ABSTRACT
Participants described a wide range of educational experiences, most from multiple educational placements and some from across primary and secondary levels. They all discussed negative experiences of mainstream education relating to the school environment, teachers, the curriculum and peers – these, to varying degrees, contributed to the feeling of exclusion in inclusion. Young people elaborated on the source of their stress and dread. These include factors within the school environment – such as auditory sensory overload, social anxiety and social pressure – arising from the unpredictability and sometimes overwhelming nature of the mainstream environment. To differing degrees the young people experienced social isolation, physical isolation, emotional isolation and academic isolation. Participants indicated these emanated from interactions between the young person, their peers, teachers, the teaching approaches used and a lack of support. For some, social isolation and loneliness arose from having no close friends or no one to relate to despite making efforts to build relationships.
