Effects of an Educational Presentation About Autism on High School Students' Perceptions of Autistic Adults

Social communication difficulties are a clinical characteristic of autism, but social interactions are reciprocal in nature and autistic individuals' social abilities may not be the only factor influencing their social success. Nonautistic individuals' social perceptions and behavior also contribute to autistic individuals' social difficulties. Previous research has identified that nonautistic individuals' perception of autistic individuals is influenced by autism knowledge and the quantity and quality of exposure to autistic people. The current research aimed to examine how autistic adults are perceived by high school students, assess whether quality and quantity of autism contact predicts these perceptions, and explore whether these perceptions are malleable.

One hundred fifty-one senior high school students (15-19 years old) completed the First Impression Scale after viewing video recordings of 20 autistic and 20 nonautistic adults in social situations, either before or after viewing a 50-minute educational presentation detailing the everyday experiences of autistic people and participating in a question-and-answer session. We assessed students' prior experiences with autistic people using the Quantity and Quality of Contact Scale and their own self-perceived social competence using the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale.

Consistent with previous studies, students rated autistic adults less favorably than nonautistic adults. However, the educational presentation produced modest but significant improvements on these ratings, with students who viewed the presentation rating autistic adults as more attractive and likable and reporting greater social interest in them compared to those who had not yet viewed the presentation. Furthermore, consistent with a double empathy framework, exploratory analyses indicated that self-reports of greater social competence among students was associated with greater bias against autistic adults, whereas reports of higher quality interactions with autistic people were associated with less bias.

Previous research has demonstrated that nonautistic adults evaluate autistic people less favorably and report lower social interest in them relative to nonautistic controls. In this study, we extend these findings to adolescents but find these biases are somewhat malleable, with education about autism exerting some modest benefits. Changing nonautistic attitudes about autistic differences may provide an avenue for improving interactions for autistic individuals without putting the onus on autistic individuals to change or mask their behavior and identity.