Local authorities across Scotland are coming under increasing pressure to provide more specialist places for pupils with autism.

Charities have told The Herald that hundreds of pupils who would benefit from a specialist unit are missing out every year because councils are not funding enough places.

They say local authorities often use the argument that there is a lack of space as a reason why a child has to be taught in a mainstream class.

However, councils argue that not all children who have conditions such as autism need specialist places and that joining a mainstream class is often better for their long-term development.

The row has come to a head after a court case involving Ross McLaughlin, a 12-year-old Glasgow pupil with autism.

Ross was assessed as requiring a specialist place when he moved from Caledonia Primary School, in Baillieston, Glasgow, to nearby Bannerman High School.

He was then told there was no place for him because the unit, which caters for 12 pupils, was full, and that he would have to be supported in a mainstream classroom on a temporary basis.

His parents, James and Carol, from Baillieston, were concerned he would not be able to cope and sought legal advice from the education law unit of the Glasgow-based Govan Law Centre, who took a case against Glasgow City Council.

The case was based on the premise that Glasgow had failed in its underlying duty to make "adequate and efficient" provision for Ross's needs.

Glasgow initially contested the action, but, a few days before the court hearing, Ross was offered a place in the unit at Bannerman High.

Mrs McLaughlin said they were delighted Ross had been accepted, but said it should not have taken legal action for the council to offer him the place he needed.

"Ross doesn't like large groups of people or loud noises and he can get stressed in those type of situations," she said.

"We were very concerned about him going to Bannerman High because he was used to a much smaller setting. Being in a class of strangers and having to find his way around the school, with all the noise and confusion, would have been too much.

"Being part of the autism base at the school will allow him to settle in and find his feet and he can then gradually be introduced to the mainstream setting."

Iain Nisbet, a solicitor from the education law unit, said the law was clear that education authorities had a duty to make adequate provision for children with additional support needs - and that costs could not be an easy excuse for failing to do so.

"It is a continuing source of frustration that education authorities have not made the necessary arrangements to accommodate the needs of all of their autistic pupils, leading to an annual lucky dip for parents seeking places," he said.

"Unless all authorities take action to increase the number of places, this will not be the last legal challenge brought on these grounds."

Carol Evans, national director of the National Autism Society for Scotland, agrees. She said: "Children with special educational needs, such as autism, are some of the most vulnerable and excluded groups within our school system.

"All too often, a child with autism is placed in an unsuitable setting, going completely against a person-centred approach to the child's current and future needs."

However, John Stodter, general secretary of the Association of Directors of Education, said: "Local authorities are trying to equip children with additional needs with the necessary skills to allow them to have an independent future.

"There has been a shift in thinking in recent times that putting someone in a specialised service where other children have the same difficulties does not always serve their long-term needs.

"It may look to the parents as if they will get the best specialist provision within a unit, and there will be circumstances where that is true, but it is not always the case."