Beyond the Blueprint: Navigating Higher Education for Students with Autism and Co-Occurring Disabilities

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. two authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Isaacson, K. B., Cox, B. E., Jiang, Y., & Nachman, B. R. (2026). Beyond the Blueprint: Navigating Higher Education for Students with Autism and Co-Occurring Disabilities. The Journal of Higher Education, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2026.2728560

Publication date: 28 Sep 2026 Added to AutiHub: 17 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 4 (50.0%)
  1. Karly Ball Isaacson
  2. Bradley E. Cox *
  3. Yilun Jiang
  4. Brett Ranon Nachman *

Abstract

Although research on autistic college student success is growing, less is known about those who navigate both autism and co-occurring disabilities during college. This mixed-methods study employs a rigorous proposition testing approach to address critical gaps in the literature. Drawing on national survey and interview data, we identify two key challenges to these students’ success: academic barriers shaped by intersecting disabilities and reduced accommodation access for students with self-diagnosed conditions. While quantitative findings indicate modest effects, qualitative data reveal more substantial difficulties. Findings underscore the urgent need for disability-informed supports that reflect the complex realities of this student population. Specifically, our findings point to the limitations of relying on discrete diagnostic categories to understand students’ support needs and call for more flexible approaches to disability research and practice. By considering how disabilities operate together rather than as separate conditions, institutions can better address the complex and individualized challenges students encounter during college.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 24 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
45
With a DOI
34
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
11
7 / 45 (15.6%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 45 (6.7%)
References with detected author names
42 / 45 (93.3%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
11
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
124
From DOI or external metadata
124
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
59 / 124 (47.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 65 / 124 (52.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
18 / 124 (14.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 18 / 59 (30.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 14 / 117 (12.0%).
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