Understanding and overcoming challenges for the inclusion of learners with autism spectrum disorder in South African mainstream classrooms

Despite policies having been developed by various countries to manage and support inclusive education, the inclusion of learners with varied abilities remains a global crisis. This predicament infringes on the human rights of these children, who are unable to access quality education in mainstream schools. In South Africa, the education system has implemented Education White Paper 6 on inclusive education and the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support, which govern inclusive education execution as well as sustainability for all learners, including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This paper argues that policy enactment requires holistic intervention strategies in light of the changing contextual scenarios. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development underpinned the investigation, which took a paradigmatic and interpretive stance in a multiple cross-case study design to scrutinise 15 teachers’ narratives relating to the inclusion of ASD learners. The findings revealed unclear statistics, an unclear conceptualisation of ASD learners in South Africa, inadequate resources, and unaligned teacher education perpetuating factors hindering the inclusion of ASD learners. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research informing teachers and policymakers on the contextual successful inclusion of ASD learners in South Africa.