[senco-forum] ASD and exclusion

Hello everyone
  After my request for comments on whether to excude someone with ASD or not, I thought I'd summarise the responses.
  There were some who feel that exclusion is always unacceptable and that we must accommodate the person with ASD whatever their behaviour.  I can see their point.  But I have to say that I do worry about the rest of us.  Brandan told me about someone who puts salt on all his food and that of everyone else.  His colleagues say nothing - just eat the food without complaining.  But I'd be in trouble if he put salt on my food as I have a very low salt diet.  And what would happen if he put salt in a baby's food?  I also have personal experience of a boy with ASD who felt the need to cuddle up to everyone he met.  We had problems when other students felt threatened by him - and, yes we did have parental complaints about him.
  There were others who felt that we have to make sure that people with ASD can be acceptable members of society, so we must make sure that they conform to our rules of behaviour even if they don't like it.  
  I'm a working SENCO and I deal with these difficulties all the time.  I won't say any more about the exclusion of the pupil who started off this thread except to say that I know that we have spent five years doing everything we can to help him in school (and we have to all accept that schools have rules which must be applied - and schools are places where pupils are educated in groups).
  I return to my biggest concern.  Should we be placing the needs of one pupil above that of others?  What do we do if the school is not the right place for that pupil but there is no means of managing a move to a more appropriate placement?
  Amanda

Amanda
Secondary SENCO
Cornwall