In the name of inclusion: ‘We all, at the end of the day, have the needs of the children at heart’

Abstract

Romantown local education authority (LEA), like other authorities in England and Wales, is adopting a policy of ‘inclusion’ in providing education for young disabled people alongside non-disabled peers. Ostensibly, at least, this is a process of radical change towards institutions which are explicitly designed to cater for all, rather than the ‘integration’ or assimilation of disabled individuals into existing or adapted mainstream provision. We argue that a change of name is not necessarily a change of policy, and a move towards a more inclusive policy and provision has the rights of disabled people at heart, rather than ‘the needs of children’.