Fast Fact #9

Mentoring can be more than academic. Typical accommodations for students with autism in higher education focus on academic issues. But students with autism might also benefit from mentors focused on social and emotional needs. Such guidance would be especially important for students just beginning their college experience. This material is based, in part, upon work…

Fast Fact #8

Why don’t accommodations always work? Formal accommodations may not adequately support students’ academic needs. One reason for this deficiency is that student accommodations are not always fulfilled by teachers, which can be very challenging for students. Students reported various challenges with their accommodations: Professors do not always understand why accommodations are necessary, or exactly how…

Fast Fact #7

Accommodations and Support in Higher Education: Insights from the Autism Community Formal accommodations may not adequately support students’ academic needs. One reason for this deficiency is that teachers do not always fulfill student accommodations, which can be very challenging for students. Students reported various challenges with their accommodations: Professors do not always understand why accommodations are…

Fast Fact #6

Family Matters… To Continuous Employment and Education! “There were no significant associations between group and any of the individual factors (i.e., IQ, adaptive behavior, autism severity, behavior problems, and stress reactivity). In terms of family factors, relative to parents of youth without a disruption, parents of those who experienced a vocational/PSE disruption had higher depressive…

Fast Fact #5

Half of the youth with autism did not experience any disruption in education or employment after high school. Out of a group of 36 young individuals, all of whom have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)… 10 people remained in the same activity since high school. 8 people experienced upward mobility (either “becoming employed while maintaining enrollment…

Fast Fact #4

We all fall down, but we get up again! In Taylor and DaWalt’s recent study, about half of the participants experienced some “disruption,” like being fired, or leaving a post-secondary education program. Out of those 8 participants who experienced some sort of disruption in their employment or education, 7 found another opportunity by the end…

Fast Fact #3

Beyond the Label of Autism Spectrum Disorder All of the 618 students participating… Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) describes a set of behaviors associated with specific differences in how one’s brain perceives and processes environmental input. It is a “spectrum condition” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees.Links to related resources: Measuring autistic traits in…

Fast Fact #1

We’ve all heard the statistic that 1 in 68 people are diagnosed with ASD, but only 1 in 225 beginning college students in our study self-reported ASD. Why do only 1 in 225 new college students report having Autism? Possible reasons for the disparity… Low college enrollment of students with autism compared to other student…