"I Spent Most of Freshers in my Room"-A Qualitative Study of the Social Experiences of University Students on the Autistic Spectrum.
Helen Goddard, Anna Cook
PMID 34184141WHAT IT FOUND
Ten autistic university students described being selective about friends, valuing quality over quantity, and hiding their diagnosis from peers due to fear of stereotypes.
They found quiet spaces, non-alcohol events, and social mentoring helpful. This is one small group's experience, not evidence that any approach works.
Key findings
01Participants valued friendship quality over quantity and were highly selective about who they told about their diagnosis, often citing fear of negative stereotypes and past bullying as reasons for non-disclosure to peers.
02Social mentoring, autism societies, and non-alcohol-focused events were described as beneficial, while noisy, crowded, or alcohol-heavy university events were common barriers to social participation.
03Most participants reported dissatisfaction with their social life and associated feelings of loneliness and isolation with worsened mental health, though some reported improved wellbeing after finding supportive peers or accessing counselling.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was very small (10 participants) and recruited largely through autism societies, meaning the findings may only reflect the experiences of students who are already socially connected and open about their diagnosis. The study relied on self-selection, which may have excluded students who found spoken interviews about personal life too uncomfortable. The primary researcher was a neurotypical graduate student, and the paper acknowledges this may have influenced the participants' responses. Participants came from only four universities in the UK, limiting the generalisability of the findings to other institutions or countries.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the reported benefits of social mentoring or autism societies as proven interventions. These are the subjective experiences of ten students who were already members of such societies, so the study cannot show whether these approaches work for students who are not already engaged or who choose not to disclose their diagnosis.