Two-Year College Students on the Autism Spectrum: Characteristics and Services Experiences

Background:  Of youth on the autism spectrum who attend college, about 80% will attend a 2-year college. Despite this high prevalence of attendance, we understand little about the characteristics of these students, factors associated with their attendance, their educational experiences, and whether they receive the help they may need.

Objectives:  We aim to answer questions about youth who attend a 2-year college in the first years after high school.  What are the characteristics of this group? What are the differences between those who attend 2-year colleges versus other types of postsecondary institutions? What services / accommodations do they receive?

Methods:  Data came from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. The study was conducted over 5 waves at 2 years apart (2001-2009). At baseline, all youth were ages 13-16 years and receiving special education services. The study began with over 11,000 students, including 920 in the autism special education category. Estimates come from Wave 5, conducted in 2009, when youth were in their early- to mid-20’s, and were weighted to be nationally representative of the cohort of youth served in the autism special education category at the start of the study.  

Results:  

Students who attended 2-year colleges only were primarily male (84.5%), White (85.3%), and non-Hispanic (97.6%). Most (93%) had at least one parent who attended any postsecondary education, and 47.1% were from households earning $50,000-70,000 per year. Over 61.5% had good conversational skills or only a little trouble conversing. About 64.6% reported doing pretty well or very well with functional skills like counting change. Most (85.7%) were able to navigate to places in the community, and 93.8% had participated in extracurricular activities during high school. Significantly more youth who attended 2-year college were reported to have adequate functional, navigational, and participation skills during high school compared to youth who attended vocational/technical education or had no postsecondary education. Only 60.9% of parents of young adults who attended 2-year colleges predicted during high school that the youth would attend postsecondary education.

 Within the 2-year college setting, 56.1% took vocational courses. One-quarter (26.2%) pursued academic study in a STEM field. Half (50.4%) attended school full-time. One quarter (25.1%) did not consider themselves to have a disability, while 69.1% reported that the school was aware of their disability. Less than half (48.6%) reported receiving services, accommodations, or other help. Most (87.3%) felt they received enough help. Only 68.0% felt the services they received were somewhat or very useful.

Conclusions:  About 85% of young adults on the autism spectrum attended a 2-year college at some point: 56.2% attended a 2-year college only; 29.4% attended both a 2-year and a 4-year college. Those who attended only a 2-year college reported a wide range of functional abilities; although less than half reported receiving services, accommodations, or other help for the disability. A greater understanding of this population is needed to provide anticipatory guidance for youth and their families to facilitate transition planning.