Regarding the International Journal of Inclusive Education (2013), the focus of the study highlights the strategies teachers use to benefit children with ASD concerning social development, such as helping them understand and communicate their needs, recognize facial cues, and manage noisy environments. However, there is no mention of strategies used to support children’s cognitive development. There is no word on how their individual learning styles are being accommodated, or how teachers are helping them develop cognitive skills such as problem solving, auditory processing, and sustaining attention. Alternatively, the article “Comparison of the effects of mainstream and special schools on National Curriculum outcomes in children with ASD” focused primarily on analyzing archival data and past records of academic success, rather than conducting interviews with the parents of children with ASD, and comparing any noticeable development throughout schooling within each facility. The research used in this study focuses only on the academic success of students in mainstream schools and specialized schools, and does not touch upon cognitive or social development as a contributing factor.

 

A second highlighted gap in the research articles of “Evaluation of Classroom Active Engagement in Elementary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder” and “Social Involvement of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Elementary School Classrooms” found that children with ASD were not engaged in appropriate amounts of social interactions which resulted in them having difficulty being able to identify social relationships with their peers. This means that a child with ASD may say that they and one of their peers were friends, while their peer may see it in a different light. This makes researchers question whether the “misunderstanding of the nature of friendships” (Rotheram-Fuller, et al., 2010, p. 1231), that many children with ASD have, can affect the acceptance and inclusion of those children within the classroom. When asked if a friendship was created, children who have ASD may or may not fully understand if the friendship is reciprocal.

 

An additional highlighted gap in the research is that there is a limited amount of data surrounding diversity in student behavioural and intellectual abilities (Crosland & Dunlap, 2012). This lack of data does not show as accurate a picture into how inclusion will work for all children with varying spectrums of autism. There may be more or fewer challenges for teachers based on incorporation and flexibility depending on the individual child. Most research has not been conducted in a typical classroom setting and therefore is not as accurate when including children who have ASD into the classroom, making the solutions sometimes improbable (Crosland & Dunlap, 2012). Further research would need to be conducted in order to allow a full scope on all of these topics.

​