Driving Change in Scottish Education: A Visit from Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee

As the National Body for Neurodiversity, we’re committed to influencing national policy and advocating alongside neurodivergent people and their families.

That’s why we were delighted to welcome MSPs from Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee to our campus last week.

During the visit, MSPs met and spoke with people we support, their families, and teachers and practitioners from across our services. These conversations offered a powerful opportunity for our community to share their stories and experiences with those with a role in shaping Scotland’s education landscape.

Reflecting on the visit in Parliament last week, Douglas Ross MSP said:

“During the visit, we were able to see the Trust’s campus, meet practitioners and some of the people the Trust supports, and find out more about the approaches that the Trust uses to help neurodivergent people to access education… We discussed the proposed changes to the law on the use of restraint and seclusion… and I place on the record our grateful thanks to everyone we met at Donaldson’s for their help with our visit and for contributing their views on the bill.”

We know that ensuring neurodivergent people have equal opportunities and fair treatment in education matters deeply to those we support. This visit gave people we support a chance to show the Education, Children and Young People Committee why creating learning environments where every neurodivergent person feels understood, supported and able to thrive is so important.

We are grateful to everyone who took part and shared their story — and showed how the right understanding and support can make a difference. Most importantly, visits like this give the people we support and their families a chance to speak directly to the people shaping decisions that affect them.