University Faculty Members' and Students' Awareness of the Need for Support for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Compared to Those With Physical Disabilities

― ― Recently, the number of university students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been increasing. Although university administrators believe that reasonable accommodations should be made for these students, faculty members and other students have complained that these accommodations are unfair to them, making it diffıcult for accommodations to be introduced. It is not clear how aware other students and faculty members are of the need of students with autism spectrum disorder for such accommodations. The present study investigated students’ and faculty members’ acceptance of accommodations for students with autism spectrum disorder and the feasibility of such accommodations, compared to accommodations made for students with physical disabilities, such as those with visual impairments or those who are deaf or hard of hearing. In addition, the study investigated differences among the providers of the accommodations, including university administrators, faculty members, and other students. A questionnaire asking about the acceptance and feasibility of accommodations for students with disabilities was completed by 1,149 faculty members and 825 students at a university in Japan. The results indicated that the students were more accepting of accommodations provided for students with disabilities than the faculty members were. In response to questions specifıcally asking about accommodations for students with autism spectrum disorder, the faculty members reported higher acceptance and feasibility for changing the method of communica-tion in classes, whereas the students reported higher acceptance and feasibility for supports such as preparing the classroom environment and exchanging roles in group work. The discussion deals with the possibility that faculty members and students may play different roles in accommodations for students with autism spectrum disorder.