Teaching the Invisible Curriculum: Social Skills in Inclusive Autism Classrooms

This narrative review synthesises global evidence on how inclusive classrooms foster social skills in autistic children and identifies the conditions under which practices succeed. Drawing on studies from high- and low-/middle-income contexts, including Spain, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia, the review integrates Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development to explain why classroom strategies work when embedded in everyday routines. Evidence converges on explicit, structured instruction, including role-playing, social narratives, peer-mediated exchanges, teacher modelling, and visual supports delivered within predictable contexts and paired with contingent feedback. Across settings, these practices improve initiations, turn-taking, joint attention, emotion regulation, and conversational reciprocity, with stronger gains when teachers engineer frequent, authentic opportunities and families reinforce skills at home. Implementation is often constrained by limited ASD-specific training, large class sizes, scarce specialist support, curriculum rigidity, and stigma, reducing intensity, fidelity, and continuity while contributing to teacher burnout. The review distills practical principles: link instruction to real contexts; maximise peer response opportunities; provide precise feedback; use routine-based visual scaffolds; monitor progress; and ensure culturally responsive adaptation. With sustained training, flexible curricula, staffing support, and family–school partnerships, inclusive classrooms can support durable gains in participation, belonging, and academic engagement.