Citation: Brown, K. (2017). Accommodations and support services for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD): A national survey of disability resource providers. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 30(2), 141-156.
Why is this Study Important?
Providing needed accommodations and supports has been shown to positively affect the persistence and success of college students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Yet campus disability resource offices vary widely, and there are some unique barriers experienced by students with ASD in a college setting. With a growing number of college students on the spectrum, what are typical services and supports being provided on college campuses?
Kirsten Brown, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison conducted a national survey of disability resources offices. She wanted to learn more about the types of accommodations and services being offered to students on the autism spectrum. She was curious about types of general support services (defined as services for students with and without disclosed disabilities) as well as ASD-specific supports.
Brown developed a survey instrument and distributed it to directors of disability resource offices at colleges across the country. She used a random sample of two-year and four-year non-profit colleges and universities in the U.S. She e-mailed recruitment letters to 1,245 individuals and had a 41% return rate. To analyze the data, she used both descriptive and inferential statistics.
Some Key Findings
- Student numbers: 94% of the respondents reported they had one or more students with ASD on campus. Higher numbers were reported at two-year institutions than four-year colleges. Four-year public colleges reported more students with ASD than four-year private institutions.
- Reasonable accommodations: Academic accommodations (e.g., notetakers, extended test time) were reported at a high percentage of campuses, and appear to be offered to students with ASD at rates similar to other students with disabilities.
- Campuses report providing sensory and social accommodations less frequently. For example, 45% of institutions provide sensory accommodations, and 39% offer a single residence hall room as an accommodation. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of campuses have a disability-focused student organization and 27% provide peer mentoring programs administered by the disability resource office.
- General support services such as tutoring and counseling are widely offered, but are typically provided by an office other than the disability resource office. Transition programs and peer mentoring that provide all students social supports are offered less frequently than other general support services.
- ASD specific services: 28% of respondents indicated they provide specific services for students with ASD free of charge; 2% report offering ASD services on a fee basis.
- The strongest predictor of institutional support for students with ASD was the presence of peer mentoring. Campuses with peer mentoring administered by the disability resource office or other offices were three times more likely to also have ASD-specific services than campuses without peer mentoring.
The author discusses some limitations to the study. Since participation was voluntary, respondents who have students with ASD on their campus may have been more likely to respond. There is wide variation in the disability documentation and accommodation practice across campuses. Co-occurring diagnoses are common, and this study focused solely on ASD.
Brown suggests several implications of these findings for disability resource offices.
- Campuses need to evaluate the types and range of accommodations they provide. In addition to traditional academic accommodations, are sensory and social barriers for students with ASD being addressed? Do additional forms of accommodations or supports need to be provided on campus in response to the growing presence of students with ASD?
- There are greater numbers of students with ASD at two-year campuses, but these campuses do not report a greater level of staff or support than four-year campuses. This finding may be useful for professionals on these campuses in advocating for additional staff or funding for programming.
- Having a peer mentoring program on campus, even one that is designed as a general service to benefit all students, may contribute to an institutional culture of support. Brown suggests that establishing a general peer mentoring program can be an effective first step to building a program for students with ASD.
Want to know more about the methods, outcomes, and limitations of this research? You can access the article at https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped/archived-jped/jped-volume-30. Scroll to issue 2 and select your format of choice (pdf, Word, mp3, or DAISY).