The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

When you ask someone to reflect on their college years, memories often include lifelong friendships, fun parties, and the journey to adulthood. Students with ASD deserve the chance to fully experience this right of passage; however, their strengths often do not align with the stressors of campus life. In this presentation, a parent and author on college and autism and a professional college coach will share ideas about potential problems and creative solutions for students with ASD in college. When you ask someone to reflect on their college years, the memories often drift to life long friendships, fun parties, and the journey of oneself to adulthood. Of course the outcome is the GPA and degree that will lead to career success but what most remember long term are the fun social times rather than the stress of exams. The college experience, in essence, is the bridge between adolescence and adulthood since the responsibilities of the student begin immediately. Living in a dorm, managing free time, and exploring new ideas can be overwhelming for any student. With so many life lessons and the exposure to a variety of different events, one can see the angst and challenge with which many of our bright students with ASD begin their college pathway. Surely our students with ASD deserve the chance to fully experience this right of passage; however, their strengths often lie in areas relegated to the classroom as opposed to campus life, which we all know is merely a partial amount of one's college day. Because the laws change dramatically from high school to higher education, a student with a disability will have to advocate on their own to seek out academic accommodations. This is a huge change and typically a difficult skill for our students who have had IEP's, professional teams, and parental advocacy for most of their educational life. Thus, the amount of work to prepare and successfully complete higher education can be quite daunting for these students. In this presentation, the audience will become exposed to the areas for preparation to college life and also hear helpful strategies to support a student while they are in a higher education setting. Ann Palmer, a parent, professional, and author on the subject, will reveal her personal story about sending her son to college. She will explain her perspective as a parent whose son successfully survived college. Ann will also relay lessons learned that inspired her book, Realizing the College Dream for Students with Autism and Aspergers. Laurie Nederveen, a professional campus coach for students with ASD, will speak about her work in the trenches. In her daily role as campus coach for Aspiring Aspies, L.L.C., Laurie infiltrates student life to view the obstacles and opportunities for her clients and evaluates difficulties from their point of view. Because she can teach in the environment that they reside, she is exposed to information that may not be general knowledge to parents and campus counselors; therefore, her coaching methods are often intensive, individualized, and creative. Both speakers will provide examples of struggles from their points of view and ways that they individualized solutions to various problems. Heartfelt and comedic stories will be told to explain some of the points. Goal areas that will be addressed include understanding one's self, organization, socialization, and independent living skills. Thus, the focus will be on the help that students with ASD face beyond the classroom where the accommodations and supports are typically lacking. During the power point presentation, the audience will be shown visual examples of strategies and some video that will demonstrate creative, individualized ways to address certain issues that both the parent and coach utilized. This presentation would be most crucial to parents and individuals who are considering higher education as a future transition. It would also be informative for those professionals who are supporting students that attend college/universities such as counselors, psychologists, case managers and disability coordinators. There is a real need for more intensive supports of individuals who have Autism Spectrum Disorder in a higher education setting. Many of our bright students who complete admission and coursework struggle and even fail due to the auxiliary problems associated with their disability. The sooner families and students can prepare for the challenges, the more focus can be made on making the most of their life on campus. The goal here is to prepare, so that when our students with ASD reflect back on their college memories, it will be followed by a smile!

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