<p>We are looking into colleges for our son with Aspergers. He says he wants to be a business major and either own his own business or become an actuary. His interests are in Economics and Government. With the weak economy, a preference for solitude, yet intelligent mind in his areas of interest, can anyone offer the benefit of experience or suggestions for college programs/majors in these areas? To date, top choice is becoming a Business major at Towson University. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>I would recommend he look more at math/statistics. It’s a very flexible degree and can be used in most industries, and probably will have less interface in the client market than business would. I would also recommend looking at LACs for more individual support for students, though that would also depend on the degree of Aspergers.</p>
<p>It is said that engineering has MANY folks with Aspergers. As a caveat, engineers often have to do group work (at least in college & not sure about beyond that). How does your S do with that? I know two relatives who are actuaries. They are well paid and appear to enjoy their jobs.</p>
<p>I agree that a lot depends on the degree of Aspergers. Has your child received any evaluation regarding different vocations that might be suitable?</p>
<p>This is a list of careers for individuals with autism/Asperger’s suggested by Temple Grandin, what I like about this is that it focuses on looking at how Aspies process information in addition to their interests: </p>
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<p>[Transition</a> to Employment and Independent Living for Individuals with Autism and Aspergers](<a href=“http://www.grandin.com/inc/transition.employment.autism.aspergers.html]Transition”>Transition to Employment and Independent Living for Individuals with Autism and Aspergers)</p>
<p>Her book, Developing Talents, goes a little further into exploring and selecting careers for those on the spectrum based on one’s talents and abilities as well as how they process information (they are not all engineering types!). The insights I obtained from this and other books/articles on Asperger’s and employment have been very helpful to me in guiding S by helping him to look more at the long-term picture when we were choosing a college and major, not just in what careers and majors he was considering, but also his strengths and weaknesses. For instance, S is currently studying Chemical Engineering and he really debated whether he should go into something like engineering technology rather than engineering because he did not think he had the imagination or creativity to “design” things, but was very confident that he could succeed as something like a technician, where the work was perhaps more routine and the social expectations might not be as great. </p>
<p>Here is another site with career suggestions. Accounting, actuarial, statistics - yes. Business, economics, political science/other social studies - perhaps not (although, depending on his abilities and personality, he could surprise everyone!!)</p>
<p>[Choosing</a> the Right Career (Sonya Ansari Center For Autism)](<a href=“http://sites.google.com/site/sonyaansaricenterforautism/Home/transitioning-workbook/choosing-the-right-career]Choosing”>http://sites.google.com/site/sonyaansaricenterforautism/Home/transitioning-workbook/choosing-the-right-career)</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your S!!</p>
<p>Academic economics reputedly has a high percentage of Aspies.</p>
<p>I’m a business school professor and want to share a few things that might be useful. One, the vast majority of undergraduate programs are not geared toward teaching students to run their own businesses (with a few exceptions, such as those programs focused on entrepreneurship). If he is looking at his own business, he might want to seek out a particular program. And I would keep in mind that it is hard to think of a successful small business that did not depend significant on sales and selling of one kind or another. Second, the undergrad curriculum usually involves a disproportionate amount of group work and social interaction compared to other majors. As a comparison point, where undergrads in science spend a lot of extra time on labs each week…students in business school spend a lot of extra time in getting group projects done and so much depends on social interaction.</p>
<p>If your looking at Towson, I’m guessing you know they have an adult Asperger’s support group. You might want to also look at UMBC and HCCC has a College Fair March 6 for kids with disabilities (they’ll have some 4 year schools attending). I think Marshall in WV has the oldest AS Support Program.</p>
<p>There is a program in Pittsburgh run by Carol Komich-Hare that provides mentoring support to college students from any of the area colleges, including Carnegie-Mellon and UPitt.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your wonderful, insightful and useful information that will change how we look at programs. My son is great at facts, reads in depth for lots of information and loves economics. He is social 1:1, thrives in a quiet environment where the rules are structured and routine. He is average in Math. At Towson, accounting is under the business school program. Can a person average in Math be successful at accounting, or do you need to be briliant at Math? Is it better to be an Economics major? What jobs are there for Econ majors? What is involved to become an actuary? We looked at UMBC and my son did not like the commuter feel and lack of college town. College search also showed Univ. of Texas at Dallas to have an Actuary program but it means out of state tuition. I do not want to pay $50,000 a year for a private university. Many thanks again for all of your amazing help.</p>
