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MORE than nine out of 10 children with learning difficulties have been bullied at school, a shocking report has found.

And seven out of 10 kids say their education has suffered as a result of being targeted.

The alarming findings are revealed by charity Enable Scotland as part of their Included in the Main campaign.

The survey also shows more than half of these children have been excluded from extra-curricular activities because of their issues with bullying and 82 per cent believed their school did not care about them.

Enable Scotland’s campaigns and policy manager Kayleigh Thorpe said: “We consistently hear bullying is a huge issue for people who have learning disabilities and we know that the experience of being bullied impacts your whole life.

“Around 95 per cent of young people who have taken part in our national conversation have told us bullying is part of their school life That is just not good enough.”

Parents of kids with learning difficulties were also surveyed.

Almost 80 per cent found dealing with schools “stressful” and 72 per cent described it as a “battle”.

Enable have launched hard-hitting anti-bullying campaigns, challenging the public to confront their own behaviour.

Kayleigh said: “We have specialist school resources to support young people to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviours and gain a better understanding about classmates who have learning disabilities.

“We also launched a campaign called Included in the Main focusing on finding out about the educational experiences for young people who have ­learning disabilities.”

Carol Burt runs the Paisley campaign group I Am Me, who help adults and ­children with mental and physical disabilities. She said: “If someone had told me several years ago that 95 per cent of disabled kids have been bullied, I wouldn’t have believed it.

“After working in this field, I now know just how widespread the problem is.

“Just three per cent of disability abuse gets reported to the authorities, and some of the biggest fears victims have is that they won’t be believed.

“Quite a lot of the time, youngsters don’t even realise the impact their language or name calling can have on others.

“It’s vital we continue to educate so they understand just what a fine line there is between bullying and disability hate crime.”

Carol believes education on disability bullying needs to start at primary school.

She said: “We’ve been gifted a bus by Stagecoach and we’re turning it into a mobile cinema so we can tour schools with our anti-bullying films so kids can see and understand.”

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland has applauded the recent restorative justice case involving Celtic fan Jay Beatty, 12, from Armagh.

A 14-year-old boy from Aberdeen was brought face to face with Jay – who has Down’s syndrome – after posting vile taunts about him online.

'They made my life hell in the playground'

(Image: Paul Chappells)

Nicola Young needed stitches in her face after her tormentors pushed her into a large pothole.

The schoolgirl was so distressed, she ended up quitting Bearsden Academy, near Glasgow, and went to college to finish her education.

Now 27, Nicola said: “When I was at school, three different groups of bullies called me horrible names and laughed at me because I have learning disabilities and my parents are both deaf.

“Name calling was horrible, but the worst thing was when I was about to go into fifth year, four older boys deliberately pushed me into a pothole. My face split open from my lip to my nose.

“The boys responsible were expelled from school. The headteacher asked if I wanted to come back but I was so upset, I just felt I couldn’t go back there.”

Nicola now works as an office administrator. She joined a drama class and ended up as an extra on BBC Scotland soap River City.

She said: “I just hope that now they are older, those boys will understand how their terrible behaviour affected my life.”

East Dunbartonshire Council said: “We have always dealt rigorously with allegations of this nature and we have a robust disciplinary policy in place to deal with harmful behaviour involving our pupils.”

'School wasn't a good place for me to be'

(Image: Mark Anderson)

Kieran Rankin, who has autism, found school “very difficult” when he was subjected to bullying.

The 17-year-old, from Blairdardie, Glasgow, said: “It was hard not to get hurt. I tried very hard to just ignore the bad things people would say.

“I used to tell my teachers what was happening, but quite a lot of the time nothing was done to stop it.”

Kieran, who left Knightswood Secondary in November, said: “I don’t miss it at all, it wasn’t a good place to be and I felt very alone a lot of the time.

“I did enjoy some classes, like design and manufacturing, but most of the time I was unhappy. I hope to go to college to learn to become a painter/decorator.”

Kieran’s mum Debbie said: “It was a struggle to get the school to provide the kind of support my son really needed. Because he is very quiet, it felt like he was just ignored and pushed to one side.

“We knew at primary school that Kieran had problems but when I raised concerns I was just told ‘that’s just Kieran’. He finally got an autism diagnosis in first year at secondary.”

Glasgow City Council said: “The school had a very good relationship with the family and offered Kieran all the support he needed,including during his transition to college.”

'I was punched and spat at by other pupils'

(Image: Mark Anderson)

Amber Macmillan has suffered bullying since primary school because of her autism.

The 17-year-old, from Glasgow’s Govanhill, said: “It really started in primary 5, when other pupils made me use all my pocket money to buy them sweets or they wouldn’t be my friend.”

Things got even nastier when she attended the autism unit at Hillpark Secondary. She said: “Other pupils would spit at me. By fourth year, I was being punched or elbowed in the face.”

Glasgow City Council said: “A decision was taken to move Amber to the autism unit at Govan High in order that her specific needs could be met more effectively.”