Shaping policies that impact neurodivergent people

The Trust contributes to public consultations (run by the Scottish Government or a Committee of The Scottish Parliament) on issues salient to our practice, the people for whom we advocate, and neurodivergence more broadly. We produce ad hoc briefings on important subjects as appropriate, too, outlining our positions on key issues.

We are pleased to respond to the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s Call for Views on the (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill.

The positive impact that personalised, skills-based approaches to learning – of which outdoor learning and residential visits are two – can have on the development of children and young people cannot be overstated. We believe this is especially true of neurodivergent people, whose social-communicatory differences are such that their ability to learn (or even be present) in ‘mainstream’ educational settings can be greatly diminished by the lack of reasonable adjustments on offer.

Embracing alternative approaches to education is central in our ethos as The National Body for Neurodiversity; harnessing them in order to support the young people enrolled at our Grant-Aided Special School and using our services is central to our practice.

Whilst developing this written response, we incorporated the thoughts and experiences of educators at our Grant-Aided Special School.

You can read our full response below.