Autistic children as ‘problem pupils’

A new study suggests that the numbers of children with “aggression, autism and depression” have not increased, as reported in today’s Newscom. The study was undertaken by Hans Grietens, professor of psychology and educational studies at the Katholieke University in Leuven; he and his researchers performed a comparative analysis of English and American studies from the past twenty years.

It is not the researchers’ findings that I am curious about, as much as the use of the phrase “problem pupils” to describe the children (some with autism) studied.

My son Charlie, and all autistic students, are not “problem pupils.” They are not a problem, nor are they the problem.

They are the solution.