I have an autistic 3 year old child. We tried him in a mainstream school. He got "blamed" for his behaviours, they couldnt "handle" him. they didnt listen to me or want to know how we teach him at home "ABA" so now he is out of that school. They have never phoned to beg for him to return, so i assume they are quite happy i took him out.
I searched for more schools. All the same, "your child will not be able to cope here". I feel like i had to beg these teachers to at least give me 5 minutes to meet with me and my son. Its like they are doing you this huge favor to listen to you talk about your child's right to an education. Yet, in my most recent experiences, they usually see my boy and make up their minds in about 30 seconds that they are not going to take him.
I just feel like the shit that i have put up with, the ignorance, the segregation and the often paternalistic attitudes are things that parents of non autistic children would NEVER put up with. Yet, we as parents of special needs children seem to be at the mercy of the odd sympathetic teacher or the teacher with the guts to "teach" our kids.