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Effects Of Explanatory Autism Disclosure On Coworker Attitudes, Kathleen M. Henegan

Honors Projects

People with autism tend to have difficulties with the social relationships in the workplace, which are a crucial aspect to maintaining employment. In this study, we investigated whether disclosure of an autism spectrum disorder would improve adults’ attitudes toward a potential coworker with autism. Participants (93 college students, 93 working adults) were randomly assigned to read one of three vignettes describing the same interaction with a potential coworker with moderately severe ASD, but different levels of disclosure. As hypothesized, disclosure, as compared to no disclosure, led significantly more positive attitudes toward and higher willingness to work with the coworker. Disclosure …