Goldsmiths - University of London

'Autistic children and inclusion in the primary phase: a blended methods study'

Researcher:

Anna Carlile
a.carlile (@gold.ac.uk)

Outline of project

This research project aimed to investigate two of the assumptions on which educational inclusion and policy is premised:

1. The appropriateness of an educational placement and educational attainment for cohorts of children is accurately measurable through sets of statistical data analysed by schools and local authorities
2. If a pupil with SEN (specifically, here, autism) is able to attend a mainstream school setting, it is better for that pupil to do so.

Whilst qualitative methods are used to assess the needs of individual pupils, it appears that decisions made about the education of cohorts of children are more likely to be made based on groups of (often statutorily required) statistical data.

The project investigated the kind of picture that might be drawn from statistical datasets familiar to schools and local authorities, and compared it to the picture that emerged from the qualitative data of an academic researcher. I suspected that the two pictures would differ, but I also thought they may enrich and complement each other. At the same time, the project compared the experience of the education of autistic children in each setting.