The Autistic College Experience: An Autoethnographic Study

This thesis considers the autistic college experience from an autoethnographic perspective. It critically examines my own experience as an autistic person, how autism has shaped my life in college, and the evolution of my self-identity in relation to autism. Further, I contextualize this with the documented journeys of other autistic college students, gathered from qualitative studies, anthologies, and other sources, and from my interviews of college students at my university. With this, I demonstrate how I have evolved from seeing my autism as a condition separate from my personhood to an essential part of who I am. Finally, I use the information synthesized from my experience and my research, to recommend supports for autistic students at the university level.