When Pauline Hanson told the Senate autistic students ought not be taught in the same classrooms as their neurotypical peers  – the latest in her growing list of outrageous remarks based not on fact but her own concocted folklore – the MP showed just how outdated her educational philosophy was.  

The idea of “streaming” students according to their ability levels has long lost the support of teachers because it bears no positive results for students who are struggling.   

Taken out of mainstream classrooms, autistic students would also be deprived of opportunities for socialisation, important preparation for their life after school.  

Sure, teaching an autistic student is not easy. But neither is teaching a student with a chronic illness, or one battling mental health woes.  A child whose parents are divorcing can be tremendously volatile or distressed, as can a student who is the subject of bullying.  

Would the senator ask these students be taught in ghettoised classrooms, segregated from their peers for fear others would be dragged down?

Being responsible for the education of any young person is difficult because each brings with them a toybox of idiosyncrasies that their teacher must navigate. 

If every student dealing with some sort of learning difference was funnelled into an alternative program, Australian classrooms would be ghost towns.     

Instead of seeking to punish autistic students, Ms Hanson should have called for greater supports for those who teach them. 

Where is the time for teachers to plan lessons that suit not only neurotypical students but their friends with an autism spectrum disorder? Perhaps Ms Hanson could lobby for lighter teaching loads.

Where are the additional support staff to work closely with autistic students while the teacher carries on their instruction?  An argument in favour of more teaching aides in schools would have been better received. 

Finally, Ms Hanson’s comments also neglect the contribution an autistic student can bring to a classroom.

Their unique view on the world encourages others to value diversity. When they react emotionally to a situation that other young people might think benign, therein lies a lesson about empathy.

Austitic students are assets to the classroom, not burdens. 

- Mark Kearney, journalist