The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Students enrolled in higher education often struggle with increasingly complex social constructs, the responsibilities associated with living alone and the difficulty of “juggling it all.” With proper supports, many individuals living on the autism spectrum can be highly successful in the university setting. Those supports, however, must be carefully planned and designed to support the individual needs of each student. One of the most common methods by which individuals with ASD learn new skills is through participating in skill-building groups. These groups provide access to information vital to educational success, emotional support and an improved quality of life. The traditional “support group” approach, however, may provide some challenges for students with ASD; many face difficulties communicating emotional content in an open forum, struggle to use newly learned skills in a generalized manner, and often require the group facilitator to provide information in a directive manner. This session will focus on the experience of the West Virginia Autism Training Center’s College Program for Students with Asperger’s Syndrome in developing skill-building groups that can be supportive and provide a much-needed foundation for skill development. The presenters will discuss: (a) the formation and initiation of skill-building groups, (b) the act of goal setting, (c) an evaluation process for ongoing group evolution, and (d) feedback methods designed to help students with ASD give voice to the process.