College Students With Autism: Bridges and Barriers to Postsecondary Success

• In Event: 72.036 - New Perspectives on College Student Identity

Abstract

A large and fast-growing population of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)—a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairment in social communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors—are completing high school with reasonable expectations for continuing on to college. The nascent body of literature on individuals with ASD in postsecondary education, however, is discouraging. Moreover, critical holes in the empirical literature currently make it impossible to develop large-scale, evidence-based, and empirically-validated interventions for college-going adults with ASD.

This study begins to fill these knowledge gaps. Drawing data from in-person interviews of adults with ASD, the study gives voice to this often-overlooked population and offers suggestions to improve postsecondary access, experiences, and outcomes for students with autism.

Author

• Bradley E. Cox, Florida State University