5. Will the Minister make a statement on support for pupils on the autistic spectrum in schools? OAQ53556

Diolch yn fawr, Llyr. I am committed to ensuring all pupils with autism in schools can reach their full potential. Our ambitious ALN reforms will completely overhaul the existing system for supporting learners, and will put in place an integrated, collaborative process of assessment, planning and monitoring of support that is made available.

Thank you for that response. Of course, following the scrutiny work on the Autism (Wales) Bill that came before us a little while ago, one of the recommendations of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, of course, to the Government was that it should be a requirement for all members of staff in schools, particularly teachers and classroom assistants, to receive training in autism awareness during their initial teacher training. Now, this is something that the National Autistic Society in Wales has been calling for; it is something that does happen in England as a formal part of that initial teacher training there. Will you, therefore, adopt a similar policy in Wales, accept the recommendation made by the health committee—which, of course, is a cross-party committee—and take an important step in ensuring that children on the autistic spectrum do receive the best possible support to achieve their educational potential?

Of course, Llyr, we need to make sure that any individual leaving our ITE provision is properly equipped with the skills and the knowledge to be able to help all of our children. Special—additional learning needs is an important part of our ITE reform. I think we would all agree that, in the past, sometimes, issues relating to ALN have been scant in initial teacher education, and we need that to change. We also need to make sure that teachers already in the system have access to professional learning, so that they can improve their skills where needed. And that's why we've made significant amounts of money available to individual schools to be able to address their professional learning needs, as well as the £20 million available for the implementation of the new ALN legislation, to ensure our schools are equipped so that all children, regardless of their diagnosis, or in some cases a non-diagnosis, can reach their full potential.

My casework is full of families in crisis because children's communication, social, sensory and processing needs have not been understood, not been identified. I've got children who've not been in school for months, even years, without alternative provision being put in place. I've got a girl of 11, who the council is insisting has a male taxi driver. Because of her autism, she cannot have a male taxi driver, so they think they can somehow transition her over to having a male taxi driver. I've got children excluded from school because of autistic meltdown caused by the behaviour towards them. Only this week, an e-mail from a mum whose son has autistic traits:

'After a meeting with the school, we specifically discussed my son's use of swear words. The CAMHS specialist clearly backed up my explanation that my son is unhappy about these anxiety attacks, but can't control that language choice when pushed past a certain point. But the head of year was insistent on the school's policy towards bad language, and that he believes it cannot go unpunished.'

It's all very well waiting to see whether legislation works. But what urgent action can we take to stop these children being branded as 'naughty', and to start identifying their needs, and adapting to those needs, before they hit crisis point?

I'm very sorry, Mark, to hear of the experiences that you've outlined in the Chamber this afternoon. And I know that you will not be the only Assembly Member who has had similar casework arriving in their postbag. That's the very reason why we have needed to change our ALN system, because the current system, in some cases, is not meeting the needs of individual children and their families. And that's why we have got the implementation plan that we have, as we transition out of the old system into the new system. I cannot comment on any individual cases, but I'm always very clear to Members that, if there are cases where they feel I can be of assistance, I'm happy to do what I can.