Issues in persistent non attendance at school of autistic pupils and recommendations following the reintegration of 11 autistic pupils

Catrina is a specialist teacher and an educational consultant and trainer who supports many schools and nurseries in Wales and the South West of England and is the founder of Neuroteachers, a training and coaching company for educators. In this paper, she argues that official data shows that autistic pupils in the UK often have periods of prolonged absence from school. Staff are keen to help pupils back into school, but Catrina argues that there is rarely 'a quick fix' and that it can be helpful to think in terms of the pupil having a serious injury or physical illness, where staff would not expect a quick return to school. Triggers for non attendance may be a specific incident or the result of longer term social exclusion or feelings of failure. Worries about home and family members might also contribute and so a thorough analysis and understanding of the issues contributing to their non attendance needs to be made. Catrina and others believe that autistic pupils are often traumatised by their experiences and so using trauma informed approaches can be successful. She presents a case study to illustrate the points she makes and adds to this with details of ten other persistent non attenders. This paper fits well with the Accept Approach described by Aaron Yorke in this issue of the GAP Journal and the paper on bullying by Mary Ellen Huxter. Taken together, these serve to give ideas on what might be helpful.