Middle School Students' Response to the Self-Introduction of a Student With Autism

This study examined the effects of educational messages provided by a student with autism on middle school students' cognitive and conative attitudes. Students ( N = 233; M age = 13.07 years) viewed a videotape of an unfamiliar student exhibiting autism-like behaviors and received one of four messages provided by the student via a written pamphlet. Students who were unfamiliar with autism reported more favorable cognitive attitudes when an explanatory message was added to the descriptive information. Explanatory information resulted in more favorable conative attitudes than descriptive information. Female students reported more positive attitudes than male students, regardless of the message; students with prior awareness of autism reported more positive conative attitudes, regardless of the message. Implications of the findings, study limitations, and recommendations for future research are briefly discussed.