Dropping out and moving on: A qualitative study of autistic people’s experiences of university

Abstract

Autistic people are at high risk of dropping out of university, but little research has examined this issue. Fourteen autistic people participated in semi-structured interviews examining their experiences at university and the reasons they had dropped out. Thematic analysis identified patterns in participants’ responses. Themes were categorised as systemic issues, challenges within university or life after dropping out. Systemic issues centred around accessing diagnosis, autism understanding, mental health and outsider status. Challenges at university included culture shock, becoming disengaged, lack of proactive support and perceived inevitability of dropping out. Finally, life after dropping out was characterised by processing of trauma and shame, and realisation of doing ‘what’s right for you’. Together, these themes suggest that many improvements could be made at universities, such as more proactive support and creating more accessible environments. Societal-level change is also needed to improve educational opportunities for autistic people. Lay abstract Many autistic people now go to university, but many of them also drop out of their studies. In fact, it is believed that autistic people are at higher risk of dropping out, but little research has been done to understand why this is happening. This research used interviews to take an in-depth look at 14 autistic people’s experiences of dropping out of university. All the things the participants talked about were examined closely by the researchers who identified common themes in what the participants discussed. The first set of themes captured some overarching issues faced by autistic people, such as difficulties with getting diagnosed, a lack of autism understanding, mental health challenges and feeling like an outsider. The next themes were organised within challenges faced at university, including a feeling of culture shock, becoming disengaged from one’s studies, a lack of proactive support from their university and a feeling that dropping out became inevitable. Finally, there were themes about life after dropping out, which involved a sense that the experience at university had been traumatic and shameful, but they believed people had to do what is right for them. All of these themes suggest that universities need to be better at supporting autistic people when they first come to university, and that they should actively offer clear support throughout and try and make the university environment more accessible for everyone, to ensure more autistic people have a positive university experience.

Adults with Autism: Changes in Understanding Since DSM-111

“…However, the general availability of such programs is scarce, and few have been systematically evaluated (Gelbar et al 2014 ). Accounts by autistic students also indicate that the amount of support available varies widely; lack of understanding by and/or negative attitudes from teaching staff and/or other students are continuing problems, and social integration is often limited (Accardo et al 2019 ; Anderson et al 2018 ; Ashbaugh et al 2017 ; Cage and Howes 2020 ; White et al 2019 ). Many students with autism also remain uncertain whether to disclose their diagnosis to college authorities for fear of discrimination and hence do not take up supports that may be available (Gillespie-Lynch et al 2017 ).…”

Understanding the role of self-determination in shaping university experiences for autistic and typically developing students in the United Kingdom

“…It should be noted that some of the challenges highlighted by autistic students in this study such as the reduced and less explicit structure at university, the contrast between better quality family support versus poor social integration, feelings of loneliness and lack of proactive campus-based support resonate with factors that were associated with the decision to drop-out of university by autistic students in recent quantitative and qualitative studies Cage & Howes, 2020). Given that this study focused on self-determination at university as perceived by students, one limitation of this study is that we did not gather multi-informant reports from peers, university staff and family members to reflect on to what extent they supported students to develop and utilise their self-determination at university.…”

“…Such perspectives are important to gather given that for almost half of the current sample of autistic students, family support helped students develop and assume their self-determination in their pursuit of university studies. Having a high and consistent level of family support when faced with varying quality of institutional and peer support may be especially relevant to maintain autistic students’ engagement at university ( Cage & Howes, 2020 ) and considered as one part of the micro support system around the individual to secure better transition and retention outcomes ( Cage et al, 2020 ).…”

Autistic Traits Predict Social-Contact Uncertainty in University Students

“…According to Cage and Howes ( 16 ), appropriate mental health support for autistic people is needed within university. Our results suggest that students high in autistic traits tend not only to be more socially anxious at the moment but also have a heightened risk of still being so in the future.…”

“…One implication is that students with a high number of autistic traits are prone to enduring stress, experiencing reduced performance, and even prematurely leaving education, just because studying at university requires frequent social contact and interaction ( 2 ). Therefore, treatment for social anxiety for autistic people [(e.g., ( 17 )] and systematic support at universities ( 16 ) could be useful for people with many autistic traits, regardless of a formal autism diagnosis. Notably, only a portion of the people who are high in autistic traits and seek a diagnostic assessment of autism eventually qualify for an autism diagnosis ( 18 ).…”