<p>I tear out the pages of desk calendars and tape them to the wall. I put the whole semester up at once.</p>
<p>Missiepie: I get the impression that you think the Disabilities Office did not do their job. What do you want them to do? Forgive me, I really am no expert on Executive Functioning.</p>
<p>As far as your description of your son waiting to the last minute to write his paper, I understand that some college students do all nightersânot that I think it is a good idea, but does happen.</p>
<p>It sounds like the best thing for your son is to get a peer tutorâmake sure that he is matched with another student in the class who can remind him about assignment deadlines and study with him. I am sure a lot of kids would love a part time job like that.</p>
<p>The other thing is to keep the rest of his life as simple as possible-eat at the dorms, make a schedule-laundry every Sunday night, and the like.</p>
<p>Have to agree with much of what the '09 veterans posted. DS was a HS academic superstar: 3.96GPA, 2350 SAT (w/extra time), multiple APs. We spent a LOT of time trying to find the right setting for him, and while we thought early on that heâd start at a local community college, he seemed to have progressed enough from the beginning of HS that we looked at colleges half the country away. Eventually, we felt uncomfortable with that, and he ended up at a school 3 1/2 hours down the road with a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>First semester GPA was well under 2.0, even though his midterm grades were above 3.0 (example: Calc 3 went from an A to a D from a kid who got Aâs in Calc AB and BC with the finals being the same as that from the local UW-Madison). What happened? What didnât? Stopped taking meds. Didnât like the food. Argued with profs. Didnât turn in assignments. Spent most of his time on the internet. Missed appointments for counseling at the health center and thus was suspended from the program. Etc., etc.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, I donât blame the disability services office. They tried, but DS wasnât doing his part. Second semester went slightly better, but still well below what heâs capable of. He had weekly scheduled meetings with the disability services coordinator plus other meetings as needed. Bottom line is he needs more support and more maturity/executive functioning skills/motivation than he has. Not an unusual case by any means. If there hadnât been the generous scholarship, perhaps we would have looked to a more supported (i.e., local w/mom & dad providing support) environment, but we didnât want to limit someone who seemed to be progressing so well. In hindsight, a gap year might have worked out better.</p>
<p>My advice is to be very aware of what your child needs for support and make sure theyâll have that wherever they go. Itâs essential that you meet with disability services at the places youâre considering and listen closely to what they can/canât do and what you perceive as their attitude (is it just lip service?).</p>
<p>For the OP, we had a great rapport with the disability services director at IIT - until she left prior to decision time for DS. UW-Whitewater has a good reputation, but DS didnât visit there (no engineering). UEvansville was pretty impressive to us, but too far for our needs. Northwestern was the one place where the disability services person was up front in her feeling that the university (not her) felt it was too good to need to provide much support to anyone qualified enough to attend their school. He finally ended up at Bradley, and as I said, I think itâs as good a place as any for an Aspergers kid whoâs going to try to make it away from the supports of home. Just keep in mind that you may be making more trips there (or anywhere) than you expected.</p>
<p>Sorry to paint another bleak picture. YMMV.</p>
1 Like
<p>we have just returned from sons college orientation. the professionals in my sons life
(neurologist, speech therapist, resource room teacher) felt my son should not request a medical single and should have a room mate. they feel otherwise he would feel too isolated. My son also wants a roommate.
My son has had experiences sharing rooms at a precollege experience and various travel camps. the summer he did the precollege experience he did tell others and didnât have any conflicts (it was only 5 weeks).<br>
I donât believe that everyone needs to know and that in this day of twitter and facebook,
this info would become viral.
does anyone have any suggestions or experience in this matter.?</p>
<p>Check out the program offered at the University of Alabama: Autism Spectrum Disorder College Transition and Support Program (UA-ACTS). </p>
<p>@icedragon: a Livescribe pen combines the digital recorder and pen, a truly revolutionary implement</p>
<p>I prefer to tell people. Though nobody would have ever guessed that I have autism (I wasnât even diagnosed until adulthood), people DO notice that there is something different and they are much more willing to accept me when they understand what that âsomething differentâ really is. I doubt that anyone cares enough for it to become âviral.â Perhaps it varies by school, but my school is a much further departure from high school than that. I practically scream my diagnosis from the rooftops and have had literally zero negative consequences. I am president of advocacy groups and my name is plastered all over the university (and the internet) in connection with autism and LDs. Not a big deal. The only people who care are the ones that admire me. And I refuse to feel like I have to hide part of myself in order to be accepted. Even if there is some truth to it, thatâs just not a lifestyle I am willing to lead. Some people donât feel like that and prefer to keep it a secret. Itâs a really personal decision.</p>
<p>I hope the roommate thing goes well. I really wanted one my first year and it was a huge mistake. I was completely isolated anyway and lived with a very fake, manipulative person, so I couldnât even relax. But from what Iâve observed boys do seem to get along a little easier than girls, so maybe itâll be better. It may be a good idea to disclose to the roommate. The roommate may need to understand that your son may need to be told directly things that may seem obvious to the roommate. You donât want roommate to sit and stew thinking that your S is knowingly committing a social foul because it is just so obvious heâs doing something wrong when he actually has no idea he is causing a problem. Communication with an autistic person sometimes needs to be a little more direct. How will they ever get on if the roommate doesnât understand that? (This discussion with my fiance is the only reason our relationship has survived! No relationship of any kind can work without effective communication.)</p>
<p>ETA: It is worth mentioning, I think, that I was at one point only open about it when necessary for fear of employers finding out. But Iâve reached a point in my life where I have realized that I would not be successful in a job where that would matter anyway. I suppose that ought to be a consideration.</p>
<p>My brother is a VERY HIGH functioning child with autism. He is a genius, and he could get into MIT. The problem is his maturity. Although he is only 12, he has a tendency to lag in growth, though he is brilliant minded and scores in the top 1% in Science and in the 90-something percentile in Math. </p>
<p>I personally would rather have him nearby, so I can protect him and beat the living day lights out of anyone who tries to eff with him. But at the same time, you canât overprotect the kid and he must learn how to be independent, so college a couple hours away is great choice.</p>
<p>re pricessbride- what a student looks like at 12 can change alot by the time they are 18.
