Dissertation Explores Self-advocacy and identity in autistic-to-autistic peer mentoring between secondary and postsecondary students:

Key Takeaways

• Onwumere (2025) provided evidence that autistic-to-autistic peer mentoring supports growth in self-advocacy and disability identity during the transition from secondary to postsecondary education.
• Shared neurotype functions as a relational foundation that supports belonging, autonomy, and competence.
• Quantitative gains align with qualitative accounts of validation, agency, and collective understanding, suggesting mentoring operates through identity-affirming processes rather than skills training alone.

Introduction

Onwumere (2025) addresses a persistent gap in higher education supports for autistic students by examining how one-on-one, autistic-to-autistic peer mentoring shapes self-advocacy and identity. Grounded in the neurodiversity paradigm, the work challenges deficit-based models and reframes mentoring as a relational process rooted in shared experience. The study is situated within rising postsecondary enrollment among autistic students alongside continued disparities in persistence and graduation, arguing that self-advocacy development is inseparable from identity formation.

Methods

The research employs a sequential mixed-methods design across three interrelated studies. Participants included autistic secondary and postsecondary students engaged in a structured peer mentoring program. Quantitative data were collected using validated measures of self-determination and disability identity administered pre- and post-program. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews and focus groups and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The conceptual framework integrates Self-Determination Theory and the Double Empathy Problem to guide interpretation.

Results

Quantitative findings indicate increases in self-advocacy scores for both mentors and mentees and growth in disability identity among mentors over time. Qualitative findings reveal that participants experienced mentoring as a space for mutual understanding, validation, and agency. Shared autistic experience reduced miscommunication, supported confidence in requesting accommodations, and fostered a sense of collective belonging within educational settings.

Discussion

The author interprets these findings as evidence that autistic-to-autistic mentoring functions through relational and identity-based mechanisms. Self-advocacy emerges as a dynamic process shaped by social context rather than a discrete skill. The study also documents how ableist assumptions within institutions constrain advocacy, even as mentoring provides countervailing support.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

For mentoring programs, the study suggests that pairing based on shared neurotype, valuing lived experience, and creating affirming spaces are central to impact. Programs focused solely on strategy instruction may miss the deeper processes that sustain advocacy and persistence. Future revisions would benefit from multi-site replication, longer follow-up periods, and inclusion of institutional outcome measures to strengthen generalizability and policy relevance.

Read the full paper here