Accommodating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Writing Center

Abstract

This thesis explores how collegiate writing centers could better serve the needs of students with autism. As there is so little research that involves writing centers and college students with autism, scholarship was pulled from traditional writing center pedagogy, research concerning adults with autism, and the information that was available about teaching students with autism in the college composition classroom. A mixed methods approach was used to conduct my own research: my study involved surveys, interviews, visits, and website analysis. It became clear that not only are writing centers not ready to accommodate students with autism, but some writing center professionals believe they do not need to make changes to their practices to serve the needs of students with autism. Then accessibility is examined from three different angles: websites, physical environment, and tutor training. The last chapter is a list of my recommendations meant to improve accessibility in those three different areas of writing center praxis.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Tim Taylor (Supervisor)