I wish my older son, who is a great kid would be as involved with his aspergers brother. your brother is very lucky to have u watching his back!</p>
<p>I have a 17 yr old who was diagnosed with autism when Lovaas was âthe programâ. We put together a multidisciplinary program early on and I donât see that being any different as we transition into the college setting. B. knows what he wants to do and intends to be self-supporting. For me that means a college degree but in a setting that will continue to teach life skills, provide life experiences in a safe setting, monitor social and emotional well-being, continue to communicate with home even though B. will be 18, and have a strong track record with job placement. Not asking for anything different from any of you!</p>
<p>We have not held back on B.'s background and he is advocating for himself, but with me in the background. He has been in a great college transition program for two years where he has had to experience dorm sleep-overs, eat cafeteria food (hey! they have pizza, hotdogs, and chicken nuggets!), and sit in lectures.</p>
<p>A few schools have said, âwe will help when he asks for itâŠâ, a few have said, âsure, we can do thatâŠâ, and there is one within a 3 hour drive that seems to meet our criteria so far. Iâll let you know how it works out for him (us) and hope that he will not be in the crash and burn category of HFA college students!</p>
<p>Hi
I have a 20 year old son with AS.We live in Georgia,he has been at Andrew College in Cuthbert Ga.It is a small 2 year private college he has done very well with support from their FOCUS program.The program is for students with LD and ADHD but they meets his AS needs.If all goes well he will earn his AS in History next May!! I took him this summer to look at two AS support program. The first one we looked at was at Marshall U in WV it is a great program and a small school.The other one we looked at is at the University of Alabama he really like allot!! It is large school but it is 5 hours closer to home :+}. He is going to apply to both and see which one he gets in. As a mom I really liked both programs and would feel good about him going to either one.They have no programs in Ga for college students with AS.Going away to school is the best thing for him!!</p>
<p>^ixrayyou, In case you didnât know the 'Bama forum is very active here. There are a few posters in particular who have great knowledge about the school and are very happy to share it with anyone who might have a question. You might want to visit them. 
Congratulations to your son! What a wonderful achievement!!</p>
<p>Note that ixrayu did what I didnât do - saw that her son needed a special program and looked accordingly. I knew that HS had gone well, found a small school with what I thought would be a supportive environment and went forward. Note to '11 parents and beyond: Consider the possiblity that your child will need more help that you think right now.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information!! On our way to vist last week,he had in his AS mind that people from Alabama were âdumb and he would hate itâ he had a BIG BIG change of heart after our meeting!! He likes the fact he will be able to have a bedroom to himself but still share a living area.He really wants to make friends but is really hard for him.He also liked the supports they offered.He is going to help with the school mascot at Andrew and wear the Tiger outfit :+} He is hoping that he can do the same at the next school!! Also he likes Alabama because they have a Publix close to the campus!!</p>
<p>missypie, You know Iâve got my own version of what could be considered a âcrash & burnâ story over here. Well maybe the 'crashâŠ
We do the best we can with what we have at the time. You son is very bright and compensated very well during high school. That high intelligence makes it very hard to see that fine line.
Zig-zag roads :)</p>
<p>The one thing that really helped my son was to go to summer semester. He got used to living away from home and got to see how things worked. He only took two classes that he thought he would really like.When he transfers next year to either Marshall or Alabama he will again do a summer semester again.</p>
<p>Other parents: Donât assume, however, that the school you are looking at will have a meaningful summer program. Many of the small LACs have a very brief (e.g. 3 week) summer session where one class is taken on an accelerated basis. This might not be the best introduction to college.</p>
<p>Ixayou has obviously done her homework. Even though you may be looking at terrific schools, donât assume that the disablities office will be good, or that housing will be acceptable, or that there will be a beneficial summer semester or orientation program (or whatever is important.) You have to ask the right questions and do serious due diligence.</p>
<p>All of the programs have summer support programs. They recommend that they come in the summer so that they can get used to the school and get to know their way around before the campus gets busy. You are right you have to do alot of research about the school you are looking at,ask alot of good questions and go for a visit. Most of the colleges we looked at w/o support programs did not really know how to help him with his AS needs. Also every student is not the same you have to have a understanding of what your child needs.</p>
<p>There need to be more specific AS support programs!!! If even 5% of the kids on the spectrum go away to school each year, that is thousands of kids. Iâm trying to get a meeting with the chair of our state Senate Education Committee but the lobbyist who said heâd help me for free must have paying work to do.</p>
<p>You are right there is not alot AS support program out there. My son was part of a study that the Regents Center at GA Southern did on in coming students with AS. GA Southern has a understanding of AS but has no formal program as of yet. My son needs to have a program in place.Another problem is the cost!! Voc rehab helps while he is enrolled in GA. We are hoping they will help when he leaves the state because of there is no formal programs at a four year college.But no matter what the cost he needs the support to make it. His stepdad and I feel like it is worth spending the money on his education and cutting out other things.</p>
<p>We arenât allowed to link to You Tube, but you should all go there and search for Q&A from Story Corps.</p>