Autism in Higher Education

Each year, 50,000 students with autism turn 18. Many are making the difficult transition to college. Disproportionately few are persisting, graduating, or acquiring jobs. We are working to make things better.

Purpose: This project aims to improve experiences and outcomes for college students with autism.

Goals: Project goals focus on student well-being, educational achievement, and institutional responsiveness.
Student Well-being: We want students with autism to feel confident that they have the personal qualities and institutional support necessary to succeed in college.
Educational Achievement: We want to maximize the likelihood that students with autism enter, persist, and graduate from college.
Institutional Responsiveness: We want to educate postsecondary institutions about students with autism so they can be more responsive to these students’ specific needs, appreciate their distinct perspectives, and highlight the unique contributions these students can make to their host institutions, fields of study, and society at large.

Activities: Project activities focus on advocacy, research, and training.
Advocacy: We empower college students with autism by amplifying their voices within the academic community and by providing free access to materials designed to facilitate their successful transition into, through, and out of college.
Research: We use qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the systemic, institutional, and personal conditions that shape college access, experiences, and outcomes for students on the autism spectrum.
Training: We conduct professional development workshops and distribute training materials to college administrators, researchers, students, and instructors.

People and Perspectives: Members of the project team reflect the project’s commitment to an inclusive and interdisciplinary perspective on college students with autism. The team includes undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty researchers from seven fields of study. Several team members have family members with autism, and at least one member has been diagnosed with autism.

		Bradley E. Cox Assistant Professor Higher Eudcation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 1210G Stone Building 1114 West Call Street Tallahassee, FL 32306-4453 brad.cox@fsu.edu 850/644-6446


Home Page Autism in Higher Education LIPSS - Linking Institutional Policies to Student Success Parsing the First Year of College NCLE - Non-College Life-Events Other Research Teaching CV SPSS Add-Ins	Autism in Higher Education Each year, 50,000 students with autism turn 18. Many are making the difficult transition to college. Disproportionately few are persisting, graduating, or acquiring jobs. We are working to make things better. Purpose: This project aims to improve experiences and outcomes for college students with autism. Goals: Project goals focus on student well-being, educational achievement, and institutional responsiveness. Student Well-being: We want students with autism to feel confident that they have the personal qualities and institutional support necessary to succeed in college. Educational Achievement: We want to maximize the likelihood that students with autism enter, persist, and graduate from college. Institutional Responsiveness: We want to educate postsecondary institutions about students with autism so they can be more responsive to these students’ specific needs, appreciate their distinct perspectives, and highlight the unique contributions these students can make to their host institutions, fields of study, and society at large. Activities: Project activities focus on advocacy, research, and training. Advocacy: We empower college students with autism by amplifying their voices within the academic community and by providing free access to materials designed to facilitate their successful transition into, through, and out of college. Research: We use qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the systemic, institutional, and personal conditions that shape college access, experiences, and outcomes for students on the autism spectrum. Training: We conduct professional development workshops and distribute training materials to college administrators, researchers, students, and instructors. People and Perspectives: Members of the project team reflect the project’s commitment to an inclusive and interdisciplinary perspective on college students with autism. The team includes undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty researchers from seven fields of study. Several team members have family members with autism, and at least one member has been diagnosed with autism.	Autism in Higher Ed AERA Paper April, 2015 The first paper to come from the project on Autism in Higher Education was presented as a research paper at the 2015 conference of the American Educational Research Association AERA Full Text here AERA Slides here FLASHA Poster May, 2015 A poster led by Amelia Anderson and several other students won first place at the 2015 conference of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists FLASHA poster here