This is absolutely spot on. Last year, I was faced with a year 7 class in which I had two pupils with ASD, three others with statements, and a couple on SA+.

I don’t teach a core subject, and had no help in this class whatever. Both the autistic children were unable to read or write without help – or in fact, do almost anything without help. What was I supposed to do? Leave the rest of the class to its own devices? When I approached the SENCo for help, only a few weeks into the term, she basically told me that I had to differentiate accordingly, and do this and that… needless to say, I was fuming. I *know* what I’m supposed to do in an ideal world, but there’s only one of me, and twenty-odd other kids in this class!

At a training session I attended a few months back about dealing with children with ASD, the session leader announced that statistics showed that, in general, pupils with ASD did better when they mixed in with “normal” pupils. Well, that’s fantastic – but what about the 29 other pupils in the class who have their lessons disrupted, or who don’t get the attention they need from the teacher because of that one child?

I’m sorry – I really do believe that “every child matters” and that all children have the right to an education – but “every child” includes the “normal” kids, too.
It seems to me that this policy of inclusion for the minority has turned in to one of EXclusion for the majority.