Journal of College & University Student Housing Vol. 47 No. 2 - 30

crisis " (VanBergeijk et al., 2008, p. 1366).
Even though housing and residence life are
integral to student affairs, scant attention has
focused explicitly on accommodations for students with disabilities. Thus, students with
ASD living on campus may face inadequate
support in their residential environments, including physical, human, and organizational
supports (Statton-Brooks & Eichler, 2020;
Strange & Banning, 2015). Over the last 20
years, there has been an increased emphasis
on accommodations such as emotional support animals (Bauman et al., 2013; Kogan et
al., 2016; Von Bergen, 2015), universal design
(Mace, 1998; Watson et al., 2013), training
and peer intervention needs related to students with ASD (Ackles et al., 2013; Fisher,
2015; Hansen, 2011; Platos & Wojaczek, 2018;
VanBergeijk et al., 2008), and other housing
options (Shaw et al., 2011; Vaccaro & Kimball,
2019) including autism-related living-learning communities (Hendrickson et al., 2013;
Rians, 2018; Whitney et al., 2012). According
to Ackles et al. (2013), " The residential living experience for individuals on the autism
spectrum involve[s] navigating shared living
arrangements, managing the organizational
aspects of independent living, and coping
with complex sensory issues " (pp. 202-203).
The success of students with ASD in higher
education settings is the responsibility of all
professionals, not just those working in disability resources, and housing and residence
life professionals in particular have a unique
opportunity to support students outside of
their academic classrooms.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The theoretical framework for the current
study is Richard Oliver's (1977, 1980) expectation confirmation theory (ECT), which
examines how customer expectations and
product performance relate to each other

and lead to overall satisfaction with the product. Oliver developed a model of product
performance that includes consideration of
consumer expectations, perceived performance of the product, disconfirmation of
beliefs, and overall satisfaction. Ultimately,
when a product performs to the standards of
a consumer's original expectations, there is
satisfaction. When a product exceeds original expectations, there is a disconfirmation
of beliefs and overall satisfaction. However,
if a product underperforms compared to a
consumer's original expectations, there is a
disconfirmation of beliefs and overall dissatisfaction with the product.
	
Expectation confirmation theory has
been applied to the satisfaction of experiences beyond just that of products. For instance, scholars have successfully applied
the theory to information system experiences (Chou et al., 2010; Hossain & Quaddus,
2012), motorists' satisfaction with their
driving experiences on state highways
(Poister & Thomas, 2011), higher education
online learning environments (Keengwe
et al., 2012), and customer service experiences (Chea & Luo, 2005). We selected this
theoretical framework because many campus housing operations are concerned with
student satisfaction as an outcome of the
residential experience. For instance, campus housing frequently uses the Skyfactor
Benchworks (2021) assessment for housing
and residence life. This popular standardized assessment is organized around three
primary factors: resident satisfaction, learning experience, and program effectiveness
(Skyfactor Benchworks, 2021).
	
In the present study, students with ASD
are considered the consumers, and the campus housing experience is the product. If
housing and residence life professionals are
better able to understand the expectations of
Volume 47, No. 2 * 2021

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Journal of College & University Student Housing Vol. 47 No. 2

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