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Changing College Students’ Conceptions of Autism: An Online Training to Increase Knowledge and Decrease Stigma

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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.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the people who participated in this training and contributed their insights to this paper, particularly Richard Nellis. We are grateful to Christopher Cruz-Cullari, Dennis Bublitz and Joanne D’Onofrio for feedback on initial drafts of the training. We thank Marsha Dupiton, Erica Golin and Claudia Olender for help with coding. This study was funded by CUNY Project R.E.A.C.H. (Resources and Education on Autism as CUNY’s Hallmark) and the Far Fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Kristen Gillespie-Lynch, Patricia J. Brooks, Rita Obeid & Christina Shane-Simpson

  2. Department of Educational Studies, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY, USA

    Fumio Someki

  3. Department of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Steven K. Kapp

  4. Department of Psychology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Nidal Daou

  5. Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, CUNY, Staten Island, NY, USA

    David Shane Smith

Authors
  1. Kristen Gillespie-Lynch
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  2. Patricia J. Brooks
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  3. Fumio Someki
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  4. Rita Obeid
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  5. Christina Shane-Simpson
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  6. Steven K. Kapp
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  7. Nidal Daou
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  8. David Shane Smith
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristen Gillespie-Lynch.

Additional information

David Shane Smith—Independent Scholar, Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, CUNY.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Social Distance Scale

Response choices included definitely unwilling (4), somewhat unwilling (3), somewhat willing (2), definitely willing (1).

  1. (1)

    How willing would you be to move next door to someone with autism?

  2. (2)

    How willing would you be to spend an evening socializing with someone with autism?

  3. (3)

    How willing would you be to start a collaborative project with someone with autism?

  4. (4)

    How willing would you be to make friends with a person with autism?

  5. (5)

    How willing would you be to have a person with autism marry into the family?

  6. (6)

    How willing would you be to marry or date a person with autism?

Appendix 2: Autism Awareness Scale

Response choices included strongly disagree (−2), disagree (−1), neither agree nor disagree (0), agree (1), strongly agree (2).

1. Autism is more frequently diagnosed in males than females.

2. Children with autism do not show attachments, even to parents/caregivers.

3. People with autism are deliberately uncooperative.

4. Children with autism can grow up to go to college and marry.

5. There is one intervention that works for all people with autism.

6. Autism can be diagnosed as early as 15 months of age.

7. With the proper treatment, most children diagnosed with autism eventually outgrow the disorder.

8. People with autism show affection.

9. Most people with autism have low intelligence.

10. Children with autism grow up to be adults with autism.

11. People with autism tend to be violent.

12. People with autism are generally disinterested in making friends.

13. People with autism have empathy.

Note: We added questions 11–13 to the scale.

Bolded items are reverse scored.

Appendix 3: Targeted Questions to Assess Specific Learning Objectives

  1. 1.

    How many different autism spectrum disorders are there in the DSM-5?

    1. (a)

      1.

    2. (b)

      3.

    3. (c)

      5.

    4. (d)

      10.

  2. 2.

    What causes autism? (Select as many choices as needed).

    1. (a)

      Genes passed down from parents to children.

    2. (b)

      New changes (mutations) in the genes of affected children.

    3. (c)

      Environmental factors, such as toxins and pollution.

    4. (d)

      Vaccines.

    5. (e)

      Negative parenting.

    6. (f)

      Other (please write in your answer).

  3. 4.

    Is autism diagnosed more often among wealthier and more educated families? (Select as many choices as needed).

    1. (a)

      Autism is diagnosed equally frequently among poor and rich families in the US.

    2. (b)

      Autism is diagnosed more often among poor and uneducated families in the US.

    3. (c)

      Autism is diagnosed more often among wealthy and educated families in the US.

    4. (d)

      Autism is only diagnosed more often among wealthier and more educated families in countries where richer people have better access to healthcare.

  4. 5.

    Members of which ethnic group in the United States are most likely to be diagnosed with autism?

    1. (a)

      Native Americans.

    2. (b)

      Latinos/Hispanic.

    3. (c)

      African Americans.

    4. (d)

      Whites.

  5. 7.

    What type of people tends to have more autistic traits?

    1. (a)

      People with above average intelligence.

    2. (b)

      People with average intelligence.

    3. (c)

      People with below average intelligence.

    4. (d)

      Only people with autism have autistic traits.

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Gillespie-Lynch, K., Brooks, P.J., Someki, F. et al. Changing College Students’ Conceptions of Autism: An Online Training to Increase Knowledge and Decrease Stigma. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 2553–2566 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2422-9

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