ABSTRACT
In England, Mary Warnock, Chair of the influential 1970s Committee of Enquiry into the education of the 'handicapped', later came to deplore the 'disastrous legacy' of including some children in mainstream schools, and argued for a new concept of inclusion which retained separate institutions. In 2011 policies and practices of inclusion have brought many more young people regarded as problematic into mainstream schools and classrooms, and have exacerbated the need for an expanded army of special professionals working in an expanded and expensive SEN industry. It becomes logical that inclusive education and special education coexist. Most analyses of this expansion, especially in the UK, still focus on individual and familial deficiencies rather than the needs of education systems, governments or economies. In the current global recession governments find it easier to focus on individual deficiencies and the removal of welfare payments rather than more costly strategies of reorganising educational institutions to support all young people in their preparation for adulthood.
