Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Autism Spectrum Disorder

Attitudes toward developmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder have been shifting in recent years with the normalization of mental illness and its presence in popular media. The purpose of this study is to examine differentiations in attitudes toward individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, looking into three variables: gender, knowledge, and high versus low functioning. It is hypothesized that the low functioning condition will yield more positive attitudes, that female pronouns used in either condition will produce more negative attitudes, and that participants with more knowledge about the disorder as opposed to less will exhibit more positive attitudes across all conditions. This study will be accomplished through an online survey utilizing four randomly assigned vignettes, the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons With Disabilities, and the Knowledge of Autism Scale