Social Inclusion of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Setting

Abstract

Background: Social inclusion is described as the process of improving the terms of participation in society, particularly for disadvantaged individuals. This includes the capacity to make friends, participate in community activities, engage in leisure, and play, and have access to outstanding inclusive classroom practices. Social isolation of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is well documented in research and inclusive education as a policy that strives to achieve full participation of all children in the school/classroom setting. However, it is not very well known about “What literature exists on social inclusion of children with autism in educational settings?” Objective: The aim of this scoping review was to analyze empirical studies on social inclusion of children with ASD in the educational settings over the past 20 years. Study Design: This was a scoping review. Methods: A systematic process was used to conduct the review as suggested by Arksey and O'Malley strategy for scoping review. This strategy consists of five main steps: (a) identifying the research question, (b) identifying relevant studies, (c) selection of critical articles, (d) reviewing and charting the data, and (e) collating and summarizing the results. A total of more than 15,000 articles were searched in a total of 4 databases, namely Scopus, PubMed, ERIC, and Cochrane, and used Google Scholar as the search engine. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses model was followed to shortlist the articles based on title, abstract, and full article. Finally, 39 selected articles were summarized. Results: This scoping review study highlights the literature on social inclusion of ASD children and summarizes a variety of studies that help us better understand the issues that teachers and children face in the inclusion environment. The studies also describe how inclusion enhances social communication in ASD children. Conclusion: This study helped us to find experiences, key concepts, evidence types, and research gaps by synthesizing current knowledge through systematic search to appraise the stakeholders for social inclusion.