[Osem]

It may surprise many of you but this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I know of many children with autism and other special needs who, at one time or another, have been dumped in ordinary school classrooms without the support they need to be able to cope in such environments. The reasons for this are often a combination of lack of funding/resources provided by the LEA and sometimes I have to say, a refusal of parents to accept their children's problems and consider special units or schools better able to address those needs. HMG calls it 'inclusion' but as is the case with 'care in the community', the success of such schemes depends on the right support being in place and all too often it just isn't and the poor children involved are left high and dry!

In these days when you can be arrested for uttering an offensive word, I must say I find it hard to understand how the 'teacher' concerned kept her job. In stark contrast to those caring professionals who dedicate their careers to looking after special needs children, she is an utter disgrace to her profession!