Scottish schools have seen another rise in the number of children with additional support needs. Some would say we’re getting too quick to label children, but seeing children’s individual needs more clearly can only be a good thing, writes Rebecca McQuillan. We just have to get better at supporting them.

So the numbers are up again. The latest Scottish Government figures show that 43% of school children now have an identified additional support need like autism, dyslexia or having caring responsibilities, a record high.

These spiralling figures have been the subject of debate for years. Some speculate that the problem is less about pupils’ actual needs than zealotry for labelling kids who are just struggling academically or a bit disruptive – stuff that used to be considered perfectly normal. Calling it “additional needs”, so this argument goes, is just increasing the burden on schools and teachers, who can’t cope. There’s also disquiet about a perceived over-focus on these children supposedly to the detriment of those who don’t have additional needs.

The proportion of children recorded as having an additional support need (ASN) in Scotland is around double the proportion with special educational needs (SEN) in England. This feeds the suspicions of some that Scotland is overdiagnosing kids.

If only it were that simple. If only the answer were just changing the accounting system and going back to the days when children’s needs weren’t recorded except in more severe cases. That would certainly make it look as if the challenge were being met; it would certainly make it look as if pressures were easing on........

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