After a decade in pioneering autism-inclusive class, Zander Pedersen takes final exam

Zander Pedersen, 15, sat his last folk school exam on Thursday at Katrinebjergskolen in Aarhus, closing a ten-year chapter as the first pupil in Denmark’s experimental Nest class for children with and without autism, DR reports.

Before entering the exam room, Zander, who has a diagnosis of infantile autism, told his mother Elisa Dahlstrøm he was nervous, especially about the oral test. “I’m worried about the oral exams. I’m not very good at that kind of real conversation,” he said.

The Nest model, imported from New York, places 16 students together—four with autism—under two teachers for most lessons. Routines are fixed, visual cues are clear, and students may step away when overwhelmed. Research tracking the class found that children with diagnoses showed less autistic behaviour, while neurotypical classmates matched or exceeded peers academically.

School principal Kristian Hellum called Zander’s decade a proof point: “We now have children used to mixed groups. We’ll get citizens who can engage far more easily. That must be in everyone’s interest.”

Zander scored a top mark of 12. He will now move to a standard technical upper-secondary school. Aarhus Municipality reports a higher share of Nest pupils proceed to further education than from its special classes; the city estimates the ten-year Nest investment at Katrinebjergskolen cost roughly 48 million kroner extra.

Professor Lene Tanggaard of Aalborg University, who followed the project, said the decade of Nest work has inspired wider school development. “You should never draw dramatic conclusions from one class, but these ten years have given very significant inspiration for tackling the massive well-being problems among children.”

Elisa Dahlstrøm said the inclusive setting helped her son. “It wasn’t just a small box of autistic children. It was a community where they could get to know and learn from each other.”