New school behaviour 'tsar' - National Autistic Society response

“Today’s plans to help teachers tackle challenging behaviour in the classroom are welcome but must include efforts to understand the underlying causes of this behaviour.

“All too often, we hear of children with autism whose needs are not recognised by teachers and are incorrectly considered to be naughty. Labels like this are extremely damaging and act as a barrier to accessing essential support which can prevent challenging behaviour. Our experience shows that expulsions and suspensions are generally avoidable, but recent Government figures state that pupils with autism are four times more likely to be suspended than pupils without SEN.

“It is essential that Tom Bennett’s working group includes members with expertise in autism, so that it can take into account the unique needs of children with the condition in relation to their behaviour in school.  

“The NAS also wants to see the Government make SEN a core part of initial teacher training courses, as recommended in January this year by the review it had commissioned into teacher training (the Carter Review). Autism affects almost 120,000 school-aged children in England, so every teacher will have children with autism in their classroom at some point. It is a major oversight that, currently, autism is not a mandatory part of teacher training.”