Newhaven: Specialist facility proposed to support children with autism

The proposal from East Sussex County Council (ESCC) would establish the facility from September 1, accommodating up to 8 pupils.

Councillor Sean MacCleod said: “The plans announced by ESCC are welcome and it’s great that a school with such a brilliant special educational needs department are being offered this chance to have a specialist area in Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD).”

According to ESCC, the number of school aged children and young people aged 4 to 19 in East Sussex with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) has been rising steeply in recent years, by 12% from 2018 to 2022. The group with the biggest increase is those with ASD.

Cllr MacCleod added: “More does need to be done across East Sussex as currently the waiting list for an autism referral is more than 2 years, which is quite frankly unacceptable when most children will need to get an EHCP in place after that, which is also a time-consuming process. We need to find ways to get waiting lists down and improve care and this looks to me like a positive step in the right direction.”

The ESCC proposal states: “Specialist facilities promote an ethos of inclusion and help integrate their pupils into the mainstream school for as much of their learning time as their needs allow.”

The consultation period for the proposal runs from January 13 to Friday, February 10 and can be accessed via the ESCC website.

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