Colleges with LD centers for Neurodiverse, 2E, ADHD, with ASD-level support in the Northeast?

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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Sorry for such a long post, but I hope someone benefits from all our research or our experiences along this journey with a unique student.

I have a 2E - Exec Skills Disorder - ADHD, 16 year old braniac who skipped 11th & 12th Grade and was admitted as a college Freshman at UIowa Belin Blank Early Entrance/2E Academy (no HS diploma or GED required - just honors transcripts, AP classes and a rigorous entrance exam). He LOVED living on a college campus and the program for ~12 students (under 17) who live in the Honors dorm, have a dedicated RA and group activities.

We quickly realized he was able to handle any advanced STEM college coursework, but needed A LOT of 2E scaffolding & support for: time mgmt., exec skills, decision making, task initiation, etc. A’s and B+'s on exams, but assignments 90% done, perfectionism, accommodations for extended assignments or tasks forgotten, yielded mixed grades. No fault of the 2E Academy, as they only provide 30 minutes counseling per week and 1 hr/wk class for the gifted students, but were limited w/ resources all from alumni donations, thus had a small staff for 2E / ADHD.

We are are transferring him back East closer to home (NJ) and looking at colleges that have hands-on support 3x/week to help advocate for him and teach him to identify his LD’s and advocate for self. We are refined our search for colleges with Autistic support (even though he’s not on the spectrum), but requires that level of support 3x per week, and a major in Engineering.

Our short list we’ve applied to is down to the following programs & schools for Neurodiversity and have scheduled campus tours and meetings with the LD centers:

Bridges - Adelphi Univ.
Beyond Access - U Conn
ASPIRE - St. Josephs University

We have also looked at the following colleges as well:
Spectrum Support Program - RIT
Center for Autism & Neurodiversity (CAN) - Drexel Univ.
Learning Disabilities Program - Northeastern
FASP program - King’s College

Any one have experience with UConn (BA), Adelphi (Bridges) or St. Joseph’s?

The Bridges program at Adelphi impressed me most, as they have an 87% retention rate and the average GPA of students in their program is 3.51. Each student gets a personalized program and they don’t look at diagnosis’.

Beyond Access at University of Connecticut initially came off as sterile and cookie cutter and seemed to check of all the boxes, but after mining into comments from forums and boards like these, I came a way with a better impression. Sometimes websites and the introductory webinars don’t paint the whole picture.

*Note: there was a closed thread (below) from 2018-2019 in this forum that’s very helpful -

anyone headed to UCONN using Beyond Access Program or just ASD? Link

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RIT is a good one

https://taishoffcenter.syr.edu/inclusiveu/

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Thank you. I am on a call with RIT tomorrow 4/27 for:

Prospective RIT Students and Families (Spring 2023) with Spectrum Support Program

In the previous closed post on this topic, a few parents on this board indicated their experience with UConn (BA) was a more open and transparent experience, when asking about touring RIT’s facility and meeting with their LD advisors.

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When we toured RIT (our child doesn’t require any accommodations), we were impressed with how easily disability seemed to be integrated into the school as a whole. I think this is in no small part due to their National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

I’ve heard good accommodations things from others about them as well. And their engineering is great. The only reason my son eliminated them from his short list is because they (weirdly) don’t offer a major in civil engineering.

I was thinking Delaware due to its proximity to NJ. I learned about their Spectrum Scholars program because there was a big thing about it in my son’s admissions portal. For a public, it’s on the smaller side, which I think is nice.

Syracuse’s inclusiveU may not be the correct program for your child, but it speaks to campus efforts. I also noticed that a student from InclusiveU did the Syracuse instagram takeover last week. He posted a bunch of stories, seemed like any other student, and did a great job.

I consider it a good sign when schools have this stuff integrated into the larger university community, as I have seen at RIT, Delaware, and Syracuse. I’m sure there are also other schools that do it well – good luck with your search!

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Thanks for the info. Yes, Delaware was a potentially good option for us. Alas, they will only admit students with an official ASD diagnosis, and my son (while Neurodiverse + ADHD + Exec Skills Disorder) is not officially on the spectrum. Yet, he needs that level of support, several times per week for success.

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Sorry, nothing specific, I was speaking to someone with a grandchild at UCONN with an ASD/gifted DX that did very well in the UCONN program. For this student, I don’t think academics were an issue at all, it was the social component.

