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. 2025 Mar;55(3):1031-1044.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06248-y. Epub 2024 Jan 27.

Qualitative Ascriptions of Autistic Behavior by Non-Autistic College Students

Allison M Birnschein  1 , Olivia F Ward  2 , Amaya B McClain  2 , Rachel L Harmon  2 , Courtney A Paisley  2   3 , Michelle Stevens  2 , Theodore S Tomeny  2
Affiliations

Qualitative Ascriptions of Autistic Behavior by Non-Autistic College Students

Allison M Birnschein et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Mar.

Abstract

In studies that assess perceptions of autistic people by non-autistic people, researchers often ask participants to review vignettes depicting fictional autistic characters. However, few studies have investigated whether non-autistic peers accurately identify these hypothetical individuals as being on the autism spectrum. Accurately ascribing autism as a cause of depicted behaviors likely influences perceptions about autistic peers. In this study, 469 college students (Mage = 18.62; 79.3% female) ascribed cause(s) of an autistic peers' behaviors as depicted in a written vignette. We reviewed and categorized open-ended responses into 16 categories. Non-autistic college students primarily attributed an autistic vignette character's behavior to non-autistic origins. The most commonly ascribed causes of behavior were: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (55.4%), inattention symptoms (20.9%), autism (12.8%), generalized anxiety disorder (11.7%), hyperactivity (11.3%), an unspecified diagnosis (10.7%), an environmental influence (9.6), anxiety or insecurity (8.3%), irritability or anger or annoyance (6.0%), social anxiety disorder (5.3%), and learning disorder (5.1%). Additional ascribed causes include other mental health diagnoses; environmental stressors; and cognitive, emotional, behavioral, biological, or personality characteristics/etiologies. Non-autistic young adults may not always recognize their autistic peers as autistic, which may affect acceptance and inclusion. Future anti-stigma interventions should assess the impact of helping non-autistic peers to accurately identify and better understand behaviors associated with autism. Additionally, autism-focused researchers using vignettes should assess participants' awareness of the character as autistic and interpret their findings with this in mind.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Peer perceptions; Qualitative; Social communication.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics Approval: All procedures were performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval for this study was granted by the local ethics committee (IRB # 20-07-3710). Consent to Participate: Informed consent was obtained by all individual participants. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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