Exploring the impact of training on explicit and implicit attitudes toward autism spectrum disorder and physical disabilities in university students.
A full-semester university course improves explicit attitudes toward autism and physical disabilities, but implicit bias only shifts for disabilities trainees already know well.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers ran a university course on autism and physical disabilities. They tested students before and after to see if attitudes shifted.
The course lasted one semester. Students learned facts and met guest speakers with disabilities.
What they found
After the class, students openly rated both autistic and physically disabled people more positively. This explicit attitude gain held for everyone.
Hidden bias scores only improved for physical disabilities. Students who already knew more about physical disabilities showed the biggest implicit shift.
How this fits with other research
Bottema-Beutel et al. (2015) and Muller et al. (2022) also saw university autism classes help students. The new study adds physical disability content and tracks both open and hidden attitudes.
Griffith et al. (2012) looks like a contradiction. Their one-day workshop lifted autism knowledge yet made special-ed staff less willing to help. The difference: students in 2025 had a full semester with speakers and grades, while staff in 2012 got only a single lecture.
Kisbu-Sakarya et al. (2021) extends the idea to teachers. Intensive training raised their willingness to run inclusive classes by boosting confidence, not attitudes. Together the papers show knowledge plus time or self-efficacy drives change, not quick talks.
Why it matters
If you train staff or peers, stretch it out. One-shot talks can backfire. A semester or repeated sessions with real stories and graded work move both open and hidden bias. Pair autism modules with physical disability content to widen impact, and check both explicit and implicit scores to see who still needs help.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The current study examined the impact of training on attitudes toward autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and physical disabilities from both explicit and implicit aspects. As the number of autistic students enrolling in universities increases, there is a growing focus on meaningful inclusion in educational environments. Although several intervention studies investigated changes in attitudes towards people with disabilities, including ASD and physical disabilities, few have focused on the implicit aspect of attitudes. METHODS: In this study, participants received a training course on understanding and supporting people with developmental disorders, physical disabilities, or no training in the case of the control group. They completed surveys on their knowledge and explicit and implicit attitudes at three time points (pre-, post, and one-month follow-up). RESULTS: We found significant positive changes in explicit attitudes toward disabilities that were not the target of the training course. Only participants who received training on physical disabilities changed their implicit attitude toward people with physical disabilities. These participants also knew more about physical disabilities before receiving the training course. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that while positive spill-over effects in explicit attitudes occur through providing knowledge and support skills, implicit attitudinal change can occur depending on the level of expertise about the target disabilities.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2025.105068