CNN article on Aspies at College

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http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditio ... index.html


About time. Wish there were ANY options when I went to college. It would have been so much better....

It is a very good article, i wish more colleges would provide these services.

Thanks for sharing the article, very interesting.

how the hell anyone can afford the service is beyond me (unless they've got rich parents), but at least it's a start. if it had existed when i was in school, i'd have had the joy of knowing it was there but not been able to access it because of cost. just like all the other extras i had to pass by.

but at least it's a start. especially if it clues people in to the fact that services at the college level are NOT what they are in elementary and high school. i see people getting those nasty surprises from time to time, and it's always sad. and a total waste when they go down in flames.

It's an interesting article but the issue of having problems with school doesn't apply to everyone. I LOVED College and got A's B's and did my work before hand. (example 2 week Christmas break I did a research paper for the following semester.)

That's a very interesting article

Litigation ought to cure that in the next few years.

I think it's an interesting article.

But I do wonder about the longer term wisdom of such programmes. I can understand that these students may need assistance, if they've gone all the way through school being provided with assistance. So when they go to college, they feel they need it.

What happens, though, when they leave college and get a job? Are they going to expect their employer to get them a personal assistant to help them manage their workload? You don't get a PA till you're management. You don't start out getting someone managing all your affairs.

Is it not doing a disservice to these students, to mollycoddle them in such a way?

Aren't their high schools failing by not teaching them time management skills and how to manage their work load and do their assignments to meet deadlines?

If the state is responsible for providing such services in high school, but then the students are thrown out into the big bad world and they find they have no legal entitlement to such services at college, it must be a real culture shock for them.

Shouldn't their support services in high school better prepare them for college life?

I disagree. Is it mollycoddling people in wheelchairs by providing ramps in public buildings? It is difficult for people with AS to properly access society without support bridges and it is to the benefit of the public to provide those services. Better to have a functioning, contributing member, than an emotional wreck chronically underachieving.

The article was interesting, I especially find it interesting that most of the time we don't seek any help, I know I didn't see a counselor till I had already been there a couple years..

I will remember to ask if there is any autism group on my campus, just a group of people with AS would be good...But I won't get my hopes up...

How many Aspies really get an education beyond junior high?

Well, my father did. My brother did. I did. My uncles did. My daughter did..... Dunno, in the greater scheme, how it works. In some ways, being Aspie actually helped my father and uncles - they went into what was in their era "high tech" and did exceptionally well in it, after high school. I think the part with the concentration and being able to have several thought-streams going at once helped me tremendously IN school. Hasn't done much for me out of school in the workplace, really. Not as much as one would think, anyway.

interesting article: but I wish it had more detail..

how about the older aspies:

example: I'm 52 years old and finally after over 30 years received my "High School Diploma"....and then I worked hard to get into a career college.

While I've learned over the years how to eat nutritionally, organize, pay bills, (although I do have help from hubby remembering to pay them)....I wonder if people on the spectrum could benefit with help from "the sensory issues"...

like being in a class of 43 people......all talking at once..........under florescent lights.......discussing "highly sensitive issues such as: the pros and cons of the death penalty, prostitution, gambling, alcoholism, smoking, etc.....all in one day....

A quiet room.....to study....I know they have one at the local "real" college....but not at the "career college"....


i.e. we were pulled out of class - (interruption) while trying to grasp accounting principles....to attend a little social gathering at the end of the hall....where they were giving out "awards" for student of the month.....instructor of the month....(that drove me nuts!) because when the little social circle was over.....we all had to stand in a circle and clap, bond....etc....anyway...when it was all over - the class was over - and the instructor left for lunch...

goodbye to any help with the accounting principles....

so....
maybe (exceptions from social b**ll that eats away at the actual time I am alloted for help from an instructor....or at the very least.....being able to stay in the class and continue with my work?...........

I agee with ignisfatuus

because quite honestly: I feel so battered by what I am experiencing at this career college....I am at the point of giving up.....and am an emotional wreck.....and can't even conceive of being able to survive in the workforce....at the moment.....which will make me a further drain on society because I will have to go on a "government disability"...

hey...I'm trying....but I need support - and I know that I am not alone in needing and deserving it...
I wish that somehow I could help myself and other aspies with this, I don't want to be useless....but I feel useless...
(I hope that things get better for aspies at college regardless of their age)

This isn't a bad idea, but like the article says, "autism" is part of the spectrum, and the whole class may not work for everyone.
I was in a study skills class, and it just irritated me, because I felt like I was being lectured down to like I was in fifth grade again, so after my freshman year I dropped it and I was just fine.

For someone like me, and a cheaper alternative, would be to have a peer mentor program. Just to be matched up with someone who would check up on you everyday and see how things are going and help you along.

And there is the difference right there. It is difficult for people with AS to do certain things. Whereas it is impossible for a person in a wheelchair to do certain things.

According to Tony Attwood, aspies are more likely to seek higher education, not less. I suspect there's some selection bias going on there, though, possibly. I personally know many aspies who are either at college or have finished college. Some have even completed/are seeking higher degrees, which is what I hope to do. I also know someone diagnosed with "classical autism" who is in college

I kind of wish the article would have acknowledged the fact that autistic college students have always been here. I don't think these kinds of programs are "mollycoddling," but I do think that they need to focus on academics and the students' interests. According to Temple Grandin, developing one's knowledge and talents about special interests is the best way for autistic adults to enjoy fulfilling employment later in life.