Peer Responses to Mild Social Digressions By College Students Labelled with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Asperger Syndrome

Background:

The 1990s saw a marked increase in the number of people diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This group is now reaching the age of going to university, and many people with an ASD express a strong desire to do so. While people with ASD can perform well at university, one impediment to academic and social success for students with ASD is peer attitudes and many people with ASD are reluctant to disclose their disability for fear of negative attitudes from peers. However failure to disclose diagnosis at university prevents potential support being put in place for college students on the autism spectrum. Societal issues such as stigma are under-researched within the ASD literature, although there is some evidence to suggest children are less accepting of a peer with ASD than a typically developing peer. However, for young adults at university, there is evidence that college students have a more positive attitude towards someone performing mild social digressions when the person is labelled ‘High Functioning Autism (HFA)’ than when they are labelled a typical student.

Objectives:

1) Do college students respond differently to those with a clinical label compared to typical students?

2) Do college students respond differently to an Asperger Syndrome label compared to an Autism Spectrum Disorder label?

3) Does knowledge of ASD impact upon these responses?

Methods:

120 college students (M = 55, F = 65) completed the PANAS assessment of positive and negative emotional response to two scenarios: one containing a protagonist described as a typical student and one containing a protagonist described as having a clinical diagnosis (order rotated). The clinical diagnoses were either Autism Spectrum Disorder or Asperger Syndrome (or Schizophrenia as a control).

Results:

College students had a significantly more positive and significantly less negative emotional response to examples of mild social digressions when the protagonist was labelled with a clinical diagnosis then when the protagonist was labelled a typical student. This effect was comparable for all clinical labels (Asperger Syndrome or Autism Spectrum disorder or Schizophrenia) and level of prior experience with the autism continuum did not impact upon the results.

Conclusions:

The results suggest that, within a university context, peers are more accepting of those with a diagnostic label from the autistic continuum. This contrasts with research from younger age groups, and this negative experience at a younger age may underpin reluctance to disclose diagnosis at university. However, the findings are consistent with the advice of most university disability services that disclosure of diagnosis is to be encouraged. In addition, the nature of the label did not impact upon the effect, suggesting that an ASD label is not perceived differently from an Asperger Syndrome label (within a University context).