Self-Advocacy Training for Autistic College Students at a Public University (ACS)

Self-Advocacy at the University Level: Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder to Advocate for Their Needs

Cases in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have dramatically risen over the past 30 years, with the current rate of 1 in every 44 (Maenner et al., 2021) children born with the condition. Much emphasis rests on the need for various interventions, practices, and therapies during childhood to improve quality of life and success across a variety of settings. Nonetheless, as they age, all children advance through the education system and eventually leave the school system. Consequently, it should not be surprising that these children must grow up and face realities after high school. For some, this may include residential placements, living at home with family members, or working part or full time. For others, this comes in the form of postsecondary education. However, many individuals with autism might not be prepared to handle the requirements future education entails. As stated in articles by Chiang et al. (2012) and Blackorby and Wagner (1996), persons with disabilities, regardless of type, do not have successful transitions after high school compared to individuals without disabilities-even with having access to many resources in school and the community. Barriers, therefore, exist that prevent successful outcomes for students with autism attending college and obtaining a postsecondary degree. Thus, there is a need to identify strategies that can be effective in assisting autistic adults in postsecondary education to succeed, both academically and socially.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Video Model and Role Play

Detailed Description

This study will utilize a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants with an embedded ABCDE design (or more specifically, an ABACADAE design). These components will be the four scenarios teaching self-advocacy skills based primarily on recognition of one's wants and needs and personal decision making. The four included scenarios will be a) requesting appropriate accommodations from disability services; b) requesting additional supports or services (daily living, social, etc.) from disability services; c) presenting accommodations to a professor; and d) meeting with disability services in the event a professor is not accommodating student needs. There will also be a pre-test/post-test comparison between scores on the self-advocacy questionnaire with data displayed in the form of a bar graph that will explore all four areas of self-advocacy: recognition of wants and needs, scheduling meetings, locating services, and personal decision making.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 6
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Austin, Texas, United States, 78712
      • University of Texas Austin

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 22 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Students to be undergraduates enrolled at a university or community college
• Students must have a confirmed diagnosis of ASD (either through an official diagnosis via documentation of the disability services or proof of self-diagnosis).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students who are not enrolled in college, do not have a confirmed diagnosis of ASD, or who already demonstrate strong self-advocacy skills will be excluded from this study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Autism College Students; Single subject design means subjects are their own control.	Other: Video Model and Role Play; Video clips and role-play will be utilized to teach self-advocacy skills to autistic college students.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Advocacy Skills	Self-Advocacy Questionnaire-a 16 question survey that looks at 4 areas of self-advocacy. 4 questions per each scenario leading to the total of 16. Numerical values are not used to measure specific variables--but they are used to compare and contrast how participants answered the questionnaire at a pretest and posttest basis.	Through study completion, which will be up to 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Social Validity Application of the Intervention Package	Social Validity Questionnaire will assess the accuracy of the measures this study used--i.e., video model, script, and task-analysis. This is a 6 question survey.	At the end of the study, which on average will last up to 3 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): April 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 1, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 7, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 8, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 7, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 2, 2022
• Last Verified: December 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Self-Advocacy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: Self-Advocacy ASD

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No