Parallel to the global development towards inclusive education in the last two decades, autism as a phenomenon has reached increased attention in educational research. The diversity and individuality of students on the spectrum has an impact on all spheres of life as is reflected in the increase of research literature on the topic (Fletcher-Watson et al., 2019; Happé & Frith, 2020).

While some European countries, such as the UK, have a relatively long tradition of educational research on autism, others, such as Germany, have only begun to look at the subject more closely in recent years. They are inspired by and can benefit from the previous work conducted in the anglophone regions. The existing research literature as well as the proposed symposium show, that the European countries face similar challenges regarding inclusive education in the context of autism and deal with similar questions despite the differences in the respective national school systems.

The proposed symposium consists of three presentations from three different countries on three different questions concerning autistic children and teenagers. It aims to show a variety of complex situations that autistic students, their families, their teachers and other involved persons face in educational contexts and how research responds to it. The three research projects were conducted independently from each other. However, this symposium aims to bring them together to discuss them as they show the cross-sectional character of autism spectrum research.

Autistic students face a disproportionately high risk of being partially or completely excluded from school and this has been reported in different countries (Brede et al., 2017; Guldberg et al., 2021; Lilley, 2015). Karen Guldberg will present an investigation on the causes and impacts of school exclusion in England.

The high rate of school exclusion despite obligatory school attendance in Germany (Grummt et al., 2021) has led to the second symposium contribution on flexible education of autistic students. Mechthild Richter will present a literature review on flexi-schooling and discuss the extent to which flexible education provision could be a solution to meeting the needs of autistic students and as a way of preventing school exclusion.

One of the main reasons for the exclusion of autistic students is distress behaviour. A long school day with academic, social and emotional demands can be exhausting for any young person, but especially for autistic students who may to deal with an overwhelming sensory environment, decoding social interactions and following learning strategies that are not adapted to their own thinking and learning (Goodall, 2015). Paola Molteni presents research on an Italian social-skill-training including autistic and non-autistic teenagers in order to enable peer-to-peer-coaching.

Raised awareness of autism, neurodiversity and inclusion in schools may lead to better understanding of good educational practice for autistic children and teenagers in schools. This could reduce distress behaviour and lead to more flexibility in schools, and in turn prevent school exclusion.

These three research objectives and perspectives are intertwined and may enrich one another. They also provide important pointers for future research.

Brede, J., Remington, A., Kenny, L., Warren, K., & Pellicano, E. (2017). Excluded from school: Autistic students’ experiences of school exclusion and subsequent re-integration into school. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 2, 239694151773751. https://doi.org/10.1177/2396941517737511 Fletcher-Watson, S., Adams, J., Brook, K., Charman, T., Crane, L., Cusack, J., Leekam, S., Milton, D., Parr, J. R., & Pellicano, E. (2019). Making the future together: Shaping autism research through meaningful participation. Autism, 23(4), 943–953. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318786721 Goodall, C. (2015). How do we create ASD-friendly schools? A dilemma of placement. Support for Learning, 30(4), 305–326. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12104 Grummt, M., Lindmeier, C., & Semmler, R. (2021). Die Beschulungssituation autistischer SchülerInnen vor der Pandemie. Autismus, 92, 5–17. Guldberg, K., Wallace, S., Bradley, R., Perepa, P., Ellis, L., & MacLeod, A. (2021). Investigation of the causes and implications of exclusion for autistic children and young people. The Autism Education Trust. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/college-social-sciences/education/reports/causes-and-implications-of-exclusion-for-autistic-children-and-young-people.pdf Happé, F., & Frith, U. (2020). Annual Research Review: Looking back to look forward – changes in the concept of autism and implications for future research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(3), 218–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13176 Lilley, R. (2015). Trading places: Autism Inclusion Disorder and school change. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(4), 379–396. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2014.935813