How Do Graduate Teaching Assistants Perceive and Understand Their Autistic College Students?

Background: As autistic college students increase in number, it is important to identify how to best support them. Beyond the increased academic demands of higher education, many autistic young adults struggle with social interactions, time management, emotion regulation, and routine changes. Having an accurate understanding of Graduate Teaching Assistants' (GTAs') knowledge of neurodiverse learners could inform improvements to GTA training programs.

Methods: We explored GTAs' understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and any related pedagogical training. We used the Autism Awareness Survey by Tipton and Belcher and several supplemental questions to assess 92 GTAs' knowledge of ASD (65% female [ = 59], mean age = 27 years [standard deviation, SD = 4 years], 69% Caucasian [ = 62]).

Results: Most GTAs ( = 76; 83%) had heard of ASD, primarily from a family member ( = 51; 66%). Out of 14 questions, 61% ( = 56) of GTAs answered at least 10 accurately. Eight questions were answered correctly by more than 75% of respondents, indicating some understanding of ASD, although room for improvement remained. GTAs with an autistic family member were not more knowledgeable about ASD, nor did they report feeling better-equipped to support autistic students. The majority of GTAs ( = 89; 97%) had not received any ASD-specific pedagogical training and only 15% of GTAs felt well-equipped to teach autistic students.

Conclusions: While most GTAs answered basic knowledge questions about ASD correctly, they did not feel prepared to support autistic students. Increased understanding of neurodiverse learners could help GTAs foster a more supporting and inclusive environment and improve academic and social outcomes for autistic students. Further research is needed on what specific supports autistic learners need in the college classroom, how to train GTAs on how to provide these supports, and how to measure the effectiveness of such interventions.