Quotes from ‘Martian in the Playground’ – Clare Sainsbury

1. Quotes from ‘Martian in the Playground’ – Clare Sainsbury There are emotional scars from all the years of teasing that I endured. My self esteem suffered as a result. As far as my teachers were concerned, I was bright but perverse and lazy. My great mistake was in not being mentally retarded. I got hanged (with wire round the neck) and other kinds of stuff what the staff called mild teasing. Someone ejaculated over my trousers in front of the whole class. I was comparatively lucky in that I was rarely hit.

2. Quote from Hans Asperger Our knowledge of the great range of possible outcomes and the clear dependence of outcome on the quality of education received….. Gives us the right and the duty to speak out for such children with the whole force of our personality.

3. Quote from a Y10 pupil Imagine walking on scorching hot sand in bare feet… Wearing itchy clothes… Through two lines of people screaming at you… In total darkness. The anxiety, fear and physical pain this would cause needs to be multiplied by 100 times to get near how courageous some of our pupils have to be to get through each day.

4. Counselling “A label lets a child know that their disability is not their fault; it lets them know that their problem has a name; and it lets them know that there are others out there like them” “Only when it has been acknowledged that a child is genuinely different from others and does have problems is it possible to go on to build a positive self image based on acceptance and even celebration of differences” “Accurate self understanding is vital if a child is to take control and learn how to manage and work around their problems and make best use of their strengths” “Many people with AS conclude as children that they must be stupid, crazy, retarded, brain damaged, or that what is wrong with them must be so awful that no-one would talk about it”

5. NAS 2000 ‘Inclusion and Autism – Is It Working’. 20% of children with autism are excluded from school. 96% of adults with ASD are unemployed.

6. Generalisations • Liking and need for routine • Liking/need for repetition of what neurotypicals might consider boring/mundane tasks. • If happy – punctual and reliable. • Coffee break of 15 minutes – will not take 16 minutes. • Visual and memory skills in potentially key areas. • Polite and respectful to customers and colleagues. • Dislike of making mistakes. • Will be at work despite having flu/broken leg. • Will rigidly apply health and safety rules

7. ‘Unlocking Potential’ – 2000. Employers Forum on Disability. • Disabled people are as productive and as reliable as any other employees. • In living their day to day lives, many disabled people develop transferable problem solving skills that are invaluable in the workplace. • Disabled people in work tend to have better attendance records, stay with employers for longer and have fewer accidents at work. • The spending power of disabled people and their families in the UK is estimated at an annual £50 billion

8. NFER scores, predicated and actual GCSE grades for years 2001-2003