<p>I’m familiar at least three families who have had Aspies at top SLACs, and their kids have done very well, including one kid who is 800 miles from home. FWIW, they all disclosed, too. No problems reported finding jobs for the two who have graduated, either. So it certainly is possible.</p>
<p>My guess is that those three Aspies did not have Executive Function issues. OP, I think it is very important to determine whether your son has Executive Function Disorder.</p>
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<p>Sigh from the Pie Family as well. As much of a roller coaster as HS was, looking back, it was all so sweet and simple then. Big kids have big problems and I would trade any of the current issues for “forgot to turn in paper” any day! Sigh.</p>
<p>Lima - Hindsight is 20/20. As parents, the best we can do is try to make the right decision based on the collective wisdom of family, GC, mental health professional (if applicable) at decision time. The lucky parents who have found CC threads early in the game can also add relevant CC tidbits to the equation.</p>
<p>c_m, thanks. You’re right about the 20/20. I remind myself of that everyday and try to learn from it. Too bad we didn’t “discover” CC when we were in the midst of looking with him. I wonder how things may have changed. But who knows? One day at a time around here.</p>
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<p>I’m pretty sure you’re right.</p>
<p>My son does have Executive Function issues and we are planning a trip to Alabama in the fall and it would be great if he could see himself happy attending.</p>
<p>I guess part of what I wanted to ask when I started this thread was if any reach schools (besides CMU) provided strong supports to AS students. These kids have so much to offer and I think the way some of them view the world or specific subjects would enrich the educational experience for their neuro-typical peers. I was hoping that some reach schools who value diversity would value this and provide the added supports these kids not to thrive.</p>
<p>“One day at a time” - Yep, that’s a good method. It’s how we survived from dreary years when our very bright kid (not Aspie, but EF-challenged) got academically overwhelmed a few times.</p>
<p>I think that for students (Aspies and other) there is comfort level with a good number of like peers. Heck, tis true for most adults too. In some cases that should be an especially important factor in the college search.</p>
<p>Mom24, when looking at schools, pay a lot of attention to what type of support is offered. (I like Alabama’s program because, at least on paper, it provides all of the types of support Son would have needed.) We visited the school that is the only state school in our state with a special Asperger’s program (they can handle 3 girls and 3 boys at a time - in a very populous state.) We we visited, we could tell that they were 100% about the social issues; they admitted that they were weak in the academic coaching area.</p>
<p>Some schools will provide EF coaches, but many consider them “personal aides” so they don’t.</p>
<p>I am aware of a local school that is very STEM oriented. They have an Asperger’s Support Group that is all about the social issues; nothing about helping with EF.</p>
<p>Missypie - Updated testing will be done in August and I am hoping this will provide some clarity as to what kind of supports he will need. He is using very little supports in school, but of course he has built in parental support which we are trying to limit.</p>
<p>He is also going to spend 3 wks on a college campus next month and I expect the result of that will give us as much or more info as the formal testing.</p>
<p>Mom24boys, have you pm’ed with Cardinal Fang? His son is enrolled at the University of Denver and also in a CLE program that gives him executive function and life lesson supports. CF might be able to give you a few questions to ask as well.</p>
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<p>Mitch Nagler told me that some people will always need an executive function coach…whether it is a parent, a paid coach, or a good old fashioned “secretary.” </p>
<p>A person in a wheelchair will always be able to benefit from ramps. Sure, people did without them before they were mandated, but there were lots of places they couldn’t go. Some strong, ingenious, motivated people could manage without them now. But for most, they’re a necessity for a life with normal opportunities. </p>
<p>I’m not saying not to experiment with limiting support. But neither of you are failures if he always needs some level of support from someone.</p>
<p>I have no experience with or expertise in this thread’s topic, but it did remind me of the following forum that was originally broadcast by WCVE, Richmonrd, VA NPR affiliate.
[WCVE</a> Forum: ?Supporting College Students with Asperger’s Syndrome for Success? | ideastations.org](<a href=“http://ideastations.org/radio/archive/2012-05-20-wcve-forum-supporting-college-students-with-aspergers-syndrome-for-success]WCVE”>http://ideastations.org/radio/archive/2012-05-20-wcve-forum-supporting-college-students-with-aspergers-syndrome-for-success)</p>
<p>Some parents also contact local coaches and counselors near the colleges as a support system for the student.</p>
<p>Missypie - if you don’t mind my asking, who is Mitch Nagler? My ds has Asperger’s and severe EF issues. I don’t think he will ever be able to finish college without a coach, but I don’t know how to find one.</p>
<p>If you happened to live in Manhattan, Mitch Nagler would be the go-to coach. He’s with the Asperger Center for Education and Training. I happened to find him with a google search when I was desparately looking for help after I received the “come and get him” phone call from son’s college. Mr. Nagler was kind enough to talk to me on the phone.</p>
<p>For those whose AS kids didn’t fare too well the first time out the gate, did you know how severe their EF issues were or were you really caught off guard? My son doesn’t take meds. He’s able to manuever public transportation on his own. He wakes up for school on his own 95% of the time. He has his own bank account now, so he’ll be learning money management. He’s unorganized and forgetful when it comes to schoolwork though. But he always manages to pull it together when he realizes how deep the hole is. Yeah, his GPA has taken a beating, but it’s still fairly decent as far as I’m concerned and he knows he got the grades he deserved. I don’t <em>think</em> I do that much for him in that area other than reminding him of the solutions he created to get his work done, like not doing homework in his bedroom to avoid the distractions.</p>
<p>reeinaz – If he goes away to college, won’t his dorm room effectively BE his bedroom, and full of things that distract him from getting to homework? The “unorganized and forgetful when it comes to schoolwork” raises big, big flags in my mind. I can’t see why he’d magically gain organizational and focus skills when at college?</p>
<p>One challenge in college is that by the time you realize you have a problem, there often isn’t enough time to dig yourself out of the hole.</p>
<p>He has no obligation to report a disability. And reporting it , to me, feels like he is saying “I am a defect, will you take me anyway?” To me, if he feels “obligated” to disclose his disability, then he is taking a huge step backward in the movement toward rights and equality for those with disabilities. It would be like disclosing you were female, or a particular religion, on your application form…for just in case they don’t want you are a result. No…just don’t do it.</p>
<p>On-campus summer programs with a “precollege” experience of dorms, cafeteria, class expectations, and relative campus freedom is a good litmus test for a rising HS senior who has LD, Autistic Spectrum, and/or Aspergers-related concerns. These programs usually run for two or three weeks, and was recommended to us as part of our son’s educational-psych evaluation report.</p>
<p>Getting back to OP - I think that adding an explanation (that may or may not include the term “Asperger’s”) to the application can help if there are issues that raise eyebrows, such as “course selection freshman year.” I am guessing that OP’s son might have been advised to avoid a rigorous schedule during freshman year of high school, or did not qualify for honors classes until sophomore year, and is concerned that top colleges, that tend to admit students who look for challenges rather than those who seem to be limiting themselves to the “easy A”, might question why a student with very high test scores would not have been accelerated in math, present with four years of a foreign language, etc.</p>