ASD – Integration into Mainstream

Successfully integrating students with ASD and their peers is a challenge facing all schools, specifically public schools. Private schools have the right to refuse admission to students with ASD, but public schools are required by federal law to provide all students with the least restrictive educational environment, leading to many students with ASD being placed in inclusion or mainstream classrooms within the public school system (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Most students with ASD are not aggressive or violent, so they are placed in mainstream classrooms with accommodations or support; however, finding ways to include students with ASD into the mainstream classroom setting remains a global problem.