Holyrood committee demands action on neurodivergence support

The committee launched the inquiry after the delay to the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill. Having held formal and informal sessions in light of this delay, the committee agreed to focus on the challenges facing neurodivergent people in education, work and the criminal justice system

Throughout the inquiry the committee heard about the importance of, and difficulty of getting, a diagnosis of a neurodivergent condition.

Dr Jim Crabb from the Royal College of Psychiatrists told the committee that “[A] diagnosis can be incredibly powerful and validating; for some people, it can be life saving”, while Karbie Brook, from ARGH Scotland, told MSPs that prior to diagnosis: “I simply thought that I was a broken human, that I was no good at being human and that I did not really deserve to be here because what use was I anyway.”

The committee also heard that, in some situations, delays to diagnosis had led to people taking their own lives and concludes that this situation is “completely unacceptable”.

In its report, the committee warns that, with 43 percent of children in Scottish schools having an additional support need, action must be taken so that neurodivergence is not seen as a deficit.

The committee says that it is essential for young people to receive a diagnosis early in life and calls for the government to ensure that there is a long-term strategy and funding to ensure that Scotland has the workforce needed to be able to respond to the demand for diagnoses.

The report also explores the implementation gap between Scottish government policies and the “lived experience” of witnesses. The minister for social care and mental wellbeing
told the committee that the government was now recalibrating systems due to an unforeseen increase in demand. While the committee welcomes this, it urges the government to speak to people with lived experience to ensure services meet the needs of neurodivergent people.

Karen Adam MSP, convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, said: “Some of the testimony that we heard during this inquiry was devastating and, as we say in our report, as a country we cannot carry on like this.

“Our inquiry has found that we must fundamentally change as a society. The Scottish government must act urgently so that our public services understand distress, communication and difference properly, so that we can intervene early, reduce harm, and support better outcomes across education, health, employment and justice.

“I am also grateful to all those we heard from during our inquiry. We repeatedly heard about the barriers, stigma and discrimination faced by neurodivergent people, but having their views on the record shone a light on the scale of the problem.”