The potential impact of the SEN Green Paper ‘Support and Aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability’ on the educational inclusion of autistic children in mainstream education

Since every child with a diagnosis of autism is assumed to have special educational needs (SEN), any new SEN policy and legislation will impact on their education. I consider why children with autism are more difficult to include in mainstream schools than those with other SEN and what, if anything, is being proposed to address this difficulty in the SEN Green Paper ‘Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability’. I position the Green Paper in relation to current good autism practice guidelines and international SEN inclusion policy; and evaluate other recent developments in UK SEN policy and autism-specific teacher training. I highlight why mainstream teachers need a thorough understanding of autism to successfully include autistic children in their classrooms and conclude that, in order to achieve a positive impact, the aspirations of the Green Paper must be enshrined in law and appropriately funded