College students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) experience complex cognitive, affective, social, and environmental challenges with learning in higher education. The interplay of simultaneous (and often invisible) challenges for these students, as compared to their neurotypical peers, creates the need for a unique set of supports to facilitate learning. In this article, I will define relevant terms and provide three arguments with supporting evidence of the complex challenges experienced by college students with ASD. I will preface the arguments with perspectives through examples from Ferguson & Jackson’s (2010) movie “Temple Grandin.” I will provide a counter argument to familiarize readers with one of the general reasons used to dispute this thesis. I will conclude the discussion with a summary and a suggestion for next steps in supporting students with ASD in higher education.
Terms
Affective Challenges: Challenges related to a person’s moods, feelings, and/or attitudes.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): ‘A spectrum of neurological disorders meeting the diagnostic criteria that identifies concerns with the characteristics and range of social interaction and communication abilities, as well as with restricted or repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities (including sensory reactivity) (Glennon, 2016, p.1).’
Cognitive Challenges: Challenges related to a person’s cognition, thinking, and/or mental processes.
Environmental Challenges: Challenges related to a person’s interaction with physical spaces or objects and social groups.
Neurotypical: Those individuals with typical neurological development who do not meet the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (Glennon, 2016, p.1).
Sensory Processing Challenges: Challenges related to reception, modulation, integration, and organization of sensory stimuli (hearing, vision, tasting, smelling, touching, etc.) as well as behavioral responses to sensory input (Clince, Connolly, & Nolan, 2016, p.1).
Cognitive Challenges
The first argument is that students with ASD experience complex cognitive challenges with learning due to differences in thinking and mental processes. For example, in Ferguson and Jackson’s (2010) Temple Grandin film, Dr. Carlock (science teacher) at Franklin Pierce College identifies that Temple thinks in pictures and he explains this to his colleagues to help them understand her abilities and talents as a visual thinker. Dr. Carlock uses the example of the words “elle” or “il” (meaning she or he in French) to show that Temple has been drawing pictures of eels to learn and remember the French words.
In a qualitative study from Gobbo and Shmulsky (2014), experienced faculty who met to discuss academic concerns faced by college students with ASD, had observations and insights regarding academic challenges that fell into cognitive categories, including critical thinking (p.17). Students with ASD had difficulty with “audience recognition,” awareness about others, “thinking on a big picture, conceptual level,” and inflexible thinking that tended to be viewed as an intense need to be right (Gobbo and Schmulsky, 2014, p.17). These students showed difficulty with thinking tasks involving “audience awareness, integrating parts into a whole, elaborating ideas, and dealing with ambiguity and change (Gobbo and Schmulsky, 2014, p.18).” Cai and Richdale (2015) found that when it came to the executive functions of students with ASD, that ‘most students described themselves as being quite disorganized; were unable to plan for areas of their lives that may not interest them; were easily distracted and had difficulty with multi-tasking; took considerable time to process new information; and had slow or poor hand-writing due to issues with fine-motor skills (p.36).’
Social and Affective Challenges
A second argument is that students with ASD experience complex social and affective challenges with learning due to differences in understanding (or interpreting) and expressing (or responding to) emotion, communication, and behaviors. For example, in Ferguson and Jackson’s (2010) Temple Grandin film, Temple experiences taunting and bullying from other students at Franklin Pierce College because of her challenges with fitting in to the conventional social and affective ways of being and doing as a student in this academic setting. Temple receives an “F” grade in her first term and she overhears another student refer to the grade received as an ‘F for freak.’
According to Gobo and Schmulsky’s (2014) findings on social understanding, behavior, and anxiety, faculty reported that “students with ASDs appear to miss the nonverbal social cues of their teacher and peers at times (p.17)” Students often had difficulty with physical boundaries in relation to others by coming too close or staying to far away during interactions. They expressed behaviors that demonstrated a lack of social understanding (Gobo and Schmulsky, 2014, p.17). In addition, students with ASDs seemed to struggle with managing anxiety in such an intense way that it could “impair the student’s ability to engage in the work of the class (Gobo and Schmulsky, 2014, p.18).” This is particularly evident for students with ASD participating in group work, labs, and discussions that require social interactions.
