Excluded from school: Autistic students’ experiences of school exclusion and subsequent re-integration into school

Abstract

Background and aims: All children have the right to receive an education and to be included in school. Yet young people on the autism spectrum, who are already vulnerable to poor health and social outcomes, are at increased risk of school exclusion. The current study sought to understand the key factors surrounding the school exclusion experiences of a group of autistic students with particularly complex needs, and their subsequent reintegration into education. Method: We interviewed nine intellectually able students (eight male, one female; M age ¼ 13.3 years), all with a diagnosis of autism and the majority with a history of demand avoidant behaviour. We also interviewed their parents and teaching staff about the students' past and current school experiences. All students were currently being educated within an 'Inclusive Learning Hub', specially designed to re-integrate excluded, autistic students back into school, which was situated within a larger autism special school. Results: Young people and their parents gave overwhelmingly negative accounts of the students' previous school experiences. Children's perceived unmet needs, as well as inappropriate approaches by previous school staff in dealing with children's difficulties, were felt to cause decline in children's mental health and behaviour and, ultimately, led to their exclusion from school. Four key factors for successful reintegration into school were identified, including (i) making substantial adjustments to the physical environment, (ii) promoting strong staff-student relationships, (iii) understanding students' specific needs, and (iv) targeted efforts towards improving students' wellbeing. Conclusion: The culmination-and escalation-of challenges students experienced in the students' previous placements could suggest that the educational journey to exclusion from school is an inevitable consequence for at least some autistic children, including those with particularly complex behaviour, as sampled here. Yet, our study encouragingly showed that this was not necessarily the case. All the young people we spoke to reported being happy, safe and secure in their current placement, and re-engaged with school life. Outstanding issues remain, however, with regard to children's reportedly slow academic progress and difficulties generalising the positive behaviour shown in school across home and community contexts. Implications: More remains to be done to ensure that autistic children and young people's progress at school is also mirrored in other settings. Future research also needs to develop more preventative approaches to avoid exclusion from school, including efforts towards improving education professionals' knowledge and awareness of autism, and effective ways of responding to these students' needs.

‘There is more flexibility to meet my needs’: Educational experiences of autistic young people in Mainstream and Alternative Education Provision

“…Aspects such as smaller class sizes and flexibility, discussed by the participants, are found within the extant literature (Mills and McGregor, 2016;McGregor et al, 2017;Tate and Greatbatch, 2017). Further, challenging elements of mainstream school for these young people are consistent with what is discussed in the literature above: issues such as bullying, inflexible pedagogy, feeling unsupported, not being understood by teachers and finding it difficult to manage within the overwhelming social and sensory mainstream environment (see for example, Lewis, 2008a, 2008b;Humphrey and Symes, 2011;Hebron and Humphrey, 2014;Poon et al, 2014;Sreckovic et al, 2014;Brede et al, 2017;Sproston et al, 2017;Goodall, 2018b).…”

“…This is of equal importance for boys. Brede et al (2017) highlight that autistic children and young people are at increased risk of school exclusion, and like Sproston et al (2017), identified similar factors precipitating exclusion, including inappropriate school environments, quarrelsome relationships with peers and teachers, limited understanding of, and support for, their specific needs. As Brede et al (2017, p. 2) contend:…”

“…This is of equal importance for boys. Brede et al () highlight that autistic children and young people are at increased risk of school exclusion, and like Sproston et al (), identified similar factors precipitating exclusion, including inappropriate school environments, quarrelsome relationships with peers and teachers, limited understanding of, and support for, their specific needs. As Brede et al (, p. 2) contend:

‘It is well known that the social milieu becomes progressively more complex as children make their way through school, and this may be exacerbated by the mounting demands placed on students’ academic progress.’

…”

“…The Department of Education () in England note the substantial, and increasing, amount of literature dealing with autism and exclusion, and teachers’ abilities to support autistic young people (Grindle et al , ; Holt, Lea and Bowlby, ; Brede et al , ; Goodall, ). Unsurprisingly therefore, autistic children are reported as eight to twenty times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than pupils with no Special Educational Needs (SEN) (Humphrey and Lewis, ; Department for Education, ).…”

Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with ASD: A review of Russian and foreign research

“…Инклюзия на протяжении всего времени ее внедрения в практику образования сопровождается неоднозначными реакциями со стороны педагогического сообщества. К наиболее дискуссионным вопросам относится целесообразность обучения в обычных школах детей с ментальными нарушениями и сложной структурой дефекта, в частности с расстройствами аутистического спектра (РАС) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Среди российских специалистов педагогического профиля по-прежнему немало тех, кто считает, что эффективному развитию этих детей лучше всего способствуют условия коррекционных учреждений [1,[3][4][5][6][7].…”