Understanding Autistic Identity Disclosure in Higher Education

As autistic students enter postsecondary education, they must decide if and when to disclose their autistic identities. The existing literature on this topic either focuses on students with disabilities more broadly or is not the exclusive focus of the study. Given the need to disclose in order to receive accommodations and the inherent risk involved in disclosing a marginalized identity, it is imperative to understand what factors lead to an autistic college student's willingness to disclose.

After an extensive literature review on disclosure, we created a survey to better understand autistic college students' disclosure thoughts and behaviors. Researchers developed the survey and obtained feedback on item clarity and importance from autistic college students. We distributed the survey through national networks, resulting in a sample of 123. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, ordinal logistic regression, and Mann-Whitney U tests. We analyzed open-ended data using an inductive thematic approach.

The sample was diverse in gender and sexuality, and the majority had co-occurring mental health conditions. Being autistic was an important part of the student's identity, but they expressed worries about negative perceptions or impacts from disclosure. Most students wished they could disclose without consequences. Willingness to disclose to a professor at the beginning of the semester was predicted by how safe a student felt it would be to disclose at their university and the necessity of accommodations. Cisgender, heterosexual students, and white students were more likely to disclose than LGBTQIA+ students and students of color, respectively. In open-ended responses, students discussed concerns about disclosure and when they feel safe to disclose.

We provide questions for students to consider when contemplating disclosure and recommendations for higher education professionals and future research.