I once worked as a student aide assigned to a special needs student. He was placed in a mainstream school after years attending a special needs. Some of the teachers and staff were very accepting of the student but the majority was totally against the idea of the inclusion of special needs children in the school. The student was being excluded from many of the activities the other children in his class were engaging in and eventually he started to believe that no one liked him and that he doesn't belong. Eventually, it started to affect his academic performance but even more damaging was what the attitudes of others in the school eventually did to his self esteem.