Personal reflections on inclusion

Abstract The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) landscape in England is bleak. Since the COVID‐19 pandemic, the number of pupils with SEND has increased. There is a shortage of places available in specialist SEND provision, and many pupils with SEND are being educated in alternative provision settings which arguably do not meet their needs. Mainstream schools are struggling to meet the needs of pupils with increasingly complex needs and there has been a lack of financial investment in specialist support services, resulting in delays to assessments and interventions. Drawing on personal and lived experience, I argue that impairment can be painful and sometimes disabling. I argue that although social model has made a significant difference to the lives of disabled people, its ambition has not been fully realised. Disabled people still experience discrimination within education, housing, employment and in other areas. I argue that impairment is real, painful and disabling and can result in personal struggle. I therefore make the case that people with impairments require additional support as a ‘step up’ to guarantee equality of opportunity. Urgent investment is required in specialist SEND services to ensure that unnecessary struggle is avoided.