General education students benefit from all-inclusive classrooms

General education students benefit greatly from the presence of students with exceptionalities in the general ed. classroom. Here I will speak from personal experience. A highschool student with autism that I follow is a good example. The student is in all general ed. classes. He is very smart, creative, and very funny. He is also prone to having frustration that can lead to loud and disruptive outbursts. He can be rude and very ego-centered. The students accept him. Sometimes it amazes me that other students don't get upset with him. When I was growing up, some of the boundary crossing that he does would have earned him a black eye or two. They seem to understand. Many of the students in the class have known him since middle school, where his behavior was much more extreme.
He has much to contribute, and the classrooms he is in wouldn't be the same without him. He is an essential part of the organism.
It seems to me that the students in his classes have been around him long enough to see his strengths and 'weaknesses' to see him as a whole, and not just a person with a disability. I can't read the students minds, but I have watched the interactions.