Let’s focus on what people with special needs can do, rather than what they can’t

Alan Milburn meets one of the participants in an internship project at the Magna science centre in Sheffield. Photograph: Andrew Fox/The Guardian

As a retired special school headteacher, I warmly welcome Alan Milburn’s proposal to expand supported internships for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Turbocharge special needs internships to help tackle UK youth jobs crisis, says Milburn, 16 August). For too long society has concentrated on what these young people cannot do rather than what they can, with the right support and opportunity.

I often meet former students who, once established in a workplace, have not only held down jobs but progressed to positions of greater responsibility.