Working with Autistic Deaf Students
Access is a shared responsibility—when campuses commit to better support, students have more opportunities to thrive. Just like their peers, autistic deaf students have big goals for their future. But too often, barriers make it harder to stay in school, access support, or find job opportunities.
They face many of the same challenges as other deaf students, like difficulty getting services or feeling overlooked in classrooms and career planning. For some, autism may add context to how they experience or respond to a situation, making transitions more complicated and increasing the risk of not receiving the support they need. Without the right support, some students may even step away from education or work altogether simply because the system wasn’t built with them in mind.
Disability services, career counselors, vocational rehabilitation professionals, and campus staff play a key role in ensuring that autistic deaf students are prepared for life after high school or college. This can include supporting access to workplace accommodations, assistive technology, job coaching, housing, and transportation—resources that are often essential for a smooth transition. Strengthening support systems, especially in transition planning and postsecondary programs, can make a lasting difference in their success.
Barriers to Resources & Services
Autism is a neurodivergent way of experiencing the world, often involving differences in communication, social interaction, sensory processing, and patterns of interest. Deaf autistic people, like all people, have unique strengths, preferences, and ways of navigating their environments. The experience of autism and deafness can overlap in different ways for each person, which is why flexible, individualized support is essential.
One of the most important steps in providing support is recognizing students’ identities and the language they use to describe themselves. Some may identify as autistic deaf, deaf autistic, or deaf with autism. Many people view autism as part of their identity and embrace a neurodiversity perspective—recognizing not just challenges, but also unique strengths.
Others may have additional identities or disabilities that shape their experiences. For educators, taking a strengths-based approach can support more meaningful and respectful interactions with autistic students. The best approach? Ask students how they identify and what is important to them.
Diagnosing autism in deaf people can be complex, and there is no widely validated diagnostic tool designed specifically for autistic deaf children. This process is further complicated by the fact that many deaf children do not have full access to language early in life. While language deprivation and autism are distinct, clinicians who are unfamiliar with deafness may mistakenly attribute language delays to autism, leading to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.
As a result, autism is often identified later in deaf people compared to hearing peers, which can delay critical support and services. This impacts not only the difficulty in getting a diagnosis, but also leads to delayed early intervention services, and a lack of adequate resources, limited research, and little professional expertise in serving autistic deaf people.
Ask the Right Questions
Colleges can create better learning environments for autistic deaf students by focusing on three key strategies: asking the right questions, providing appropriate accommodations, and using evidence-based practices in the classroom.
A student-centered approach ensures that autistic deaf students have autonomy in their education. Instead of assuming what they need, professionals should engage in an ongoing dialogue. Asking questions to better understand students’ experiences opens the door to collaborative discussions about services. Providing concrete examples of available support can help students make informed decisions about what works best for them. Disability services staff, instructors, and campus professionals can ask questions like:
Social Interaction
- What kinds of socialization feel most comfortable for you?
- When it comes to group work, what would work best for you: working with a selected partner, participating in a small group with support, or completing the project independently?
- How can we support your involvement in campus activities?
Attention and Focus
- What helps you stay engaged during class?
- Is there anything in particular that you find distracting?
- What visual supports work best for you?
Routines and Transitions
- What helps you get started at the beginning of a semester?
- What support is helpful during big changes in your program?
- Are there specific routines that help you feel more organized or prepared?
- Are there any supplies that would be supportive to you?
Sensory Sensitivities
- Are there things in the classroom (like lights, sounds, or movement) that support you?
- For example, avoiding fluorescent lights, or if a specific classroom configuration is more comfortable.
- Does anything in particular impede your ability to learn?
- What helps you feel more welcomed in places like the dorms, cafeteria, or campus events?
- Is there anything we can do ahead of time to make new spaces/transitions feel welcoming?
