From placement to participation: an identity-mediated model of belonging and resilience for autistic students

Inclusive education for autistic students is increasingly understood through meaningful participation, belonging and wellbeing rather than mainstream placement alone. Australia's National Guidance for best practice in inclusive education for autistic students articulates the conditions for inclusive schooling, but the developmental processes linking those conditions to student outcomes require further explanation. This integrative conceptual analysis brings together social identity theory, self-determination theory, the double empathy problem, minority stress theory and social-ecological accounts of resilience to propose an identity-mediated Identity-Belonging-Resilience (IBR) model. In its affirming pathway, accessible environments, reciprocal relationships and student agency support psychological safety and identity integration, enabling authentic belonging and access to resources for relational resilience. A counter-pathway explains how deficit-oriented conditions may generate identity threat, camouflaging and conditional belonging, creating apparent participation alongside psychological costs. Eight testable propositions specify the model's predicted relationships and guide future longitudinal and participatory research. The model complements, rather than replaces, existing guidance by explaining why educational adjustments and social participation must be evaluated through autistic students' experiences of authenticity, agency and belonging.