Research findings indicate that anxiety, social anxiety in particular, is the most common experience reported by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) attending postsecondary education. Among students without ASD, higher levels of social anxiety have been postulated to correlate with impaired academic achievement; restriction of one's social network because of anxiety is thought to lead to reduction of access to resources important for learning such as social/emotional support and collaborative learning. However, despite growing interest in the outcomes of young students with ASD, no research has studied the associations between academic achievement and anxiety among students with ASD. This study examined the association between social anxiety and grade point average (GPA) among university students: 55 diagnosed with ASD, 31 without ASD but high levels of social anxiety, and 25 without ASD and with low levels of social anxiety (controls). GPAs were significantly lower for the ASD group than for the two non-ASD groups. Among students without ASD, a negative correlation between social anxiety and grades was observed whereas the reverse pattern was found for the ASD group, meaning that for students with ASD, higher levels of social anxiety were associated with higher grades. Additionally, in a regression analysis, ASD diagnosis, social anxiety, and the interaction of group × social anxiety significantly predicted GPA. Possible explanations for this finding, as well as implications for interventions among this population of high-functioning students with ASD, are discussed.Lay Summary: This study compared the relationship between levels of social anxiety and grades in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in students without ASD who had either high social anxiety or low social anxiety (controls). Among the group with ASD, higher levels of social anxiety were associated with higher grades, whereas the reverse pattern was found among the other groups. This finding's implications for interventions among students with ASD are discussed.

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The gap between cognitive ability and adaptive behavior has been thought to enhance psychopathology among people with autism, particularly among those without intellectual disability. We examined this association by exploring the gap between cognitive understanding of social behavior and socially adaptive behavior, and its impact on social anxiety symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and depressive symptoms, among 53 university students with autism (without intellectual disability). A higher cognition-social adaptation discrepancy was associated with more social anxiety, but this effect was moderated by autistic trait (AT) levels; a greater gap was associated with more avoidance symptoms of social anxiety only among students with high AT. Cognitive flexibility and prosocial behavior may mitigate the effects of AT. Potential implications and interventions are discussed. Keywords Cognitive ability • Adaptive behavior • Autism traits • Social anxiety • Autism Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder exhibit a wide range of cognitive and verbal impairments (Ben-