Four in 10 children with autism illegally excluded from school, charity claims

Four in 10 children with autism in England were illegally excluded from school during a 12-month period, according to a new survey carried out by the charity Ambitious about Autism.

The charity surveyed 500 parents and carers of children with autism between 3 July – 8 August 2013. The research found that:

• 4 in 10 children (39%) had been subject to informal – and therefore illegal – exclusions in the previous 12 months. One in 10 parents whose children were illegally excluded said it happened daily;
• nearly a third (30%) of parents reported being asked by schools to keep their child at home, itself a form of illegal exclusion;
• a fifth of parents (21%) said their child with autism had been formally excluded from school;
• over half of parents (51%) had kept their child out of school for fear the school was unable to provide appropriate support.

The charity said that it its results were applied to all of England’s 70,785 children with autism, this would equate to more than 28,000 illegal exclusions each year.

Ambitious about Autism claimed that many schools did not have the right knowledge, skills or resources to support children with autism, which often lead to exclusion procedures that broke the law. It said that this can mean requiring parents to collect their children from school at short notice, refusing to allow children to take part in social activities and school trips, asking parents not to bring their children into school, or placing a child on a part-time timetable.

Jolanta Lasota, Chief Executive of Ambitious about Autism, said: “It is shocking so many children with autism are missing out on education. All schools are legally bound to provide quality full-time education to all pupils, including children with autism. Asking parents to collect their children early or putting them on part-time hours is against the law and fails to address the underlying need for schools to make reasonable adjustments to include children with autism.

“We know illegal exclusions also affect a child’s family life. Having to collect a child puts intolerable pressure on parents and their working lives; it severely impacts their financial situation and often makes work impossible. We know schools can and do support children with autism to learn, thrive and achieve. All schools need to build their capacity to support children with autism and not use exclusions as a way of managing their special needs."

Lasota added: "We already know, despite the fact 70% of children with autism are in mainstream schools, that 60% of teachers in England do not feel they have had adequate training to teach children with autism and 35% of teachers think it has become harder in the last 12 months to access specialist support for children with autism."

The survey marked the launch of a campaign - entitled Ruled Out - by the charity which aims to ensure:

• every school has access to a specialist autism teacher, to build capacity among school staff and to support children with autism to learn and achieve;
• every family of a child with autism knows their rights, and has the resources to help their child get the support they are entitled to at school;
• every local authority sets out in its ‘local offer’ the support available in its area to ensure children with autism have access to quality full-time education.

Further details on the research and campaign can be found at: www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/ruledout