From the viewpoint of a person on the Autism spectrum this chapter explores
reframing curricular and instructional modifications to have a greater focus on mean-
ingful social inclusion. By employing the nine categories of academic adjustments
outlined in the work of Cole, Horvath, Deschenes, Ebeling, and Sprague in 2000, the
author makes suggestions on how these modifications can be customized to meet the
diverse needs of students with Autism and other conditions while embedding into the
routine of the class session benefitting all students and promoting meaningful inclusion.

Introduction

Social inclusion is all encompassing. Inclusion in the academic, employment,
community, and other domains all have something in common, and that is
communication – which is socialization. Unless one is by themselves and not
interacting with others, be it face-to-face, electronic, or by other means, one is
communicating and thus engaged in social interaction.
As the emphasis in this book is on education, focus will be on reframing
academic curriculum modifications as promoting successful and meaningful social
interaction as an integral part of teaching subject material in school with the goal of
generalizing to life after graduation. Rather than occurring in a specific place, social
inclusion is a mindset that can be applied both by individuals striving to integrate
people with Autism into the fabric of life and by persons on the Autism spectrum
seeking satisfying, deeper involvement with all others.

Inclusion from the beginning

After a year and a half of typical development I was struck with a sort of regres-
sive “Autism bomb” where I lost functional communication, had meltdowns, and
withdrew from the environment. In brief, I became a severely affected child on the

13

SOCIAL INCLUSION: A PERSONAL

REFLECTION

Stephen Shore