Schooling Experiences of Young Adults with Autism in India: A Qualitative Analysis of Learning Environments, Inclusion, and Self-Determination

Although there are legal requirements for inclusive education in India, autistic students frequently find themselves in schools where they are physically integrated but lack meaningful social and pedagogical inclusion. To address the historical marginalization of first-person autistic accounts, this qualitative study explores how mainstream Indian schools impact self-determination and causal agency. Flexible, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten diagnosed autistic young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 who had all recently graduated from secondary school. Reflexive Thematic Analysis which was framed by Causal Agency Theory, the Double Empathy Problem, and the Agency-Communal Framework, revealed four key themes: (1) inflexible school environments cause chronic strain because educators frequently misinterpret an individual’s sensory self-regulation as a form of defiance; (2) mutual communication breakdowns lead to social exclusion, forcing individuals to expend a tremendous amount of cognitive energy masking their autistic traits to fit in socially; (3) institutional, deficit-focused labeling of autistic students fosters internalized stigma and learned helplessness; and (4) reclaiming self-determination in adulthood relies heavily on receiving diagnostic validation in order to unlearn that stigma. Ultimately, rigid, neurotypical-centric schooling structures actively disable autistic youth by prioritizing behavioral compliance over authentic engagement. Fostering conditions that truly enable autistic youth to exercise self-determination requires a shift away from deficit-remediation models and toward neurodiversity-affirming, strengths-based educational paradigms.