“I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: Despite recognition of the benefits of post-school education in improving life outcomes for autistic adults their university completion rates remain low. Aim: To explore the experiences of undergraduate autisti...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80805 |
| _version_ | 1848764274457968640 |
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| author | Thompson, Craig McDonald, J. Kidd, T. Falkmer, Torbjorn Bolte, Sven Girdler, Sonya |
| author_facet | Thompson, Craig McDonald, J. Kidd, T. Falkmer, Torbjorn Bolte, Sven Girdler, Sonya |
| author_sort | Thompson, Craig |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Background: Despite recognition of the benefits of post-school education in improving life outcomes for autistic adults their university completion rates remain low.
Aim: To explore the experiences of undergraduate autistic university students participating in specialist peer mentoring (SPM) to identify active ingredients in the peer mentoring process and to examine the impact of SPM on social communication. Material and method: A total of 30 (8 female; M age = 22.3; SD = 6.7) undergraduate autistic university students engaged in SPM participated in this study. A quantitative pre-test post-test design examined changes in autistic traits. In parallel, the experiences of participating in SPM were explored through semi-structured interviews.
Results: Improvements were noted at post-test on the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 total score p = 0.02), and its Social Communication, (p = 0.03) and Social Motivation (p = 0.03) sub-scales. Four themes emerged from the interviews: Developing Partnership and Understanding, Modelling and Practising Communication, Psychological Support and Grading and Planning Skills. Conclusions: These results indicated that the mentor-mentee partnership was a crucial active ingredient of SPM. This partnership appeared to modify social cognition and motivation for autistic university students through modelling and practising communication.
Significance: These results demonstrate that SPM can support participation at university for autistic university students. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:45Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-80805 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-808052021-01-15T04:29:50Z “I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students Thompson, Craig McDonald, J. Kidd, T. Falkmer, Torbjorn Bolte, Sven Girdler, Sonya Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Rehabilitation Autism spectrum disorder mentee mentor mentorship self-advocacy University SPECTRUM DISORDER SOCIAL-SKILLS COLLEGE-STUDENTS ASPERGER SYNDROME SELF-EFFICACY YOUNG-PEOPLE ADULTS SUPPORT ADOLESCENTS EXPERIENCES © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: Despite recognition of the benefits of post-school education in improving life outcomes for autistic adults their university completion rates remain low. Aim: To explore the experiences of undergraduate autistic university students participating in specialist peer mentoring (SPM) to identify active ingredients in the peer mentoring process and to examine the impact of SPM on social communication. Material and method: A total of 30 (8 female; M age = 22.3; SD = 6.7) undergraduate autistic university students engaged in SPM participated in this study. A quantitative pre-test post-test design examined changes in autistic traits. In parallel, the experiences of participating in SPM were explored through semi-structured interviews. Results: Improvements were noted at post-test on the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 total score p = 0.02), and its Social Communication, (p = 0.03) and Social Motivation (p = 0.03) sub-scales. Four themes emerged from the interviews: Developing Partnership and Understanding, Modelling and Practising Communication, Psychological Support and Grading and Planning Skills. Conclusions: These results indicated that the mentor-mentee partnership was a crucial active ingredient of SPM. This partnership appeared to modify social cognition and motivation for autistic university students through modelling and practising communication. Significance: These results demonstrate that SPM can support participation at university for autistic university students. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80805 10.1080/11038128.2020.1738545 English TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD restricted |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Rehabilitation Autism spectrum disorder mentee mentor mentorship self-advocacy University SPECTRUM DISORDER SOCIAL-SKILLS COLLEGE-STUDENTS ASPERGER SYNDROME SELF-EFFICACY YOUNG-PEOPLE ADULTS SUPPORT ADOLESCENTS EXPERIENCES Thompson, Craig McDonald, J. Kidd, T. Falkmer, Torbjorn Bolte, Sven Girdler, Sonya “I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students |
| title | “I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students |
| title_full | “I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students |
| title_fullStr | “I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students |
| title_full_unstemmed | “I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students |
| title_short | “I don’t want to be a patient”: Peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students |
| title_sort | “i don’t want to be a patient”: peer mentoring partnership fosters communication for autistic university students |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Rehabilitation Autism spectrum disorder mentee mentor mentorship self-advocacy University SPECTRUM DISORDER SOCIAL-SKILLS COLLEGE-STUDENTS ASPERGER SYNDROME SELF-EFFICACY YOUNG-PEOPLE ADULTS SUPPORT ADOLESCENTS EXPERIENCES |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80805 |