Neurodivergent and Not Attending with Dr Joanna Grace

42% of the non-attendance of autistic children at school is school refusal. And that figure is almost identical across countries that punish non-attendance and countries that respond to it with support. So what does that tell us?
Dr Joanna Grace, sensory engagement and inclusion specialist, TEDx speaker, PhD academic, author, and founder of The Sensory Projects, returns to the studio to discuss the links and patterns between being neurodivergent and school non-attendance.
Together, they explore why:
– the language we use – school refusal, school avoidance – places the problem in the child rather than in the environment.
– the punitive approach to attendance – fines, threats, exclusions from school trips – has no long-term effect and actively causes harm.
– 100% attendance is a measure of whether a school is accessible, not a method of making it so.
– autistic and neurodivergent children who do attend school are not necessarily okay – and why those who achieve 100% attendance can still be profoundly harmed by the experience.
– engagement and belonging must come before attendance – not the other way around.
– the education system, designed for the workforce of the Industrial Revolution, is not designed for the children sitting in it today.
"There's way more flexibility in the adult world than there is in any school."
— Dr Joanna Grace
About Dr Joanna Grace Joanna Grace is a sensory engagement and inclusion specialist, doctoral researcher, author, trainer, TEDx speaker and Founder of The Sensory Projects. She has worked with people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent conditions aged from 0–100 in a range of settings and contexts.
Through all she does Joanna is seeking to contribute to a future where people are understood in spite of their differences.
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