"Listening with Your Heart": Autism Support Program Faculty Experiences in Teaching Autistic College Students

Area of Science:

• Higher Education Pedagogy
• Neurodiversity in Education
• Autism Support Programs

Background:

• Increasing enrollment of autistic college students necessitates improved faculty support.
• Many educators lack adequate training to effectively support autistic learners in higher education.
• This research explores faculty experiences within autism-specific college support programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand the lived experiences of faculty teaching autistic college students.
• To identify how faculty adapt their teaching approaches in autism-specific support settings.
• To explore the essence of faculty engagement with neurodivergent learners in higher education.

Main Methods:

• Descriptive phenomenological reflective lifeworld research.
• Interviews conducted with faculty, part-time teaching staff, and administrators at a community college.
• Data supplemented by classroom observations, program information sessions, campus tours, and course syllabi analysis.

Main Results:

• Faculty themes included unfamiliarity, flexibility, disruption, and optimism.
• Initial unfamiliarity with autism was overcome by learning directly from students, fostering trust.
• Faculty utilized feedback and adaptability to navigate challenges, enhancing confidence and inclusive teaching.

Conclusions:

• Faculty experiences highlight the iterative process of adapting teaching for autistic students.
• Autism-specific programs foster neurodiversity and equip faculty with transferable inclusive teaching skills.
• Findings contribute to understanding how faculty leverage resources to support neurodivergent learners effectively.