Sharing Student Projects

Autistic people are likely to face challenges when adjusting to university life. For example, autistic people may struggle with big changes in their routine and some autistic people might find the sensory environment at university overwhelming (Cage & Howes, 2020; Cai & Richdale, 2016; Clark & Adams, 2020; Lambe et al., 2019). Because of this, some autistic people do not finish their university education (Anderson et al., 2018; Cage et al., 2020; Cage & Howes, 2020). This is not good because having a university education is important for good life outcomes, like employment (Department for Education, 2022). This study looked at how universities can better support autistic students during the transition to university, to make sure more autistic people have positive experiences. The study looked at the thoughts and experiences of university staff who provide support to autistic students. This is important because not much research has included the voices of disability support staff (Cage et al., 2021), but they may have important things to say the support they provide and the challenges they face in providing this support. The study asked two main questions: What support do universities currently give to autistic students during the transition? And how can this support be improved? First, the researcher got ethical approval to do the research. Next, they contacted 12 random universities in the UK to see if their staff would take part in an interview. In total, 11 members of staff from seven universities in England and Wales agreed to take part. Each participant filled in a short form about themselves and took part in an online interview, either on their own, or with a colleague. When the interviews were finished, the researcher listened to each one and made a written version. They read through the written versions to find answers to the two research questions. In response to the first research question, participants spoke about lots of support that they offered, including support with academic things and non-academic things. As expected, there was not much support for developing life skills, like cooking and budgeting. While participants said they offered many types of support, autistic students don't feel they get enough help (Anderson et al., 2018; Cage et al., 2020; Cage & Howes, 2020; Davis et al., 2021; Nuske et al., 2019; Sefotho & Onyishi, 2021; Van Hees et al., 2015). Universities should check if the support they offer really helps autistic students and if there are any barriers stopping them from getting the support they need. Universities should focus on helping with life skills and consider having more autistic-led support programmes. In response to the second research question, participants said support for autistic students could be improved in three key ways. First, by making sure students have developed life skills before they arrive at university. Second, by improving communication between students, support services, and parents, to make sure students can get the support they need. Third, by creating inclusive and accessible universities so all students can thrive.

The findings of this research will be useful for researchers, university staff, and educational policy makers. Researchers can build on these findings to look deeper into specific areas, adding to our knowledge about effective support for autistic students. For example, researchers might look at what the most effective kinds of support for autistic students are, and what makes certain types of support more effective than others. University staff can use these findings to improve their current support practices, making sure the transition, and university overall, is more inclusive and accessible for autistic students. Educational policy makers can use the recommendations from this study to shape policies that promote accessibility and equal opportunities for autistic students during their journey into higher education.