‘Um, I was getting bullied at school because I didn’t believe in god’: one family’s experience of autism, school and home education

ABSTRACT

Home education is one of several educational options for children in Northern Ireland. Many parents decide to home educate before their child reaches school age whereas others decide following a period of enrolment within a school. In these latter cases, parents often do so because they believe that their child’s emotional, social and/or educational needs were not being met by school. Research has shown that children with special educational needs, particularly those with autism, are more at risk of not having their needs met in a classroom environment resulting in a higher proportion of these children being removed and home educated. This article focuses on one family who experienced this. The data, presented in a series of vignettes, explores their journey to home education. Their journey involved a negative school experience because of bullying and understandings of autism, sexuality and religion. The findings highlight the need for schools to become more inclusive of all children, and families, despite differences in educational needs, sexuality and religious views through additional training, awareness, and policies that are reflective of a changing society. These recommendations would help to improve the school experience for those who diverge from society’s perceptions of what is typical.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism
• inclusive practice
• home education
• bullying
• sexuality
• religion

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Alison MacKenzie for her ongoing encouragement and, her helpful comments and guidance on the edits of this paper. Special thanks also goes to my family, Michael, Grace and Ciara, for always encouraging me and allowing me the time and space to write this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Notes on contributors

Christine Bower

Christine Bower is an experienced learning support teacher with a history of working in primary, secondary and special school settings over the past ten years. Throughout these ten years Christine has continued to develop her knowledge and understandings of specific learning difficulties. Christine has been heavily involved in influencing government policy through her previous roles as an elected representative and a Communications, Policy and Research Manager for a Governmental Minister of the Department of Employment and Learning (Northern Ireland). These roles allowed Christine to influence educational policy makers on the importance of inclusive practice and equal educational opportunities for all children and young people regardless of their ability. Christine’s views about disability are informed by her belief in inclusion, equality and social justice for all regardless of differences. She is currently in the second year of a PhD, through Queen’s University Belfast and is focusing on inclusive education for young people with a learning disability and autistic young people. She is particularly interested in educational philosophy, inclusive practice, education, neurodiversity, learning disability, autism and special educational needs.