Experiences of university life for students with Asperger’s Syndrome: a comparative study between Spain and England

Abstract

Research has consistently shown that young people with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) are likely to experience increased anxiety during new social situations yet studies have been regionally and culturally bound with no sense of how experiences or practice differs across countries. The aim of this study was to explore how higher education students with AS experienced attending university in two European countries: the UK and Spain. The objective was to find out if experiences differed between the two countries in relation to contrasting support arrangements and what kinds of interventions might aid students' social well-being at university; an important learning outcome for future practice. This small-scale comparative exploratory study incorporated life-history interviews with nine students with AS. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four superordinate themes with seven sub-themes emerged from the data which were significant to both groups of students in Spain and the UK attending university. These were 'meeting new people', 'special interests', 'environment' and 'support mechanisms'. Students with AS need and want clear, unambiguous and structured information from academics; support to get to know others in 'small social networks' such as special interest peer groups; more designated 'quiet zones' across campuses; and above all, a move away from ableist notions of AS. To our knowledge, this is the only Spanish-UK comparative study of university students with AS.Keywords: Asperger's Syndrome; Higher Education; Student experiences; Spain; England AcknowledgementsThe Spanish part of the project was funded by the European Union Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional and we thank them for their generosity. We also thank the two anonymous referees for their insight and comments. We particularly thank the participants for their time and contribution.

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