The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities underscores that ensuring equal opportunities in education, employment, and social participation for all members of society, particularly individuals with disabilities, represents a fundamental objective of contemporary social development. In the field of disability studies, there has been a notable shift from the traditional medical model to the social model, which conceptualizes disability as the outcome of societal, environmental, and cultural barriers.This paradigm shift reflects a move from understanding disability as a personal deficiency to recognizing the structural and social determinants that hinder full participation in society, thereby emphasizing the importance of social inclusion.Research on autism has long been focused on childhood, and although it is now increasingly recognized that autistic children become autistic adults and spend the majority of their lives as adults, their needs in employment, education, independent living, and social participation become more prominent.

This review aims to address these gaps by examining the theoretical evolution of social inclusion and applying a multidimensional framework to analyze the current social inclusion status of adults with ASD.Drawing on Ager and Strang’s widely cited framework and subsequent adaptations, social inclusion is conceptualized in three interrelated dimensions: structural inclusion, referring to access to resources and opportunities such as employment, education, housing, healthcare, and policy support; relational inclusion, reflecting the quality and breadth of social networks, community engagement, and interpersonal relationships; and identity inclusion, encompassing subjective perceptions of self, social belonging, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Using this framework, the review synthesizes empirical evidence on the structural, relational, and identity-related challenges faced by adults with ASD, including insufficient vocational and educational support, restricted independent living options, fragmented healthcare services, limited social networks, family-centered dependence, low community participation, collective loneliness, and diminished self-identity and life satisfaction. The findings highlight complex, interwoven barriers to social inclusion and provide theoretical and practical implications for designing age-appropriate, multidimensional support systems and evidence-based policies to promote social integration and well-being among adults with ASD.

This study adopts a systematic literature review methodology to comprehensively examine the social integration of adults with autism spectrum disorder within a multidimensional theoretical framework. First, relevant peer-reviewed literature was identified using academic databases including Web of Science, Scopus, CNKI, and PubMed, covering publications from 2005 to 2025. Keywords employed in the search included combinations of “autism,” “adult,” “social inclusion,” “social integration，” “social cohesion，”“social participation,” “employment,” “community engagement,” and “life satisfaction.” Inclusion criteria were: (1) studies focusing on individuals aged 16 and above with a formal ASD diagnosis, (2) empirical research addressing structural, relational, or identity dimensions of social integration, and (3) publications in English. Exclusion criteria were studies focusing exclusively on children, theoretical commentaries without empirical data, or populations with mixed disability diagnoses without ASD-specific findings. After removing duplicates and screening abstracts for relevance, full texts of selected studies were reviewed. Data extraction focused on the social inclusion dimensions, including employment status, educational access, living arrangements, healthcare accessibility, social network size, quality of interpersonal relationships, community participation, sense of belonging, identity formation, and life satisfaction. The extracted data were then categorized according to the three-dimensional framework of structural, relational, and identity inclusion. Comparative analyses were conducted to identify patterns, similarities, and disparities across different national contexts.

The review highlights that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face pervasive challenges across structural, relational, and identity dimensions of social inclusion. Structurally, insufficient vocational training, limited career transition support, restricted independent living options, and fragmented healthcare services impede objective participation in societal systems. Relationally, adult autistic individuals demonstrate highly family-centered social networks, limited peer and community interactions, and scarce opportunities for meaningful social engagement. Identity-wise, they often experience low life satisfaction, social isolation, diminished sense of belonging, and challenges in forming stable self-identity, further compounded by societal stigma and marginalization. These interwoven barriers underscore that social integration difficulties are not merely individual deficits but reflect systemic, relational, and cultural shortcomings. Practical implications of these findings suggest the urgent need for a holistic, life-course-oriented support system encompassing education, employment, housing, healthcare, and community engagement. Policies should prioritize inclusivity in ordinary community settings, strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration, and establish integrated service platforms to ensure continuity of support from adolescence to adulthood. Emphasizing participatory design in interventions and evaluation frameworks can ensure services are responsive to the diverse needs of adult ASD populations. Future research should focus on the heterogeneity of adult ASD individuals, considering gender, communication ability, and intersecting identities, to develop inclusive and precise assessment tools for social integration. Moreover, integrating evidence-based interventions with supportive policy frameworks can enhance resource utilization, promote psychosocial well-being, and facilitate meaningful societal participation. Collectively, these efforts can inform the design of sustainable, multidimensional strategies to improve social inclusion and quality of life for adults with ASD, ultimately contributing to a more equitable and inclusive society.

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