of course very well qualified. She has a lot of interest in autism, in sensory issues and dyslexia and a development coordinator at the post-graduate certificate in autism and learning. So always people in the third sector organisation have got fantatic expertise and they can help a lot our local school understanding better what it's all about. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I will talk about last Wednesday round table but Mark Myddon will talk about in his contribution run by National Autistic Society Scotland in Dynamic Earth. I was very much impressed by the many organisations who took part in the group discussions and why this Parliament, they said, we asked why this Parliament has not done more for people in the autism spectrum. It was really an eye-opener for me and just the idea of looking people in the eyes, which is very difficult for some people and the spectrum. And more importantly maybe understanding that people with autism would react differently from other people with autism and I think it's something we'll have to understand that. It's not it's not an emerging group of people but it can reflect in different things depending of people. So that made me think, Presiding Officer, that it's not an autism friendly society but it should thrive but maybe a people friendly Scotland is what we will need because it's about people more than anything else. Presiding Officer. Many thanks and can I now invite Jamie Hepburn to respond to the debate ministers, seven minutes or so? Thank you very much Presiding Officer and can I begin by thanking my friend Mark McDonald for initiating this debate today to mark the first schools autism awareness week. Mark McDonald's contribution is of course entirely consistent with the tremendous work that he has done to raise the profile of issues around autism across his time as a member in this. I want to thank him for that work that he highlighted very clearly, the importance of ensuring that autism is better understood in our schools. I agree with entirely. I thank those other members who have contributed to the debate this evening. All have done so with genuine interest in raising awareness of autism in schools. All have highlighted the importance of doing so. I thought that the point that Christian Allard finished on, they are very eloquently made the point that we want to create a people friendly environment in Scotland. That of course has to include those with a diagnosis of autism. Members might forgive me, at least I hope they will, if I focus in particular on Dr Milne's contribution. She has confirmed that this is not her last contribution in this part. I rather suspect that it may be the last contribution that she makes in a debate that I will be taking part in with her. I think that it is opportune of me to remark on that fact in advance of her retirement. I have to say that I am disappointed that she will not be able to take part in the Scottish Parliament once a Wednesday. I think that we should hold in future, although she will of course be very welcome if she brings any produce for the bake sale that we can have. I wish her the very best for the future as she moves on to the next chapter in her life. I also thank the National Statistics Society for the work that it is undertaking in general to highlight schools' autism awareness week. I was very pleased to meet the Society last week, along with Mark McDonald. I am hugely impressed by its on-going commitment to support people with autism. That is, of course, a commitment that expands over two decades. This is its 20th anniversary, which I think that we should remark on. As part of the discussion that I had with the Society and Mr McDonald last week, we of course touched on the suggestion that there may be a cross-party group on autism pending the results of the election and so on. Clearly, the establishment of any cross-party group is not a matter for the Government, but I can say that, of course, if any such cross-party group is established, we, as a Government, would be very willing to engage with such a group. The resources that have been produced for schools as part of this school's autism awareness week are fantastic. I very much hope that teachers and pupils across Scotland will enjoy taking part to raise awareness of what it is that I am delighted to hear that there has been such a high uptake from schools, which is very encouraging indeed. The Government is committed to improving the lives of people with autism in 2011. We launched the Scottish strategy for autism. We are now halfway through this 10-year strategy, while there is still much to be achieved. I would be the first to concede that. We have come some way to ensure that people with autism are better able to participate in all aspects of community and society in which they love work. Socialise is essential that work associated with the strategy improves the outcomes of individuals with autism. As I set out in yesterday's member's business debate on the work of Hamilton and the Academical Football Club, it is community work where it has a group to support families and carers of a person with autism. Our priorities are that people with such a diagnosis have a healthy life, choice and control, independence and active citizenship, just as we would wish for all of Scotland's citizens contributing towards that people-friendly environment that Christian Allard spoke of. Today, we are marking schools' autism awareness week, and I am delighted that the autism toolbox, which is funded by the Scottish Government, is also being used in schools across Scotland. Mark McDonald set out that this toolbox aims to support the inclusion of children and young people with autism and mainstream education services in Scotland, right across the country. It is a resource that provides relief case studies from Scottish schools, which can be translated and used by others. The autism toolbox demonstrates some of the positive work that is going on across the country to support autistic children at school. As a Government, we have a clear ambition for all of Scotland's children and young people. We want them all to be able to get the most from the learning opportunities that are available, so that they can flourish in learning and working in life. Through getting it right for every child and curriculum for excellence, that ambition can be achieved. An important part of our approach is the recognition that all young people are different from one person, whether with autism or without is the same as the next. Another approach is to enable young people to maximise their capabilities. In doing so, it is recognised that sometimes additional support may be required. The Education, Additional Support for Learning Scotland Act 2004 provides a framework for the provision of support for learning in Scotland. That act aims to ensure that all children and young people are provided with the necessary support to help them to work towards achieving their full potential. It promotes collaborative working among all professionals who support children and young people. We know that parents and carers are the most important and influential people in their children's lives. When they are involved in their child's education, everyone benefits. We want all parents and carers to have the opportunity to be equal partners in their child's education. Curriculum for Excellence provides teachers with the flexibility and freedom to that teaching practice to meet the individual needs of all learners. We want all children in Scotland to have the support that they need, regardless of their own individual circumstances. That is why the Scottish Government has invited the National Parent Forum to lead a review of the 2006 Parental Involvement Act of Review activity. We will begin shortly and it is vital that parents of children with autism are supported to take part in this work. We want all children to be happy and to reach their full potential. I am sure that we can all remember what it was like as a young person trying to find your way in life for young people with additional support needs. That can be more challenging. Young people with autism often tell us that a lack of understanding of their condition can be one of the biggest challenges that they faced at school. At an event last week that was organised by the National Autistic Society, many young people spoke about what it is like to have autism and how other people's attitudes made them feel they want to be understood and accepted for who they are. That emphasises the importance of how all children should be aware of autism. I hope that schools' autism awareness week results in greater awareness, understanding and sensitivity towards children and young people coping with autism. I believe that together all of us with an interest in this area and that surely all of us can work collectively to that end. Thank you very much for doing all that. Many thanks. Had I not been presiding over this debate, I would have wished to participate in it. That concludes Mark McDonald's debate on schools' autism awareness week. I now close this meeting of Parliament.