Kennedy Lyndel J, Richdale Amanda L, Lawson Lauren P
Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Department of Psychology, Counseling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Autism Adulthood. 2025 Aug 11;7(4):462-478. doi: 10.1089/aut.2024.0118. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Retention and academic success are associated with accessing supports for students with disabilities and/or mental health conditions (MHCs); however, many students do not disclose to their institution. While disclosure and supports use have been investigated for Autistic students, less is known about other neurodivergent students, those with multiple minority identities, and whether this differs from the experiences of non-neurodivergent students with MHCs (NND-MHCs).
Using the bioecological framework, we investigated disclosure experiences and supports use for neurodivergent and NND-MHC students via an anonymous online survey capturing diagnoses, disclosure experiences, supports usage, and new supports wanted from 131 neurodivergent and 42 NND-MHC Australian and New Zealand higher education (HE) students. Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square, and Fisher's Exact tests were used to compare neuro groups.
Neurodivergent participants were grouped into Autistic, Attention Deficity/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autistic-and-ADHD (AuDHD), and ND-other. More AuDHD students disclosed to their institution than NND-MHC (83%-19%, < 0.001). Similar proportions of neurodivergent and NND-MHC students found disclosure helpful and intended to disclose in the future. Minority-identity scores differed significantly, but did not affect disclosure. More AuDHD students (74%) accessed supports than the other groups (38%-58%), but this was not significant ( = 0.074). There were significant group differences in use of note-takers, extended time for examinations/assignments, computer use in examinations, group project alternatives, and modified orientation. NND-MHC students reported lower overall supports use than the neurodivergent groups, = 0.028. Support helpfulness ratings were similar for neurodivergent (95%) and NND-MHC (96%) students. Neurodivergent groups (77%-87%) wanted new neurodivergent-specific supports in both structured and unstructured formats, with neurodivergent mentors/facilitators preferred by the Autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD groups, 50%-71%.
Apart from the AuDHD group, less than half of eligible students disclose to their institution or use supports, but when they do, they find them helpful. A more nuanced understanding of neurodivergent students' support needs is required to improve their HE experience and completion rates.
残疾学生和/或患有心理健康问题（MHCs）的学生能否获得支持与他们的留校率和学业成绩相关；然而，许多学生并未向所在院校披露自身情况。虽然针对自闭症学生的信息披露及支持利用情况已开展过研究，但对于其他神经发育异常的学生、具有多重少数群体身份的学生，以及他们与非神经发育异常的MHCs学生（NND - MHCs）的经历是否存在差异，我们了解得较少。
我们运用生物生态框架，通过一项匿名在线调查，对神经发育异常和NND - MHCs学生的信息披露经历及支持利用情况展开调查。该调查收集了131名神经发育异常以及42名NND - MHCs的澳大利亚和新西兰高等教育（HE）学生的诊断信息、信息披露经历、支持利用情况，以及他们希望获得的新支持。我们使用Kruskal - Wallis检验、卡方检验和Fisher精确检验来比较不同神经群体。
神经发育异常的参与者被分为自闭症、注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）、自闭症合并ADHD（AuDHD）以及神经发育异常-其他类别。与NND - MHCs学生相比，更多的AuDHD学生向所在院校披露了自身情况（83% - 19%，<0.001）。神经发育异常和NND - MHCs学生中，认为信息披露有帮助且打算在未来披露的比例相近。少数群体身份得分存在显著差异，但不影响信息披露。与其他群体（38% - 58%）相比，更多的AuDHD学生（74%）获得了支持，但差异不显著（p = 0.074）。在使用笔记记录员、延长考试/作业时间、考试中使用电脑、小组项目替代方式以及调整迎新活动等方面，不同群体存在显著差异。NND - MHCs学生报告的总体支持利用率低于神经发育异常群体，p = 0.028。神经发育异常学生（95%）和NND - MHCs学生（96%）对支持的帮助程度评价相似。神经发育异常群体（77% - 87%）希望以结构化和非结构化形式获得新的针对神经发育异常的特定支持，自闭症、ADHD和AuDHD群体中50% - 71%的学生更倾向于神经发育异常导师/辅导员。
除了AuDHD群体外，不到一半的符合条件的学生向所在院校披露自身情况或使用支持，但当他们这样做时，会发现这些支持很有帮助。需要对神经发育异常学生的支持需求有更细致入微的了解，以改善他们的高等教育体验和毕业率。