In a study by Van Hees, Moyson, and Roeyers (2015), students with ASD who were interviewed reported challenges with the exhaustion experienced in making social contacts for friendships and relationships. They commented on striving hard to fit in on campus and reported experiencing difficulties in managing social demands due to the inability to read social cues (p.1679). This interfered with knowing when to ask questions, knowing what people expected, and conversational skills. They also reported challenges with the awareness of their social problems, such as fears and anxieties about what to say and how to say it, which led to a sense of loneliness and social isolation on campus (2014, p.1679).
Cai and Richdale (2015) add to this argument that social-communication difficulties contribute to the ‘tendency of students with ASD to interpret others literally; experience communication difficulties that don’t get resolved due to not wanting to draw attention; and preferences for not participating in group discussions (p.34-45).’ These researchers validate the existence and prevalence of co-morbid conditions and psychopathology experienced by students with ASD. They found that students commonly reported themes related to their experience of ‘anxiety, OCD, and depression, which were also affirmed by parents of students who recognized the anxiety and stress levels displayed, along with the special coping skills needed to manage responses in higher education settings (Cai and Richdale, 2015, p.36).’
Environmental and Sensory Processing Challenges
A third argument is that students with ASD experience complex environmental and sensory processing challenges with learning due to differences in integrating internal and external stimuli. For example, in Ferguson and Jackson’s (2010) Temple Grandin film, Temple makes a “cattle squeeze shoot” to use in her college dorm room because the sensation of pressure from it on her body helped her to feel relaxed so she could cope or self-regulate. In a study by Van Hees et al (2015), students reported that they experienced difficulties with ‘overseeing the large amount of new information with choices and consequences, unfamiliar surroundings, people and structures, new situations, lack of structure, unpredictability, new routines, and overwhelm with time management in the unfamiliar environments (p. 1678).’
Cai and Richdale (2015) reported that difficulties with structure, routine and sensory sensitivities resulted in consistent themes described by students with ASD. These themes included ‘preference for daily structure and routine (which was lacking at universities) and sensory sensitivities related to coping with noise in educational settings (p.35).’ A key finding from a study in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (2016) found that ‘sensory preferences have an impact on students’ day-to-day functioning with study and exam environments, choice of leisure activities, and social life. It showed the students have difficulties in formal education participation, leisure participation, and social participation, as well as challenges in relation to physical and social environments. These students reported auditory sensitivity and overwhelm in higher education environments due to sensory sensitivities that prevented them from fully engaging in daily learning tasks (Clince et al, 2016, p.7).’
Higher Education Institutions Provide Disability Accommodations One of the counter arguments is that students with ASD no longer experience complex challenges with learning in higher education because support services are currently well understood and have been well established for over a decade. For example, American institutions of higher education have formally adopted and implemented policies and services for student disability and accessibility accommodations, as required by law, since The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (Glennon, 2016, p.1-2). Adding to this argument, is that the legislation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, created the original basis for legal protections, resulting in responsive policies and services to support students with disabilities in higher education (Glennon, 2016, p.1-2). In addition, most college and university campuses provide student counseling centers for psychological support and offices of diversity to provide an inclusive and safe environment for students with disabilities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is abundant qualitative evidence in the literature to validate that students with ASD experience complex challenges with learning in higher education. Although many institutions of higher education have responded with disability accommodation policies and services, these efforts have not been adequate. Ongoing research is needed to fill the gaps in knowledge that inform policies and best practices on the challenges, benefits, and support needs of students with ASD. This knowledge is vital to developing effective interventions and supports using the voices and experiences of the growing population of college students with ASD. As a next step, institutions must seriously consider how to go beyond the minimum legal requirements necessary to best serve students with ASD based on “preparation beyond academics, student/college fit, campus supports, and family supports (Anderson and Butt, 2017, p.3031-3032). There would be enormous benefits in co-creating learning environments that emphasize and integrate ‘personalized approaches; safe and transparent environments; sufficient planning and clear communication; academic accommodations; coaching in education, student life, and daily living; adequate psychosocial support; encouragement for participating in leisure activities; and getting sufficient amounts of rest (Van Hees et al, 2015, p.1682-1683).’
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