East Ayrshire parents outraged as council scraps ASN summer scheme

Parents in East Ayrshire are hitting out at the council's decision to scrap a summer activities scheme for children with additional support needs.

Two weeks ago, East Ayrshire council informed parents of children ASN and disabilities that their usual summer scheme will no longer be continued, but instead a newly re-modelled programme will be available instead.

Concerns activities on offer won't be suitable for all children

However, the short notice came as a shock to one mother. Jayne Sangster says her 14-year-old son with autism depends heavily on routine and familiarity. Every summer Cameron usually attends the summer activities scheme at Willowbank school.

Now that his regular summer routine is to be scrapped, Jayne who is a local district nurse, was forced to look at some of the activities on offer in the new programme, but she was shocked at the descriptions.

She tells Clyde 1: “They’re offering sports like autism friendly badminton. Even a simple Google search would tell you that the majority of young people with autism have very poor hand/eye co-ordination and therefore a sport like badminton is probably one of the worst you could provide for them to participate in.

“Another example, ASN boxing! Really? When a lot of us parents have spent our lives trying to teach our children with challenging behaviours about having “kind hands” and teaching them NOT to punch, either people or walls or doors or even themselves! And I don’t even know what a “Disability Road Show” is.

"Putting words like 'autism friendly' in front of activities doesn't make them suitable"

“Putting words like autism friendly, ASN, or disability in front of a sporting activity doesn’t mean it will be suitable. All we want is for our children to be safe.

“I think a lot of parents won’t be taking their children to the new activities as there is no guarantee of their suitability.

“Cameron thrives on routine and is uncomfortable around people he isn’t familiar with. He is going to find the next seven weeks during the summer very difficult, as am I as a parent and other parents too. Because that routine will be taken away from him. What the council have offered just falls very short of what these kids need.”

Clyde 1 News contacted East Ayrshire Council for comment on the new programme. They said that while they recognise some of the new activities may be unsuitable for children with ASN, the old model was heavily criticised for its inclusivity.

Council says it wants to offer a better range of activities for all children

A spokesperson said: “The remodelled Summer Scheme aims to provide a greater range and location of activities across East Ayrshire for young people in both mainstream and ASN settings.

“Over 400 fun activity sessions for children and young people will be on offer this summer but it is absolutely recognised that not all activities will be suitable for all young people.

“Parents and carers of young people with ASN have been invited to contact their schools to commission specific activities where these are needed. The previous programme had received significant criticism for not including all families of young people with ASN and the new model seeks to ensure that all families of pupils with ASN have a menu of activities and locations, as well as the commissioning offer.

“It is worthy of note that the education service is not responsible statutorily for the provision of summer activities or respite care for young people but has always sought to do so in recognising the difficulties that some families can face over the extended summer break.”

Cameron’s mum Jayne has since filed complaints with the council and received a similar response but says some of the information she’s received is contradictory.

"This is about our children having the same rights as any other child"

Jayne has also started an online petition to ‘get it right for every child’ and re-instate the summer scheme at Cameron’s school, Willowbank.

However, she rejected the councils’ comments on claiming parents are seeking respite.

She added: “The whole situation is very confusing, because on one hand I’m being told this has nothing to do with the schools or education, but on another hand, I’m being ‘invited’ to contact Willowbank to see if they will commission services to our children’s needs.

“East Ayrshire council say it’s not their responsibility to provide respite. That’s not what this is about.

“This is about our children having the same rights as any other child, to be able to play, to be able to have fun in an environment they’re familiar with, and for us as parents to be secure in the knowledge they’re safe.”

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