MSPs this week shared heartbreaking stories of pupils with autism who became suicidal after struggling at school.

Glasgow Conservative MSP Annie Wells talked of Rachel, “a girl who was only diagnosed with autism at 14” and had “no transitional support when starting secondary school”.

“The school was unsure of how to support her, and she believed that the support that she did receive was in line with punishments for non-autistic individuals. Rachel ultimately felt suicidal,” she said.

Uddingston and Bellshill SNP MSP Richard Lyle spoke of one P7 pupil whose long-running struggles in formal education led to him becoming suicidal, at a time when he had many absences from school, his mental health had become “very poor” and “anxiety about school became a daily struggle”.

Both were speaking at a Scottish Parliament debate promoted by a shocking report published in September. The report Not Included, Not Engaged, Not Involved, was jointly produced by Children in Scotland, the National Autistic Society Scotland and Scottish Autism.

Edinburgh Southern Labour MSP Daniel Johnson, who led the debate, said: “Most shocking to me was hearing about the experiences of young people being forcibly taken from their classrooms and put into a 12ft by 12ft windowless soft room because of their behaviour.

“That is what is happening to some children today, in Scotland, in our schools. We need to make this debate the first step towards ending those experiences.”

Education secretary and deputy first minister John Swinney, responding to the problems highlighted by MSPs, said they were caused by more than a lack of funding, although he did cite the “acutely challenging” situation, given “the financial approach that has been taken by the Conservative government in London … since 2010”.

Swinney said: “We kid ourselves if we think that all this is simply about resources. Resources are a significant issue, but there are significant issues about attitudes and ethos that are relevant in the consideration of these questions.”