Increasingly more students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college. In response, many colleges are now offering these students the extra support of an Autism Support Program (ASP), many of which include a mentoring component. This study is one of only a handful of attempts to examine these programs empirically. Using a small sample of college students who identified as having ASD, I compared participants and non-participants of a university ASP. An online survey was used to assess demographic characteristics and pre-college academic performance, as well as students’ functioning across the following domains: social, adaptive, academic, emotional, and having a natural mentor. I also examined the degree to which student functioning was associated with the quality and frequency of ASP-sponsored mentoring relationships. Results indicated ASP participants were more often men and likely to report higher levels of social, adaptive, academic, and emotional functioning than non-participants. There were few significant correlations between relationship quality or frequency with ASP mentors and students’ functioning. The implications of these findings for future research and for recruiting students into ASPs is discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Increasingly more students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college. In response, many colleges are now offering these students the extra support of an Autism Support Program (ASP), many of which include a mentoring component. This study is one of only a handful of attempts to examine these programs empirically. Using a small sample of college students who identified as having ASD, I compared participants and non-participants of a university ASP. An online survey was used to assess demographic characteristics and pre-college academic performance, as well as students’ functioning across the following domains: social, adaptive, academic, emotional, and having a natural mentor. I also examined the degree to which student functioning was associated with the quality and frequency of ASP-sponsored mentoring relationships. Results indicated ASP participants were more often men and likely to report higher levels of social, adaptive, academic, and emotional functioning than non-participants. There were few significant correlations between relationship quality or frequency with ASP mentors and students’ functioning. The implications of these findings for future research and for recruiting students into ASPs is discussed. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mapes, Ayla Raven"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Psychology (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bridges, Ana J.","Greene, Aleza"],"advisors":["Cavell, Timothy A."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:00:28Z","subjects":["Autism","Autism Support Program","Mentoring","Counseling Psychology","Educational Psychology","Higher Education","Psychiatric and Mental Health","Special Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2990","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bridges, Ana J.","Greene, Aleza"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Cavell, Timothy A."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mapes, Ayla Raven"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2018"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Psychology (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Autism","Autism Support Program","Mentoring","Counseling Psychology","Educational Psychology","Higher Education","Psychiatric and Mental Health","Special Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2990"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Increasingly more students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college. In response, many colleges are now offering these students the extra support of an Autism Support Program (ASP), many of which include a mentoring component. This study is one of only a handful of attempts to examine these programs empirically. Using a small sample of college students who identified as having ASD, I compared participants and non-participants of a university ASP. An online survey was used to assess demographic characteristics and pre-college academic performance, as well as students’ functioning across the following domains: social, adaptive, academic, emotional, and having a natural mentor. I also examined the degree to which student functioning was associated with the quality and frequency of ASP-sponsored mentoring relationships. Results indicated ASP participants were more often men and likely to report higher levels of social, adaptive, academic, and emotional functioning than non-participants. There were few significant correlations between relationship quality or frequency with ASP mentors and students’ functioning. The implications of these findings for future research and for recruiting students into ASPs is discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Support Program for College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Functioning of Participants Versus Non-Participants and the Role of Program-Sponsored Mentoring"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bridges, Ana J.","Greene, Aleza"],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Cavell, Timothy A."],"dc:creator":["Mapes, Ayla Raven"],"dc:date":["2018"],"dc:date.available":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Increasingly more students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college. In response, many colleges are now offering these students the extra support of an Autism Support Program (ASP), many of which include a mentoring component. This study is one of only a handful of attempts to examine these programs empirically. Using a small sample of college students who identified as having ASD, I compared participants and non-participants of a university ASP. An online survey was used to assess demographic characteristics and pre-college academic performance, as well as students’ functioning across the following domains: social, adaptive, academic, emotional, and having a natural mentor. I also examined the degree to which student functioning was associated with the quality and frequency of ASP-sponsored mentoring relationships. Results indicated ASP participants were more often men and likely to report higher levels of social, adaptive, academic, and emotional functioning than non-participants. There were few significant correlations between relationship quality or frequency with ASP mentors and students’ functioning. The implications of these findings for future research and for recruiting students into ASPs is discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2990"],"dc:subject":["Autism","Autism Support Program","Mentoring","Counseling Psychology","Educational Psychology","Higher Education","Psychiatric and Mental Health","Special Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["A Support Program for College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Functioning of Participants Versus Non-Participants and the Role of Program-Sponsored Mentoring"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Psychology (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:00:28Z"}