<p>Hi - our son has decided to go to AU. He does not have officially documented disabilities since 8th grade - “mild to moderate processing issues”, has been in a tiny international school in Africa with extremely extremely limited services (as soon as he reached high school, he no longer was able to receive any services). He’s been working with a tutor and also a private counselor esp w/executive functioning issues. After reading these threads, it was very helpful to hear about your concerns as I have the same ones; even though my son was not diagnosed w/Asp. many over the years have asked/suggested (teachers/school/friends). Guess ideally I should have flown to the US for an eval.
So, my question is: you say AU has good support services BUT I imagine that is only if my son has been officially diagnosed. Does AU have staff on board to help students that have identical issues w/o a large file? ie as a parent, can I contact them re my son and work with them to pre-empt the challenges that I know are coming and are not “typical” to all incoming freshmen? or is this too obtuse a question? thx</p>
<p>KarenVee: if your son requires more attention than services generally available to ALL interested students, then he’ll likely need to speak to the LD Office of college/university regarding eligibility, cost, and availability to him. Virtually all LD offices require separate educational testing report (not public HS IEP) to receive LD and/or “special ed” services. Some schools have a higher bar, some lower. Student can’t simply give professor his HS IEP and stipulate “I need extended time” etc. Check Princeton Review’s K&W Learning Disabilities at College handbook for more information, and contact LD office directly NOW to find out what your son needs to bring when AU starts. It would be prudent to submit all needed educational test info ASAP, prior to school-start, to have all services already defined and staffed as needed. Also note that services are sometimes limited to specific students.</p>
<p>I recall AU has special LD program services, which might require a separate application upon admission to school. You’ll really want to check now already.</p>
<p>While not for everyone, my S1 speaks highly of fraternity life to aid in social integration. For an aspie, you may not be considering it, but it provided a group of friends immediately and they are still close 5 years later. He would have struggled a lot at his large school without his brothers. Of course, alcohol is also a social lubricant as well, good & bad. His grades weren’t as good as they could have/should have been, but he’s got a great job and had a wonderful college experience. They knew he was different and were incredibly impressed with his intellectual gifts. They also paved the way for him in situations. Now he didn’t have academic issues that needed to be addressed by the school, if that is the case that is a different situation entirely.</p>