Table 1.

Participant demographics

Participant/ Student on the Spectrum	Gender	Race	Diagnosis	Highest level of education	School experience impact on mental health	Educational setting	Graduated from public school	Current employment
1	Female	White	ASDL1 & other health issues (OHI)	Associates Degree	Negative	Mainstream with pullout and resources	No	Unemployed
2	Female	White	*Asperger’s (ASDL1) & OCD/ Gifted	Graduate degree	Very Negative	Mainstream with para/ co-taught class/ segregated – autism segregated – BEH/BED/ mainstream and gifted placement	Yes	Part-time in chosen field
3	Male	White	ASDL3 Motor Disorder Non-speaking	High school	Very Negative	Mainstream with support Segregated	No	Self-employed
4	Female	White	*PDDNOS (ASDL1)/ selective mutism	Bachelor’s	Neither Negative nor Positive	Mainstream with support	Yes	Full-time teacher
5	Female	White	*Asperger’s (ASDL1) Gifted	Graduate Degree	Negative	Resources and gifted placement	Yes	Full-time in chosen field
6	Male	African American	ASDL2	Bachelor’s	Negative	Small class setting/co-taught setting pullout resources	Yes	Underemployed

^*Older autism spectrum diagnosis translated into newer DSM-5 terminology of ASD Levels 1–3.