College Students’ Perceptions of Peers with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Little is known about peer attitudes toward college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Affective, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes toward vignette characters displaying behaviors characteristic of ASD were examined among 224 four-year university students who were randomly assigned to o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2015-01, Vol.45 (1), p.90-99
Main Authors: Matthews, Nicole L., Ly, Agnes R., Goldberg, Wendy A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Attitude
Attitude Change
Attitudes toward Disabilities
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Child and School Psychology
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - psychology
Clinical Diagnosis
College Students
Complications and side effects
Educational Practices
Elementary School Students
Female
Gender Differences
Humans
Male
Neurosciences
Original Paper
Pediatrics
Peer Group
Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Positive Attitudes
Psychological aspects
Psychology
Public Health
Questionnaires
Secondary Education
Social Perception
Students - psychology
Universities
Vignettes
Young Adult
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Summary:Little is known about peer attitudes toward college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Affective, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes toward vignette characters displaying behaviors characteristic of ASD were examined among 224 four-year university students who were randomly assigned to one of three labeling conditions for the primary vignette characters: high functioning autism (HFA), typical college student, or no label. Students in the HFA label condition reported more positive behavioral and cognitive attitudes toward the vignette characters than students in the no label condition. Male students and students with lower scores on the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire reported more positive attitudes across study conditions. These experimental results suggest that knowledge of a diagnosis might improve attitudes toward college students with ASD.
ISSN:0162-3257
1573-3432
DOI:10.1007/s10803-014-2195-6