Provide Appropriate Accommodations
Accommodations should be tailored to each student’s needs, which includes factoring in the unique needs of autistic deaf students. It’s crucial that, in asking the questions above, the focus remains on identifying and implementing effective accommodations. Some examples include (but are not limited to):
- Extended testing time
- Written step-by-step instructions
- Extended deadlines
- Options for independent work instead of group projects
- Note-taking services
- Frequent short breaks
- Visual supports (e.g., sharing slides in advance)
- Recordings of lectures
- Consistent interpreters (who are familiar with the student, their particular needs and communication style)
- Deaf interpreters when needed
- A distraction-free testing area
- Recording lectures, especially for online courses, allows students to review material at their own pace.
Small adjustments like these can have a big impact on learning and participation. As students explore different strategies, their accommodations may also change over time to better support their academic goals and learning styles.
Some students may already know which accommodations work best for them, while others may need help exploring their options—especially at the beginning, when they might not be aware of all the tools and services available. It’s important to clearly explain how the disability services office works, what types of accommodations can be provided, and how those accommodations might be used in different academic settings. Ideally, the office should also guide students on how to talk with professors about their access needs. As always, center the student’s feedback and experience throughout the accommodations process. For more details on accommodations, check out the resources in the Disability Services Professionals Resource Portal.
Use Evidence-Based Practices for Instruction
Many teaching strategies developed for autistic hearing students can also be effective for autistic deaf students—especially when paired with appropriate instructional materials and accommodations. However, not all evidence-based practices work for every autistic deaf person, so it’s important to remain flexible and responsive to each student’s individual needs. Research-based strategies that support learning and engagement include:
- Breaking information into small, structured steps
- Using visual aids, schedules, and graphic organizers
- Providing clear, direct communication, and avoiding figurative, idiomatic, or metaphorical language that may be difficult for the student to understand
- Offering flexibility in how students participate and demonstrate knowledge
- Allowing extra processing time for discussions and assignments
The following are examples of evidence-based practices that have been shown to be effective for autistic students, including those who are deaf. However, no single approach works for everyone—figuring out the right strategies may take some trial and error, flexibility, and ongoing feedback from the student.
Evidence-Based Practice | Examples |
|---|---|
Cognitive Behavioral/ Instructional Strategies | Using visual schedules and self-monitoring checklists in ASL, English, or visual prompts to manage transitions between classes and reduce anxiety, supporting both social and academic engagement. |
Modeling | A job coach can model how to greet a supervisor and check in at the start of a work shift. This might include practicing appropriate facial expressions, signing speed, and use of space for students who use sign language—or working on tone, pacing, and key phrases for students who use spoken communication. OR An instructor uses video modeling, in ASL or with English subtitles, to demonstrate how to initiate a group project discussion, allowing the student to observe and then practice the behavior in a supported setting. |
Prompting | An instructor uses a shared Google Doc with real-time comments like “Consider adding more detail here” to prompt the student during a writing assignment, supporting engagement in a low-pressure format. OR During a group study session, a peer points to the student’s agenda app when it's time for the group to switch tasks, helping reinforce time management without needing to speak or sign. |
Reinforcement | After a deaf Autistic student successfully advocates for accommodations during office hours, their advisor gives immediate positive feedback and highlights how that skill will benefit future interactions. OR After the student uses a coping strategy (like stepping out briefly during sensory overload and returning to class), the instructor acknowledges their self-regulation with a supportive email, reinforcing autonomy and self-care. |
Technology-Aided Instruction and Intervention | A deaf Autistic student uses a customizable visual scheduling app that sends alerts and includes both text and visual icons to help manage class transitions and reduce anxiety throughout the day. |
Time Delay | An instructor uses time delay during class discussions by asking a question and waiting several seconds before offering additional support, allowing the deaf autistic student time to process and respond. |
Visual Supports | A student uses a step-by-step visual checklist to complete a lab experiment, allowing them to follow procedures independently and reduce reliance on instructor prompts. |
Explicit Teaching | An instructor teaches the process of synthesizing multiple sources by walking through a sample reading set, identifying key points, and demonstrating how to connect ideas across texts using color-coded visual organizers. |
These strategies help create a learning environment where autistic deaf students can thrive and find their own paths toward success in their future careers.
Every autistic deaf student is different, and their needs should be at the center of decision-making. By asking questions with the intention of learning, using evidence-based practices, and providing effective accommodations, colleges can create learning environments where autistic deaf students can succeed.
