Date of Award
Fall 12-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Scot Danforth
Second Advisor
Jennifer Kong
Third Advisor
Dawn Hunter
Fourth Advisor
LouAnne Boyd
Abstract
This dissertation explores the firsthand experiences of autistic and neurodiverse individuals in social and extracurricular settings. Grounded in symbolic interactionism and disability studies, this study leveraged qualitative interviews to provide greater insight into the extracurricular lives of autistic persons and the quality of preparation and education provided to said participants to successfully navigate those experiences. Due to the limited number of studies on this topic, and the tendency of programs to focus on general skill development for this population, significant attention was also given to investigating the activity-specific skills needed for various social and extracurricular activities.
Understanding the intricacies in how neurodiverse individuals navigate said interactions has historically proven difficult to capture in clinical studies that mainly focus on third-person accounts. Coupled with the wide range of disability policies, practices, and curriculum, dedicated to servicing the needs of neurodiverse individuals, current understanding of the lived realities of neurodiverse populations in extracurricular activities is minimal. Therefore, leveraging our learnings from the in-depth interviews about the personal experiences, triumphs, and challenges of the study participants in the social and extracurricular realm, the study seeks to provide greater input on how social skills programs can be better equipped and updated to conform to current neurodiverse standards and experience.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hinkle, S. M. (2025). First-hand perspectives of autistic and neurodiverse individuals in social and extracurricular settings [Doctoral dissertation, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000711
Included in
Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Disability Studies Commons, Other Education Commons, Special Education and Teaching Commons