What contributes to positive inclusion in general secondary schools? Autistic individuals’ perspectives

This study examined factors associated with perceived positive inclusion in general secondary schools, based on retrospective survey responses from 57 autistic adults (35 men, 22 women). Guided by a strengths-based ecological framework, it explored how participants evaluated the influence of teachers, personal aides, parents, and peers on their secondary school experiences. Closed-ended responses were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. Across relational domains, positive inclusion was associated with being understood, emotionally supported, accepted, and recognised for one’s strengths. Teachers and personal aides were viewed as supportive when they affirmed competence, provided individualised assistance, and responded with autism-informed understanding. Parents remained important during secondary education, particularly through emotional validation and support in making sense of school experiences. The regression model was significant and explained 40% of the variance in positive inclusion (R² = .40). Perceived peer influence was the strongest predictor (β = .35, p < .001), followed by parental influence (β = .29, p = .003). By centring autistic perspectives, the findings conceptualise positive inclusion as relationally constructed, underscore the importance of parental and peer relationships in secondary education, and highlight the need to foreground relational conditions in conceptual and policy discussions of inclusion.