A local authority school for autistic children – the only one of its kind in the county – is on course to open in Haddington next summer.

Plans were revealed in April for a new £900,000 specialist education unit for older children with autism and severe communication problems.

The new secondary communications unit will be linked to Knox Academy and based in the vacant former Haddington Infant School building on the town’s Victoria Road.

Currently, there are autistic children who leave the county to be taught in similar facilities in Edinburgh or Midlothian.

Councillor Shamin Akhtar, the local authority’s children’s wellbeing and education spokeswoman, was delighted to see progress being made.

She said: “It is great news that we are funding a new secondary communication unit, which will be the first of its kind in East Lothian.

“Despite financial pressures, we remain committed to providing a secondary communication unit for young people which will be linked to the Knox Academy Campus.

“Whilst the majority of young people with communication difficulties will be supported in mainstream provision, the new specialist unit will offer an emotional and learning environment that provides children and young people with complex and enduring communication difficulties with an individualised experience.

“This will have a strong focus on helping them to develop the skills they need to be as independent as they can be in their adult life.

“Because the provision is linked into the Knox Academy Campus, we will be able to offer quite a range of opportunities for social and educational integration for pupils and staff.” The unit, which will be based in the main Victorian building of the former infant school, will cater for children and young people aged 11 to 18 years old.

It will cater primarily for youngsters with needs associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or communication difficulties.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council described those who would be attending as having “complex” needs and “requiring a highly individualised and highly adapted approach to teaching and learning”.

Tranent’s Ross High School and Musselburgh Grammar School both cater for children with complex needs but these units are both at full capacity.

However, the facility in Haddington will be the first in the county for youngsters of a secondary school age who are on the autism spectrum.

It will have a capacity for 18 pupils initially, with that number eventually increasing to 30.