For many autistic students, the promise of inclusive education often comes with the reality of needing to adapt themselves to fit school environments, rather than schools adapting to meet their needs. That’s the picture emerging from a sweeping new review of research on how schools support autistic students in mainstream classrooms.
A new study by Valentine Perrelet and colleagues, published in Autism (2025), examined 233 experimental studies from around the world on interventions designed to promote school participation and inclusion for autistic children and adolescents.
The review found that most interventions targeted students’ social skills and interactions, with fewer efforts aimed at adapting the school environment itself.

The most important finding was that the majority of programs aligned more closely with “integration”—helping students adjust to existing school structures—than with the broader concept of “inclusion,” which focuses on modifying the environment so all students can participate fully.
Inclusive education has been a policy priority for decades, supported by international agreements such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Research has consistently shown that autistic students often face more social challenges and lower academic achievement than their peers, making effective inclusion strategies critical for their wellbeing and educational success.
Yet defining and measuring “inclusion” has proven difficult, and school systems vary widely in how they implement it.
The review covered studies published between 2006 and 2023, including research from 59 countries, though most came from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
In total, the studies involved over 15,000 autistic participants, typically aged between 5 and 11. The interventions took place in a variety of settings—mainstream classrooms, adjacent school rooms, and sometimes outside the school itself—and were delivered to autistic students, peers, teachers, parents, or combinations of these groups.
Cognitive-behavioral interventions were the most common approach, followed by programs focused on social skills, emotion regulation, and peer-mediated activities.
Other strategies included teacher training, adjustments to classroom settings, use of assistive technology, and school-wide inclusion initiatives, though these were less frequent.
When it came to measuring success, the studies showed little agreement.
Researchers used 145 different standardized tools, most appearing in only one study. Many focused on autism symptoms, IQ, or adaptive behavior rather than directly assessing inclusion or participation. Measures of school climate, emotional wellbeing, and environmental adaptations were far less common.
To interpret the findings, the authors brought together a group of 18 consultants, including autistic adults, parents, educators, and policymakers. This participatory approach highlighted tensions between research priorities and the lived realities of inclusion.
Professionals often emphasized early skill-building, while parents prioritized mental health and wellbeing, and autistic individuals stressed the importance of teacher attitudes and knowledge. Across the board, there was a call for more attention to environmental and policy-level factors that can either support or hinder inclusion.
The consultants also noted that political, cultural, and economic contexts strongly shape what’s possible in schools.
Budget constraints, staffing, and legal requirements all influence whether interventions are feasible, no matter how effective they appear in controlled studies.
The group stressed that inclusion should not be reduced to improving individual skills alone, but should also involve adapting classrooms, curricula, and social environments to accommodate diverse needs.
For the general public, these findings underline a key point: inclusion is not just about placing autistic students in mainstream classrooms.
Without adjustments to teaching practices, physical spaces, and school cultures, the burden often falls on students to adapt—sometimes at the expense of their mental health.
A truly inclusive approach, the authors argue, would involve designing environments from the outset to support participation for all students, aligning with “universal design” principles.
The review also highlights a significant gap in how inclusion is evaluated.
Without consistent, widely used tools to measure school participation and belonging, it is difficult to compare programs or identify best practices. This lack of consensus limits policymakers’ ability to make evidence-based decisions and may slow progress toward more inclusive systems.
While the study is the most comprehensive of its kind to date, the authors caution that many included studies had small sample sizes and low reporting quality.
Important participant information, such as socioeconomic background or co-occurring conditions, was often missing, making it harder to determine for whom particular interventions work best.
Future research, they suggest, should pay greater attention to diverse student experiences, especially those shaped by cultural and environmental factors.
The authors conclude that advancing inclusion for autistic students will require stronger partnerships between schools, families, health professionals, and autistic communities.
This means investing in teacher training, systematically monitoring inclusion and participation, and prioritizing environmental adaptations over expecting students to fit rigid educational models.
In short, while progress has been made in supporting autistic students in mainstream education, the path to genuine inclusion remains uneven.
Moving forward, the challenge will be to shift the focus from changing students to changing schools—so that participation is a right, not an ongoing personal hurdle.
Citation
Perrelet, V., Veyre, A., Chawki, L., Margot, C., & Cappe, É. What are we targeting when we support inclusive education for autistic students? A systematic review of 233 empirical studies and call for community partnerships. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613251352223