A West Lothian mum has asked for more support as the teacher strikes impact her autistic child’s routine.
Across the country teachers are walking out following a dispute over pay and the last wave of strikes forced all West Lothian schools to close on Tuesday January 31, disrupting lessons once more.
While she supports the strike action and agrees that teachers should have better pay, Lisa Stevenson (39), from Bathgate, has spoken out over the disruption and “upset” it is causing her autistic son, Riley.
Riley (11) also has learning difficulties, she explains, and the change in routine is having a knock-on-effect, not only to Riley but to the family.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Lisa explained that the change in routine - going in on Monday, off Tuesday, then back in again for another three days then off for the weekend - upsets and frustrates Riley who attends Ogilvie School Campus in Livingston.
She said: “He can’t always vocalise or understand why he was in Monday but off on Tuesday. It isn’t being off school that upsets him, he quite likes it because he loves being with me, but is upsets his routine, he then wanted to be off on the Wednesday.
“On the Wednesday, when we were getting ready to go to school, he was crying, he was shouting, his language isn’t great so he was saying ‘no school, no school, no clothes!’ He was just shouting that at me, he didn’t want his school clothes on.
“It took some time to get him settled, and eventually I put some music on to help calm him and he was okay by the time he went into the taxi [that takes him to school], but it was that initial reaction of him realising he had to go to school after being off on the Tuesday.”
Lisa said: “I get why teachers are striking, and I know strikes are meant to be disruptive, but I just feel that the impact it’s having on our kids and the parents with kids who have special needs will be feeling it as well.
“It would be easier if it was a Friday or Monday, but I do understand why it’s not. It’s just really hard to see your kid upset.”
The mum-of-two admitted she had to take her older son, Cody, out of school for a couple of days to look after Riley during strike action earlier in January so that she could go to work, but said she didn’t want to have to do that again.
Lisa works a personal trainer for her own business, LS Fitness, and acknowledges that other parents are having to make changes and take unpaid leave during the industrial action. She also added that she knows she is in a better position than some since she can reschedule clients.
She explained that knowing when the strikes are far in advance are crucial so she can organise her work shifts. Since Lisa doesn’t want to send Riley into school for just one day for him to be off straight after, since it causes him so much stress, she is already looking at blocking out days of her work.
She added: “I’m just anxious at how Riley is going to cope with it and how if I need to keep him off an extra day to manage his distress, how is that going to impact my business moving forward. I’ve got clients, I could get new clients, so that’s someone else I need to accommodate. Knowing in advance as much as possible is important so that myself and other people can prepare for it.”
“The next strikes are Tuesday February 28 and Wednesday March 1, so I’m already thinking I need to book that Monday off work for Riley. But I know loads of parents are taking unpaid leave, it’s affecting everyone in different ways. Not everyone will be able to accommodate it unfortunately and it will hit other people harder than others.”
This comes after the teaching union rejected a fiver per cent pay rise as inflation rate hit 10.5 per cent in December 2022. Local authorities can’t control strike action or issue pay rises as this is agreed on a national level.
An EIS spokesperson: “Teachers do not want to be on strike, and are taking this action as an absolute last resort. The underfunding of education and cuts to resourcing and staffing continue to have a clear impact on the educational experience of young people and have piled ever more pressure on teaching staff.
“Education must be properly funded and resourced, and teachers must be fairly paid, to ensure that all young people can receive the high-quality education that they deserve. Teachers very much regret any impact on pupils as a result of strike action, and would urge the Scottish Government and COSLA to settle this dispute in the best interests of young people in our schools.”
A spokesperson for West Lothian Council said: “We appreciate that industrial action by teaching unions will cause significant disruption to the learning of our children and young people and have sympathy for parents and pupils – particularly those with complex and additional needs during periods of school absence.
“Our additional support team would be happy to discuss these issues with any parent that requires support, and offer advice and assistance with practical strategies that may help during this time.”
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