A CAMPAIGNING Port Glasgow mum who has a four-year-old daughter with learning disabilities is organising demonstrations across Scotland to fight for an end to a postcode lottery in education — after creating a 3,500-strong team.
Passionate Heather Reid, the founder of an online action group, is fighting to improve the life chances of every child with additional support needs (ASN).
Her group ASN Reform Scotland is calling for more resources and teacher training in schools as they take their cause to education secretary Jenny Gilruth.
Heather, whose daughter Ella-Rose attends Hillend Children's Centre, a nursery which specialises in additional support needs, is also setting up a parents group.
The mum-of-two, who lives in Stanton Square in Port Glasgow, said: "It is a postcode lottery out there. We are very lucky in Inverclyde that additional support needs provision is very good. But sadly not everywhere is so lucky, and in some places there is no provision at all.
"We have Hillend, which is a fantastic nursery and the staff are incredible. We also have Craigmarloch School and a communication unit at All Saints.
"We are asking for reform so that every child has the same chances.
"But there is so much more that we need to do."
Since setting up the group during the pandemic, Heather now has 3,500 members and has won support in parliament, recently meeting with Ms Gilruth.
Determined Heather, 37, said: "There needs to funding and resources put into ASN but it is not just about that. It is about changing priorities and attitudes. There are some simple changes that can take place and would make a real difference.
’"Every school gets ASN funding but there seems to be no way of knowing what it is spent on. There needs to be accountability.
"I was shocked to find out that there is hardly any additional support needs training on teachers courses before they graduate. They spend half a day on ASN education when training to be teachers, even though the numbers diagnosed with ASN are increasing.
"That needs to change and we want to get the message out there.
"There is no first aid training in additional support needs, which worries me. This could be as simple as helping with anxiety or a panic attack.
"Children with additional support needs don't react to pain in the same way."
Heather added: "We have 3,500 in the group, which is unbelievable and shows you the need out there. Parents just want to talk to other parents."
Ella-Rose, who is non-verbal and has a range of complex disabilities, has secured a place in Craigmarloch School next year.
Heather said: "If I didn't get a place for her in Craigmarloch I would have home schooled her. Ella-Rose could not have coped in a unit in a mainstream school.
"But that option is just not there for so many."
Through ASN Reform Scotland Heather has organised demonstrations across the country and outside the Scottish Parliament.
She said: "We are not going in all guns blazing, we just want to fix things and move forward."
They have won the support of MSPs including Pam Duncan-Glancy and Foysol Choudhury, who organised a drop-in at Holyrood.
The group managed to get a meeting with the education secretary Jenny Gilruth in the hope of affecting change.
But Heather is continuing to fight, with a project coming up in Inverclyde early next year.
The determined campaigner, who also has a two-year-old daughter Ava- Mae, is also keen to create a community in Inverclyde.
She said: "I am setting up a parents group at Craigmarloch, we are going to meet in different places.
"Geographically, parents from Craigmarloch come from all over Inverclyde, so it is hard to build a link. But we want to change that."
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