Admission Requirements for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Primary Mainstream Schools: A Comparative Study of Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Belgium

Admission requirements to mainstream schools for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can either promote inclusion or contribute to exclusion. Although parents in Saudi Arabia have called for improvements to these requirements in primary mainstream schools. Limited research has been conducted to address this need. Therefore, this study aims to compare admission requirements in Saudi Arabia with those of Canada and Belgium to provide suggestions for improvement. A comparative research design was employed, along with inductive thematic analysis of three official websites from the respective countries. The findings indicate that admission requirements in Saudi Arabia need improvement, particularly in terms of engaging parents and providing detailed information about the support available for students with ASD. These findings contribute to the development of educational services in Saudi Arabia for children with ASD, aligning with the initiatives of Saudi Vision 2030.