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Web End = J Autism Dev Disord (2015) 45:25532566 DOI 10.1007/s10803-015-2422-9
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Web End = Changing College Students Conceptions of Autism: An Online Training to Increase Knowledge and Decrease Stigma
Kristen Gillespie-Lynch1 Patricia J. Brooks1 Fumio Someki2 Rita Obeid1
Christina Shane-Simpson1 Steven K. Kapp3 Nidal Daou4 David Shane Smith5
Published online: 22 March 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract College students with autism may be negatively impacted by lack of understanding about autism on college campuses. Thus, we developed an online training to improve knowledge and decrease stigma associated with autism among college students. Participants (N = 365) completed a pre-test, online training, and post-test. Women reported lower stigma towards autism than men. Participation in the training was associated with decreased stigma and increased knowledge about autism. Although participants exhibited relatively high baseline knowledge of autism, misconceptions were common, particularly in open-ended responses. Participants commonly confused autism with other disorders, such as learning disabilities. This study suggests that online training may be a cost-effective way to increase college students understanding and acceptance of their peers with autism.
Keywords Stigma associated with autism Knowledge
of autism Online training College students ASD
Introduction
Improvements in the identication and treatment of autism have contributed to an increasing number of young adults with autism who are academically prepared to enter college (e.g., Van Bergeijk et al. 2008). Despite the cognitive strengths of many individuals with autism, high school students with autism are less likely to enroll in college than students with all other disabilities except intellectual disability or multiple disabilities (Wei et al. 2013). Students with autism who do enroll in college may struggle with transitioning from high school to the less structured and more complex college environment (Adreon and Durocher 2007; Kapp et al. 2011) and may often leave college without graduating (Sanford et al. 2011).
One key challenge that college students with autism may face is a lack of understanding of autism from other college students, professors, or staff. Bullying or exclusion of students with autism may make the college...