Callum is a lively five-year-old from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. These are just a few examples of the daily communication challenges he faces as an autistic/non-verbal person. Grant Callum’s dad Grant is really alarmed that there is no speech and language therapy (SLT) provision at Redburn, Callum’s special needs school. The purpose of this school was to serve specifically children who have significant communication needs.
Since Callum began primary school last summer, his condition has become much more painful – both emotionally and physically – for him and his family. Most of the time, he doesn’t have the words to tell us what he needs and he gets extremely frustrated when he feels disoriented in his environment. Until fairly recently, Callum received special education provision in the form of one-to-one speech and language therapy at nursery, but this vital support has been thrown off track.
Grant had thought that, like at home, Callum was getting this kind of one-on-one support in school. He would later learn that Callum’s therapist was on long-term sick leave. This deepened lack of support left his son without the crucial resources he needed for over a year.
“He’s not able to communicate to people the things that he needs,” Grant said, underscoring a major challenge faced by Callum. “To try to put yourself in his shoes and say how would you feel trying to survive in the world without being able to communicate?”
Callum, age five, with short, blond hair. He’s usually wearing the same red sweater or grey sweater with a cartoon dinosaur in a Santa hat. These little touches stand in stark contrast to the major obstacles he must contend with every day.
Grant and his family have sought out private therapists to help care for and develop Callum’s unique needs. Grant is irritated that they should have to pay for a service that ought to be provided free to every child in Scotland. “We’ve gone and used private therapists but why should we pay for a service that should be a right for every child in Scotland?” he questioned.
This lack of speech and language therapy at Redburn has had parents and educators concerned, to say the least. Featured parent Fiona Michie agreed with Grant, emphasizing how badly we need services like this. Beyond reimagining what these schools should look like—we need more speech and language specialists in these schools to even begin to provide the children what they need. It truly is one of the most important things they need.
Even through the pandemic difficulties that children such as Callum are going through, the powers that be know what’s happening. In response, a spokeswoman for North Lanarkshire Council said it was continuing to face challenges in recruitment of speech and language staff. “There are UK-wide challenges in recruitment of speech and language staff, and we continue to work closely with colleagues at NHS Lanarkshire to assist in mitigating these,” she stated.
The Scottish government has shown similar awareness, calling for better support structures. A spokesman mentioned, “As laid out in the Programme for Government, we will publish an Early Years Speech and Language action plan by autumn 2025, which will set our practical steps to support children’s early speech and language development.” This new initiative is meant to provide a framework for filling the gaps in supports and resources that are often lacking for children who need the most support.
Here’s the crux—many parents think what’s being done isn’t enough. A resident noted that “Everything is such a fight for children with additional support needs and as a community we are just exhausted with everything we need to fight for.”
District and state leaders would pay to hear honest testimony from educators like Glenn Carter, who’ve described the fallout of insufficient support on students and teachers alike. “There are kids experiencing significant challenges in school and that causes behavioural issues, which in turn causes stress for teachers,” he explained.
“He’s due that, he’s got a human right to be able to have it, to give him the tools he needs to be able to survive in this world,” he expressed passionately.
