• Question: Do you think separating autistic children from mainstream education (for example in specialist schools for educational needs) is beneficial or detrimental to their development and well being?

    Asked by anon-183904 to Lorna on 5 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Lorna Camus

      Lorna Camus answered on 5 Nov 2018:

      Hi Sarah!

      That’s a really good question, and not an easy answer!

      I think it really depends on the child’s needs and on what the schools provide.
      Ideally, we want autistic children to be as included in school and society as they want to be. However, we find they are often excluded from school and then society, usually due to schools not having the right resources and them not getting the right education.

      On the one hand, mainstream schools can help autistic children learn skills for inclusion in society, and if proper support is provided, they can thrive in mainstream school. However, if the school does not have enough resources, and teachers do not have the right training, autistic students can end up excluded and missing out on a proper education.

      On the other hand, special schools often offer more acceptance and better understanding and training, and often have more appropriate support and resources for autistic students. However, they might contribute to the further segregation of autistic children from society if there is no effort for inclusion.

      So I can’t really say whether special schools are beneficial or detrimental to autistic children’s development and well-being, as I think this really depends on the school, the child and their specific needs. You can check out the National Autistic Society’s page on education and inclusion here for some more info: https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/media-centre/position-statements/education-and-inclusion.aspx

      Sorry I can’t give you a definitive answer, but hopefully we will continue to research this and find a clearer answer to this!

Comments

  • Photo: Nathan

    Nathan commented on :

    I don’t think it’s helpful to consider ‘autistic children’ as a group. They are actually more varied than ‘neuro-typical’ children with massively different needs. Severely autistic children are probably best catered for in specialist provision. Highly intelligent asperger’s children are probably best catered for in mainstream provision with a little extra support (e.g. social skills coaching).

    The idea of splitting children of different abilities a topic that gets discussed in education – some parts of the country have Grammar schools for the top 25% of children, and some asperger’s children pass the 11+ exam to attend them. Personally I think the ‘most able’ children should also be considered ‘special needs’ as they have education needs not well catered for the mainstream.

    Ofsted has no official position on this topic, incidentally.