Introduction

Inclusive Education is practised in many countries globally. South Africa embarked on the implementation of Inclusive Education in 2001, with the aim of providing quality education and accommodating all learners including those who have additional learning needs such as autism into regular classes. Advocates of inclusion encourages a shift from a medical model to the one that embraces diversity (Bornman & Donahue, 2014; Chireshe, 2013; Majoko, 2016; Phasha, 2016; Subban & Mahlo, 2017; Watson, 2018). There are tremendous benefits for learners to learn in an inclusive setting with their peers who are different from them (Shaik, 2015) because all learners are given access and equal educational opportunities to succeed. Teachers are expected to identify learners with autism early in their school career and meet their individual needs (DoE, 2001). This can be realised when teachers use innovative pedagogies such as Curriculum Differentiation to teach learners with autism. The principle of inclusivity signifies the value of every person to be included in the society, regardless of their unique characteristics (Phasha, 2016 ), including autism.

As mentioned in the introduction, an Afrocentric viewpoint of Inclusive Education is entrenched in theories that originated from Africa such as Ubuntu, Africanisation and Indigenous Knowledge in addition to Eurocentric theories. Inclusive Education cannot be understood using western theories and practices only, but also non-western theories should be acknowledged as they are culturally and contextually relevant to Africa, these theories include Ubuntu (see also the Introduction to this volume).