ArticleAutism : the international journal of research and practice2020
Dropping out and moving on: A qualitative study of autistic people's experiences of university.
Article in Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- College as a Developmental Context for Emerging Adulthood in Autism: A Systematic Review of What We Know and Where We Go from Here.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Social Skills Through an Autistic Lens: A Qualitative Analysis of Young Adults' Insights and Experiences.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Unheard Voices: A Systematic Literature Review of Studies Using Self-Report Methods to Gather the Perspectives of Autistic Adults with Intellectual Disability.Autism in adulthood · 2026Article
- An Evidence-Based and Lived Experience Approach to Improving Therapeutic Environments for Neurodivergent Clients.Health services insights · 2026Review
- Are Universities Ready to Support Autistic Students? A Call to Increase Coordinated Campus Efforts.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- Comparing Self-Perceptions, Meta-Perceptions, and Peer Judgments of the Academic Experience of Autistic and Non-Autistic University Students.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- Comparing Disclosure and Supports used by Higher-Education Students with Neurodivergent or Mental Health Conditions.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- Experiences of Autistic Students in Postsecondary Education: A Review of Reviews.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- "There's Only So Much the School Can Change About Itself … Before You Need to Change Something About Yourself"-a Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences of Neurodivergent Student Teachers.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- Associations Between Social Functioning and Indicators of University Student Engagement.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- "A System That Wasn't Really Optimized for Me": Factors Influencing Autistic University Students' Access to Information.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- "A Good Transition Is Just Key": The Views and Experiences of Disability Support Staff in Supporting Autistic Students Transition to University.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- Positive Experiences in Postsecondary Education Among Autistic Youths in Hong Kong.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- Anxiety During Employment-Seeking for Autistic Adults.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Exploring Racial Discrimination, Disability Discrimination, and Perception of the Future Among Black-Identifying Emerging Adults with and without Autism in the United States: A Mixed-Methods Descriptive Study.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2024Article
- Career progression for autistic people: A scoping review.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Article
- The effect of reappraisal on the emotional regulation of shame in young adults with ASD and typical peers.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- 'It's a symbolic violence': Autistic people's experiences of discrimination at universities in Australia.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Article
- Exploring Environmental Barriers and Facilitators to Inclusion on a University Campus for Autistic Students.Autism in adulthood · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
lay abstractMany 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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.