Biography
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall has engaged extensively on learning disability, autism, and mental health through seven debate speeches, primarily raising questions about educational provision and teacher training. Her contributions focus on interconnected issues including gender differences in autism diagnosis, the link between unidentified special educational needs and mental health problems, bullying of neurodivergent children, and access to specialist support within mainstream schooling. She has consistently queried government efforts to ensure teachers understand how to support young people with spectrum disorders and identified needs.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
“…To what extent are those teachers able to contribute to the way in which we provide for young people with special educational needs now?…”
Record by topic
- Learning disability & autism307th of 89912.0
- Mental health481st of 8806.0
What they’ve said
“…I commend the Government for the work they are doing in the SEND area; it is very difficult and complicated. However, does my noble friend accept that if these needs are not identified and addressed, they can give rise to other problems of a more behavioural nature, which are just as challenging to deal with if they ar…”
Special Educational Needs: Dyscalculia · 2026-03-10 · Read on Hansard ↗
“My Lords, does my noble friend accept that autism and ADHD often present differently in boys and girls? Girls are frequently underdiagnosed and under-understood, because their behaviour can sometimes be challenging in a completely different way.”
Autistic Children: State Schools · 2025-10-23 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…on between removing children from mainstream schooling and leaving them there, which is that some children with special educational needs should be able to access support alongside their mainstream schooling? Once a condition has been identified, parents who can do so will often look to access that in the private secto…”
Schools: Special Educational Needs · 2025-03-20 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…me—going back to a point that the noble Lord, Lord Storey, raised about bullying—that children with observable mental health problems, or who are on the autism spectrum, are very often vulnerable to bullying in schools, and sometimes that will exacerbate the challenges that they already have? In what way are the Gover…”
Primary Schools: Mental Health Problems · 2025-02-04 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Government plan to do specifically for young people with spectrum disorders, such as autism and ADHD? They can do well in mainstream schooling, but often do not because their needs are not recognised soon enough, and they can then present with mental health disorders on top of their spectrum disorders.”
Schools: Mental Health and Poor Attendance · 2024-07-24 · Read on Hansard ↗
Contributions reproduced under the Open Parliament Licence.