"I don't feel different. But then again, I wouldn't know what it feels like to be normal": Perspectives of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Autistic teens in regular schools feel "wrong" mainly because peers exclude them, classrooms overload their senses, and they lack words to make sense of themselves.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team pooled every qualitative study that asked autistic teens how they see themselves.
They kept only papers set in regular middle or high schools.
In the end they had a mountain of teen quotes to sift for common themes.
What they found
Three forces make teens feel "wrong" or "different."
First, classmates leave them out or tease them.
Second, lights, noise, and crowding overwhelm their senses.
Third, they can’t find words or stories that explain their own feelings to themselves.
How this fits with other research
Atherton et al. (2019) interviewed 12 autistic teens who said their social thinking is "different, not broken." That view clashes with the gloomy self-picture found here. The gap makes sense: Gray talked one-on-one in quiet rooms, while the review pulled voices from busy school floors where teasing is real-time.
Humphrey et al. (2011) watched students at lunch and recess and counted more solo time and sharp reactions for autistic pupils. Their numbers back up the review’s theme that peer exclusion fuels poor self-image.
Schertz et al. (2016) let teens describe bullying in their own words and found school surveys miss the subtle ways they’re targeted. Their detail strengthens the review’s call to measure stigma with open questions, not check-box forms.
O'Connor et al. (2024) focused on girls and women and named the same two villains: a world not built for autism plus heavy stigma. The match shows the review’s story holds across genders.
Why it matters
If a teen feels defective, motivation and mental health slide. You can turn the tide by cutting down sensory surprises, teaching peers kind inclusion, and giving teens scripts that say "my brain works this way" instead of "I’m weird." Start small: ask your student to record one daily moment that felt okay, then build a language kit from those wins.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Evidence that interpersonal interactions and self-appraisal in social context are crucial in developing self-understanding raises concerns about how pupils with autism spectrum disorder make sense of themselves in school settings where many experience social marginalisation. Metasynthesis was used to systematically extract and integrate findings from qualitative studies examining the mainstream school experiences of these students. Synthesised findings identified three, intermeshing, aspects of experience which contribute to many pupils with autism spectrum disorder making sense of themselves as 'different' to typical peers in a negative way: difficulties linked to autism spectrum disorder; interpersonal relationships, particularly with peers; and accessibility of the school environment. Typical pupils' attitudes and responses towards peers with autism spectrum disorder, unusual sensory reactions to the physical school environment and individual sense-making about the self are highlighted as key areas requiring further research and intervention to improve the experiences, self-esteem and well-being of pupils with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive settings and to inform educational policy and practice.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2020 · doi:10.1177/1362361317723836