‘We can't make him fit into the system’: parental reflections on the reasons why home education is the only option for their child who has special educational needs

Kendall, Lynne; Taylor, Elizabeth

doi:10.1080/03004279.2014.974647

Cited by 30 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…groups not included in our study). Parents of children with ASD often report that they withdraw their children from school to home-school them because they feel the school cannot adequately meet their child’s needs ( Kendall & Taylor, 2016 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Types and correlates of school non-attendance in students with autism spectrum disorders

Totsika

Hastings

Dutton

et al. 2020

Autism

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School non-attendance in autism spectrum disorders has received very little attention to date. The study aimed to provide a comprehensive description of school non-attendance in students with autism spectrum disorders. Through an online survey, parents of 486 children (mean age: 11 years) reported on school attendance over 1 month and reasons for instances of non-attendance. On average, students missed 5 days of school of a possible 23 days. Persistent non-attendance (absent on 10%+ of available sessions) occurred among 43% of students. School non-attendance was associated with child older age, not living in a two-parent household, parental unemployment and, especially, attending a mainstream school. School refusal accounted for 43% of non-attendance. School exclusion and school withdrawal each accounted for 9% of absences. Truancy was almost non-existent. Non-problematic absenteeism (mostly related to medical appointments and illness) accounted for 32% of absences. Non-problematic absenteeism was more likely among those with intellectual disability, school refusal was more likely among older students and school exclusion was more likely among students from single-parent, unemployed and well-educated households. Findings suggest that school non-attendance in autism spectrum disorders is a significant issue, and that it is important to capture detail about attendance patterns and reasons for school non-attendance. Lay abstract Our study aimed to describe school non-attendance in students with autism. We conducted an online survey. Parents of 486 students (mean age: 11 years) indicated which days their child had missed school (over a period of 1 month). If the child had missed a day, the parent was asked to select a reason from a list of 15 possible reasons (this is a measure of types of school non-attendance called SNACK (School Non-Attendance ChecKlist; Heyne et al., 2019)). On average, students missed 5 days of school of a possible 23 days. Missing over 10% of school is known as persistent absence, and in our study, 43% of students experienced persistent absence. Older students, who attended mainstream schools, who did not live in a two-parent household and whose caregiver was unemployed were more likely to miss school. Looking at the reasons for absence, school refusal was the most frequent reason, accounting for 43% of absences. Nine percent of absence was due to school exclusion. Nine percent of absence was due to school withdrawal. Truancy was almost non-existent. A final reason describes non-problematic absence that is mostly due to medical appointments and illness. This type of absence accounted for 32% of absences in our study, and it was more likely in student with intellectual disability. School refusal was more likely among older students. School exclusion was more likely among students from single-parent, unemployed and well-educated households. Findings from this study help us to understand better the difficulties students with autism experience attending school.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Types and correlates of school non-attendance in students with autism spectrum disorders

Totsika

Hastings

Dutton

et al. 2020

Autism

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“…This is similar to other reports into home-education with children with SEN (e.g. Parsons & Lewis, 2010;Kendall & Taylor, 2016), that parents identify their children as 'happier, more confident and far less anxious' when withdrawn from school to home-educate (Kendall & Taylor, 2016, p. 307). …”

Section: Experience Of Coming Homesupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The thesis also defines the current understanding of autism and considers both the challenges which autism presents to education and the various approaches to education for children with autism which are available. It examines research on the motivation of parents of children with SEN, and autism specifically, who withdraw their child from school and electively home-educate (Parsons & Lewis, 2010;Arora, 2006;Kidd & Kaczmarek, 2010;Hurlbutt, 2011;Kendall & Taylor, 2016).…”

Section: Structure Of Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'Shared education' within this study is taken to mean the full-time education of the child as required in law (Education Act, 1996), where some of that education takes place in school and some out of school (Pattinson, 2013) Kendall and Taylor (2016) identify that in their study into the reasons why parents of children with SEN choose to home-educate, 'some parents [number not specified] said that they would welcome flexi-schooling with part-time attendance at school' (p. 303), identifying the fact that flexi-schooling is at the discretion of the head teacher as being the barrier to this. One parent (Parent 'A') reported, 'I had planned to try to flexi-schooling but it's so difficult to set up.…”

Section: The Concept Of 'Shared Education'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The parents in a study by Kendall and Taylor (2016) into reasons why the parents of eight pupils with SEN (six of whom had autism as their primary diagnosis) chose to home-educate reported that 'there was a lack of understanding about ASD' by school staff (p. 304).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Can sharing education between home and school benefit the child with autism?

Lawrence¹

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This qualitative research exploration uses interpretative phenomenological analysis of case studies to investigate the diversity and congruity of the lived experiences of families sharing education between home and school for children with autism. Using semi-structured interview and follow-up questionnaire it examines the perspectives of five mothers, and includes further input from wider family members and professionals.

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‘Above and beyond’: The perceptions of mothers of children with autism about ‘good practice’ by professionals and services

Stanford

Totsika

Hastings

2020

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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‘We can't make him fit into the system’: parental reflections on the reasons why home education is the only option for their child who has special educational needs

Cited by 30 publications

References 28 publications

Types and correlates of school non-attendance in students with autism spectrum disorders

Types and correlates of school non-attendance in students with autism spectrum disorders

Can sharing education between home and school benefit the child with autism?

‘Above and beyond’: The perceptions of mothers of children with autism about ‘good practice’ by professionals and services

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