A Renfrewshire councillor with an autistic son has launched a campaign to make the area a more welcoming place for children with the condition.

Karen Devine-Kennedy has put forward a motion that will be considered at a full council meeting tomorrow, asking for communication boards to be installed in local parks.

The boards have a number of images and symbols on them that help kids with autism say how they are feeling and what they want to do.

As autism is a spectrum, children with the condition face a variety of different challenges but most find it hard to communicate their emotions and some don’t speak at all.

Karen, whose 15-year-old son Callum used the boards when he was younger, said having them at parks would help carers and parents massively, as autistic children can often have “meltdowns” when they are trying to express their feelings.

The Paisley Northwest councillor added: “I just know having these boards would help a lot. When my son was younger, it would’ve helped if I had a carer taking him out, just to avoid meltdowns.

“He didn’t speak a lot when he was younger and he used boards quite a bit.

“We want all kids to be able to use the parks and these boards are really handy for carers who perhaps don’t know the child so well.

“Kids are used to using these boards at schools and nursery but, outside of that, you don’t see them much.

“Everybody thinks parks are accessible for all these days but there’s a lot of disabilities that are not visible.

“The government have given councils money to do up parks and I would like to see this being included in our plans so they are more inclusive.

“It’s also about normalising autism. Everyone knows someone who is autistic and I think the more people are curious and see people using the boards, the more understanding there will be.”

Karen was inspired by work done in Peterborough after the council there decided to install a communication board at a park to help non-verbal children.

Her motion – which has been seconded by Renfrew South councillor Edward Grady – reads: “Council commends the work of Peterborough Council in helping its autistic residents and joins with it in the belief that people with autism deserve to be understood and heard and to live in an autism-friendly society where they can strive to be the best they can be without hidden or systemic barriers.

“Council resolves to install autistic community approved communication boards in all our parks and instructs our officers to bring a report to the next meeting of this council.”