INCLUSIVE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FOR LEARNERS WITH AUTISM: CURRICULUM DESIGN AND EMPIRICAL EVALUATION IN FAITH-BASED SETTINGS

Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently encounter exclusion in Religious Education within faith-based schools due to curricula and pedagogies grounded in normative assumptions about communication, cognition, social interaction, and sensory regulation. This marginalisation limits access to religious content, communal worship, and spiritual engagement, despite the central role of Religious Education in moral formation and school identity in African contexts.Drawing on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and African inclusive education scholarship, this study addresses the limited empirical attention given to Religious Education as a site of inclusion for autistic learners in Zambian faith-based schooling.A convergent mixed-methods design was employed across three faith-based primary schools in Zambia. Participants included forty-eight learners formally identified with ASD, twelve Religious Education teachers, and nine caregivers over a twelve-week intervention period. Quantitative data were collected through pre-and post-intervention teacher-reported questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Qualitative data were generated via classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of learner artefacts, and analysed thematically following Braun and Clarke’s framework.Quantitative findings indicated improved teacher-reported learner engagement, participation, and curriculum accessibility following implementation of the inclusive curriculum. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed that these gains were unlikely to be attributable to chance alone. Qualitative findings pointed to enhanced participation, improved emotional regulation, increased learner confidence, and a stronger sense of belonging. Teachers reported greater pedagogical confidence and more deliberate curriculum planning.The study suggests that sensory-aware, multimodal, and intentionally designed Religious Education curricula can enhance access and participation for learners withASD without diluting religious content, positioning inclusive Religious Education as both a curriculum priority and an ethical responsibility in faith-based schooling.Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Inclusive Education; Religious Education; Universal Design for Learning; Faith-Based Schools; Neurodiversity; Inclusive Curriculum; Spiritual Inclusion; Special Educational Needs