<p>although I cannot recommend specific schools or programs for the areas your S is interested in, here is a link to the Sloan Career Cornerstone site that we discovered a few years ago when looking for schools for S; it has a lot of information about several different fields including Mathematics (math/actuary/statistics) as well as lists of schools that offer programs in each field</p>
<p>[Sloan</a> Career Cornerstone Center: Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math & Healthcare](<a href=“http://www.careercornerstone.org/mathematics/mathematics.htm]Sloan”>Career Cornerstone Center: Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine)</p>
<p>Actuary is supposed to be the “best” job (it was ranked at the best on some ranking). I don’t know about everywhere, but at UMich Actuarial Science is part of the Math dept (and I would imagine it would be everywhere else too). If that’s something that he’s interested and has a strong aptitude for math, that’s a great job. </p>
<p>I think most business programs don’t really teach entrepreneurship. If he wants to start a business I doubt he’s much better off with a business degree than he would be with a math degree, plus a math degree probably leaves him more to fall back on, unless he’d be going to a top business school.</p>
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<p>yes, including the 2002 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Vernon Smith!</p>
<p>[Mildest</a> autism has ‘selective advantages’ - Business- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7030731/]Mildest”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7030731/)</p>
<p>Several people have told me that American U is very supportive of students with disabilities. I also belive some small colleges will be very supportive and focused on helping every kid succeed.</p>
<p>I would avoid schools emphasizing football and look for schools known for a diverse student body (Goucher, Carnegie Mellon) and being more intellectual than preppy (Swarthmore, Haverford). Best of luck.</p>
<p>I too had thought that smaller schools would be more accommodating and work with the student & family to help each kid succeed. Unfortunately, I did NOT find this to be the case when I spoke with the one small U that admitted our S with a significant merit award. They were the very least accommodating and basically told us that if S’s documented chronic health issues caused him to miss 2+ weeks of school, they’d likely require him to withdraw & lose his merit scholarship, housing & everything else. Needless to say, he declined their merit offer & attended a school known for great sports, including football. They were VERY willing to work with S to help him succeed, accomodating his health issues. Bottom line: talk with each school you & student are seriously considering to be sure your assumptions about their willingness and ability to accommodate are accurate.</p>
<p>Here is a list of some top schools for Aspergers, you may already know about this: [Colleges</a> for Students with Asperger’s: The Very Friendly Ones | InsideCollege.com](<a href=“The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress”>The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress)</p>
<p>You really, really, really (if you have not done so already) need to check out Carnegie Mellon. Extremely aspie friendly, accepting of people with any kind of quirkiness. Top rated economics program, very bright students.</p>
<p>He can easily do a business degree if he is just average in math. Did he get through calc okay? He might have to work at it, but it’s not rocket science. An economics degree requires more math. Again probably doable if he works at it.</p>
<p>In referring to football schools, I was thinking less of their accomodations–large schools often have larger support service teams and more experience with issues–than of their social environment. In my exprience working as a mental health volunteer, the worst bullying of kids with issues is done by jocks and their hanger ons. Not all athletes, to be sure, but a disproportionately large percentage.</p>
<p>I think much depends on the individual student and on the resources they are used to having.
My D is on the " spectrum" but mainly on the ADD end.
We looked at schools where she could be successful/ was interested in and then checked out their support services.
We found that a small liberal arts college that was reputed to be one of the toughest in the country actually had pretty good learning support much to our surprise.
The plus side to attending a school where the kids are considered by some to be grinds with no social skills, was that my D was considered to have an outgoing and engaging personality. 
Her roommate in college has aspergers, but when I met him, I thought that he actually was very adept socially. He also is quite active in individual sports, and I think that helps immensely.
You should check out this book.
[ADHD</a>, Exercise and Michael Phelps](<a href=“http://www.myaddblog.com/2008/08/adhd-exercise-a.html]ADHD”>ADHD, Exercise and Michael Phelps - My ADD / ADHD Blog)</p>
<p>Agree about the sports - a good idea is to look at the range of club sports available.</p>
<p>I would also avoid a school with a big Greek scene.</p>
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<p>Absolutely what she said. I thought that a small “Colleges That Change Lives” school would be perfect for my Aspie son. Not. No personal attention whatsoever. When we mention Aspergers we get the same reaction as if we’d just said his hair is brown. They’ll tolerate him, but no one has taken any sort of personal interest in him and there are no special programs.</p>