ADHD and ASD in Higher Education: Selecting and implementing effective reasonable accommodations

An increasing number of students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) enrol in higher education. However, these students struggle throughout their academic career due to specific disorder-related functioning and participation problems. These problems emerge in interaction with the environment of higher education. To neutralise this negative effect of the context of higher education, students with ADHD or ASD are granted reasonable accommodations. Nonetheless, research investigating the effectiveness of these reasonable accommodations is scarce and no guidelines regarding the selection and implementation of accommodations are formulated yet. The overall objective of this dissertation is to analyse the determinants that influence the selection and implementation of effective reasonable accommodations for students with ADHD or ASD. This general objective is divided into two main research goals, namely (1) identifying the functioning and participation problems of students with ADHD or ASD in higher education; and (2) selecting and implementing effective reasonable accommodations. These research goals are examined using multiple methods, namely a literature review, qualitative research, survey-based research and experimental research. The results of this dissertation first show that attentional problems, and ineffective study skills emerge most frequent for students with ADHD, while problems with social interaction and communication, and ineffective study skills are most common for students with ASD in higher education. In addition, these problems are encountered most during classical teaching and evaluation methods compared to other teaching and evaluation methods. Second, reasonable accommodations such as extended examination duration and taking the examination in smaller than usual groups are perceived as effective by students with ADHD or ASD in higher education. Nevertheless, the students with ADHD or ASD and the typically developing controls included in this dissertation do not objectively benefit from the most used reasonable accommodation, namely extended examination duration. In conclusion, this dissertation promotes a stepped care in higher education. Initially, lecturers should implement the principles of universal design for learning and assessment in order to include a diverse population of students from the start. A second step in the stepped care is selecting and implementing effective reasonable accommodations tailored to the needs of each individual student with ADHD or ASD in higher education. If students with ADHD or ASD still experience specific functioning and participation problems, additional support outside the context of higher education may be necessary.status: publishe