Reframing the Locus of the Problem: High-Masking Autistic Students and Higher Education

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 7:45am
  In Poster Session: Building Just and Equitable Education Systems

Abstract

Autistic college students who engage in high levels of masking often remain invisible within institutional diversity discourses, navigating classrooms without formal accommodations while incurring disproportionate mental health burdens and academic costs. This conceptual analysis critiques deficit-based accommodation models and argues for structural instructional redesign grounded in neurodiversity-affirming, inclusive frameworks. We examine how ambiguity, hidden curricula, and normative expectations create barriers for high-masking students, and how these experiences signal broader equity issues at the intersections of race, class, gender, and dis/ability. Rather than focusing solely on autism, we frame high-masking as a structural indicator of institutional exclusion and a site of insight for advancing inclusive pedagogy in higher education.

Author

• Jamie Alain Smith Levitan, University of Maryland