From being bullied to being accepted: The lived experiences of a student with Asperger’s enrolled in a Christian university

Abstract

Thirteen participants from two private universities located in the western region of the United States shared their lived experiences of being a college student who does not request accommodations. In one's educational pursuit, bullying is often experienced. While the rates of bullying have increased, students with disabilities are more likely to be bullied. This article chronicles key incidents through the educational journey of a college student with Asperger's syndrome enrolled in a Christian university. Incidents of bullying, aggression, retaliation, and forgiveness underlie this article. Recursive analysis was used to analyze qualitative data from semi-structured interviews. Initial codes were combined to create interconnected families of codes. A second level of analysis resulted in seven spaces in which participants describe their lived experiences. Findings suggest participants experience various tensions, ranging from incompatible options to competing perspectives, as they negotiate their identity. Implications for effective school-home collaboration are addressed.

How does my student learn? Neurodiversity and the nature of learning in autism

“…Carrington et al, 2003;Humphrey and Lewis, 2008;Huws and Jones, 2008). A more recent study in a Christian university setting confirmed the efficacy of phenomenology for research on the lived experience of a student with Asperger's syndrome (Reid, 2015). The data were collated and analysed using NVivo software.…”

“…1.Although no longer a separate diagnostic category in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), Asperger’s syndrome and high-functioning autism are terms employed within the autism research literature reviewed in this paper (e.g. Reid, 2015). …”