Valerie and Lola's story

 “I went into school armed with a book about education rights. The headteacher looked me in the eye and said, ‘You absolutely have a legal right. But we don’t have the resources.'

Lola became poorly in 2023. We had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

Things were very difficult for Lola at school.  And then she developed anorexia. We suspect it was a form of self-harm in response to those difficulties.

It’s just the two of us. I’m a lone parent. She couldn’t be left, so I stopped working and became Lola’s full‑time carer.

It was financially catastrophic for us, we relocated to Galashiels to be closer to family.

Lola attended a facility for kids with eating disorders. While she was getting treatment, she could access the day school and the tutors, who were hugely beneficial.

But it’s only for kids that access that service, so when she left that service, she couldn’t access the day school anymore. So that was taken away again.

It made it worse, if you like.

Because she had this extra layer of anxiety about being denied the education she so wanted. Lola’s very bright. And it was really hard for her not to have access to education.

We knew she had a legal right, but that made no difference.

I went into school armed with a book about education rights. The headteacher looked me in the eye and said,

“You absolutely have a legal right. But we don’t have the resources.”

There was no provision for us. We got an outreach service for one hour a week. That was it. I think that might be changing, but it’s not changing quick enough.

We secured a little bit of money from social work. It was supposed to be for “anything that would benefit Lola”. It could have paid for activities or maybe a little break.

But we ended up paying for Lola to have a maths education when she was legally entitled to have that anyway. That really didn’t sit well with me. Lola was so keen to learn and she really wanted to try her hardest - we had no choice.

Now, Lola attends a college for pupils whose learning has been interrupted, up in Midlothian. It’s mostly young people who are autistic, or who have had health problems. She’s been there since she turned sixteen. It’s very nurturing, very supportive.

There’s no provision for that here, nothing at all in our area. It takes about forty‑five minutes each way. People commute every day — it’s not the end of the world. But it’s costing an absolute fortune in diesel. Lola gets an Education Maintenance Allowance.  It’s supposed to help with college costs. But most of it goes into the car. It’s not really covering the cost.

Soon she’ll move to advanced education, so we’ll lose the child element of universal credit. But because she won’t be 18 yet, she can’t claim in her own name as an adult. We’ll lose hundreds of pounds a month. None of it makes any sense.
And it’s a long day. We’re up early, sometimes she’s just asleep on the drive home.

When you’re fatigued, that’s a lot. Even if you can do the work, the thought of travelling, getting up, showering, presenting yourself — that can be really hard some days.

Lola’s dream is to go to Edinburgh University to study politics and economics. She’s so passionate about the idea of rights - making sure society isn’t discriminatory when people need more support."

This is an excerpt from the SHRC's report on economic, social and cultural rights in the South of Scotland. ESC rights touch on every part of our daily lives and often have an impact on one another. The stories in this report demonstrate how human rights issues can affect people's lives.