Higher Education Experiences of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Challenges, Benefits and Support Needs | SpringerLink Advertisement Search Log in Search SpringerLink Search Original Paper Published: 02 December 2014 Higher Education Experiences of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Challenges, Benefits and Support Needs Valérie Van Hees1 , Tinneke Moyson2 & Herbert Roeyers3   Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders volume 45, pages1673–1688(2015)Cite this article 8710 Accesses 89 Citations 15 Altmetric Metrics details Abstract The transition into higher education constitutes a precarious life stage for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research on how students with ASD navigate college life is needed for the development of adequate support. This study investigated the challenges and support needs of 23 students with ASD in higher education through semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed following the principles of Grounded Theory. Students faced difficulties with new situations and unexpected changes, social relationships, problems with information processing and time management and had doubts about disclosure. Facing these challenges simultaneously in the domains of education, student life and daily (independent) living, had a major impact on students’ well being. Besides these challenges, students also reported benefits that contributed to success in the three domains. They pointed out to a set of recommendations for support. These findings are linked with previous research and implications for higher education institutions are extrapolated on the basis of these findings. This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access. Access options Buy single article Instant access to the full article PDF. US$ 39.95 Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Subscribe to journal Immediate online access to all issues from 2019. Subscription will auto renew annually. 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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Author information Affiliations Office for Study and Career Guidance, Artevelde University College Ghent, Hoogpoort 15, 9000, Ghent, Belgium Valérie Van Hees Department of Education, Health and Social Work, University College Ghent, Voskenslaan 362, 9000, Ghent, Belgium Tinneke Moyson Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium Herbert Roeyers Authors Valérie Van HeesView author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar Tinneke MoysonView author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar Herbert RoeyersView author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar Corresponding author Correspondence to Valérie Van Hees. Electronic supplementary material Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material. Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 115 kb) Rights and permissions Reprints and Permissions About this article Cite this article Van Hees, V., Moyson, T. & Roeyers, H. Higher Education Experiences of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Challenges, Benefits and Support Needs. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 1673–1688 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2324-2 Download citation Published: 02 December 2014 Issue Date: June 2015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2324-2 Keywords ASD Higher education Qualitative research Students’ challenges Benefits Support needs and recommendations Access options Buy single article Instant access to the full article PDF. US$ 39.95 Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Subscribe to journal Immediate online access to all issues from 2019. Subscription will auto renew annually. US$ 199 Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Rent this article via DeepDyve. 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