It’s not east coast, but I’ve heard good things about the Opportunities for Post-Secondary Success Program at Colorado State University.
I have a 2E child (Gifted/ADD-I/Visual Dyspraxia) who will be attending CSU and does not need an intense level of services but does need accommodations. I thoroughly explored their disability services but this program seems pretty “hidden” as I had no idea it existed until someone else told me they have a child utilizing it. Opportunities for Postsecondary Success - Center for Community Partnerships

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You might want to look at Syracuse’s fee-based support program:

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Thanks for pointing us towards Syracuse’s OnTrack program.
While the distance may be farther than we prefer, it does look comprehensive! Services are listed clearly up front on the website and brochure. They denote the program for “ADHD & LD” students, which IS our target. The coaches, whom I’m guessing are Syracuse Psych Grad students or staff, are trained (or certified?) by an outside firm - JST. The cost of OnTrack ($2,950/semester) is less than many other programs.

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I’m not sure if you’re looking for additional suggestions or not. But one school that seems smaller and more intimate is Muskingum in Ohio. It’s ABET-accredited for general engineering and its PLUS program offers four different levels of service, so you could taper as appropriate for your son (rather than some of the schools that do a lot first year, little the next year, and none the last two years). In case your son’s not quite on that timeline, this may be an option to consider, though depending on his exact engineering interests, a school with more specialized programming might be more appropriate. But the small class sizes might be particularly helpful in getting your son where he wants to go.

ETA: Marshall (WV) is well known for its support services. It’s often associated with autism, but also has services available for those without an ASD diagnosis (see HELP). It’s ABET-accredited in a number of engineering specialties.

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A million thanks @AustenNut Clearly a small school, more intimate class sizes.
Muskingum does check off a lot of the boxes with the Plus Program and the smaller class sizes are appealing.
They seem to have a *General Engineering major that’s ABET-accredited as you indicated. Thanks!

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Off the top of my head you may want to look into:
Hofstra - PALS program
Marist - Learning Support Program (school has CS but not engineering I believe)

As an aside, does Adelphi have engineering?

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@happy1 Thanks. Looked into those programs before. Greatly appreciated.

Adelphi has a 3+2 - BA/BS or 4+2 BA/MS program with Columbia School of Engineering for the first 3/4 years, so my student would have to choose a liberal arts major for year 1-3 - he’s opting for Physics. The last 2 years are completed at Columbia to graduate.

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Do you know if there is an additional fee for the Delaware program? I couldn’t find any info on the website.

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FWIW I know you liked Adelphi but in general am not a fan of these types of joint programs. Many students do not follow through and complete the engineering portion at the second college for various reasons including:
–Wanting to graduate with classmates from the original college;
–Not meeting the requirements to move to the second college; and
–Inability to afford the second college and extra years of school.

In your son’s situation I don’t expect that you can get assurance ahead of time that he will get the necessary support at Columbia. And I imagine there will be a meaningful jump in the level of work, quality of peers etc. moving from Adelphi to Columbia.

Personally, I would focus more on programs where your child can enter an engineering program.

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Agreed on several fronts. Thanks!
Academic rigor and depth at a school like Columbia isn’t necessarily a challenge. Yes, 3+2 / 4+2 programs can have a disconnect if the latter school offers little support or scaffolding.

Again, we’ve also targeted schools that have traditional 4 year Engineering programs. What drives our decision is the Center / Program for 2E - Neurodiverse - ADHD - Exec Skills, FIRST based on his needs. Then, we shoe horn into the major.

Alas, if he were a Liberal Arts major, so many more schools would be on our short list. However, my student has no desire the be a Physics major and start engineering coursework in Grad school, thus our short list is a lot more truncated.

Bridges to Adelpi and Beyond Access - UConn, SO FAR seem the programs most targeted to our needs. The fact that Adelphi’s only Engineering program is a 3+2 w/ Columbia is something we’ll weigh and factor into the final decision.

Great feedback. Thanks!

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It would be great (and potentially helpful to others) if you can come back and let us know once you decide on a path. All best wishes.

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Will do. Follow up is so critical to helping other parents in the same/similar position.

I have sat through webinars or spoken with ASD/Neurodiverse centers at the following schools
(in no particular order):

RIT
Drexel
Kings College
Syracuse
UConn
Landmark
Adelphi
St. Joseph’s
WPI
UMass at Amherst
UIowa
Northeastern

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Landmark is not going to have the rigor he needs. I did not realize that WPI has a neurodiverse center. Any info on it?

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I looked into WPI and a 2E counselor had also mentioned that their approach to Project Based Learning may be a fit, but after calling Disability Services , there is not much support for 2E or ASD in place.

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Mercyhurst served a friend with autism well. I don’t know much about how the academics mesh with your interests. Allegheny has excellent student support but I don’t know if it is what you’re looking for. Both driving distance from NJ without being right around the corner.

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