“Seeing the value of who we are”: understanding and supporting autistic university students

Background: The number of autistic students enrolling in universities is increasing, yet many of them face significant challenges in navigating academic, social, and environmental demands. Existing research often focuses on autistic students’ strengths and weaknesses. While insightful, the dichotomizing of individual characteristics may limit our ability to identify systemic barriers within higher education. Methods: Guided by social and human rights models of disability, we adopted a participatory approach to identify factors hindering autistic students’ success in university settings. Our team of autistic and non-autistic researchers conducted a qualitative study to explore the experiences of autistic university students in Australia and how universities can create conditions that enable them to thrive. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 autistic adults who either had completed at least one university course, or were studying a university course, or had previously enrolled in but discontinued at least one university course in Australia. We deployed reflexive thematic analysis in analyzing our participants’ transcripts. Results: We identified four key themes as follows: (1) “Fight[ing] really hard to get through,” highlighting the challenges autistic students face; (2) “[Taking] a lot longer to try to make sense of the system,” describing difficulties navigating university structures; (3) Fostering an enabling environment, suggesting ways universities can better support autistic students; and (4) Building a sense of belonging, emphasizing the importance of meaningful connections and acceptance. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we provide 10 recommendations for universities to create more inclusive and supportive environments for autistic students. This study underscores the need for universities to actively engage with autistic students to understand their needs and implement appropriate support strategies.