Developing an Online Tool to Measure Social Network Structure and Perceived Social Support Amongst Autistic Students in Higher Education: A Feasibility Study

This two-part study led by CAAR PhD student Jiedi Lei focused on developing an easy to use online tool to map students’ Social Network and Perceived Social Support (SNaPSS) during transition to university.

In part one, the use of the SNaPSS was piloted with ten autistic students aged 17-19 years old. It was found the SNaPSS successfully captured individual variances in students’ social network structure, and students were able to understand and use the SNaPSS online independently.

In part two, good convergent validity was found between the SNaPSS and other measures of support, as well as social anxiety and autistic traits in both autistic and typically developing students (aged 17-19 years). The SNaPSS can therefore help stakeholders gain insight into both autistic and typically developing students’ social worlds and identify potential vulnerabilities in social changes during transition to university.