British Judge Rules school discriminated against autistic

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Children with special needs who have been excluded from schools for aggressive behaviour linked to their condition are being discriminated against, a judge has ruled.

Judge Alison Rowley, sitting in the upper tribunal, said it was “repugnant” to consider such behaviour as “criminal or antisocial” when it was a direct result of a child’s condition and “not a choice”.

The tribunal in London upheld an appeal involving a 13-year-old boy with special educational needs who had been excluded from school because of aggressive behaviour that was linked to his autism.

The ruling could affect tens of thousands of children who have conditions such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Statistics show that children with special needs are at much higher risk than other children of being excluded from mainstream schools in England.

Noting that “aggressive behaviour is not a choice for children with autism”, Rowley found that a regulation under the Equality Act 2010 allowing schools to exclude disabled pupils for their behaviour without justification was unlawful and incompatible with human rights laws.

“To my mind it is repugnant to define as ‘criminal or antisocial’ the effect of the behaviour of children whose condition (through no fault of their own) manifests itself in particular ways so as to justify treating them differently,” said Rowley.

The ruling – on an appeal brought by the boy’s parents and the National Autistic Society, and backed by Equality and Human Rights Commission – means exclusion decisions involving pupils with a “tendency to physical abuse” will no longer be exempt from the scope of equalities laws.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said schools were suffering from severe cuts to funding for special needs and disability provision and cuts to support services from local authorities.