My HS Jr son just qualified for UA’s Presidential Scholarship for full tuition. (SAT 740CR+740M, 4.4 weighted GPA so far) and wants to do Engineering so that will add another $2500/yr. Right now Alabama is his first choice. We have a visit scheduled at the end of March and are going to try and meet with the UA ACTS as well. My son has Aspergers and we are very interested in the UA ACTS autism support program. I am looking to see if any parents have used the program, what there thoughts are on this program, how difficult it was to be admitted to the program, etc. I have not seen much on this program and it definitely is weighing into our decision making process. As hard as it is to send any child across the country to school it is even harder for a child with many of the issues associated with Asperger’s. Would love whatever feedback people have. Thanks.
Welcome!
I dont think any of the parents who post in the UA forum have a child who has been involved with ACTS.
Let me see if I can find any info for you. 
edited to add…I just posted a Q on the Facebook UA Parents forum. If anyone contacts me, I will link them to this thread for you.
Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
@pokerqueen congrats to your son on earning the Presidential! I am very familiar with Aspergers, and am always amazed whenever I meet a new Aspie. At the risk of generalizing (I despise generalizations and labels), I find Aspies to be quite AMAZING people with incredible intuition and unique insights. Kudos to your family for being bold in pursuing opportunities outside the comfort zone, and doing research to support those opportunities.
Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about ACTS, but I wish you all the best of luck in finding adequate info to make the right decision!
DISCLAIMER: Son was diagnosed as being “on the spectrum” as 8yo, most likely Aspergers or PDD-NOS. Now he’s a thriving HS senior, and will be entering UA this fall on Presidential Scholarship. Fortunately, we live in the area and he will be able to stay at home until he decides when/where to move in the future (Mom says never haha).
Thanks so much. My son was diagnosed around age 4 and I would agree with you he is amazing. He will definitely need some support to be successful and love the fact that Alabama has this program and the program sounds wonderful and as if they know exactly how to help these kids be successful. Keeping my fingers crossed that when we visit in a few weeks we will have all the information necessary to make the decision.
Another interesting person you might want to contact is Rick Dowling, Coordinator, Faculty Development, 205-348-6086
rick.dowling@ua.edu. Rick & his wife were ‘faculty in residence’ at Riverside dorms, along with their autistic son, Sam, back in 2012. This is an old article, but gives some info: http://uanews.ua.edu/2012/01/ua-event-something-about-sam-focuses-on-using-humor-with-autism/.
Awesome thanks. I will definitely contact him following our visit in a few weeks.
@pokerqueen I’ve found someone. I’ll now ask her your questions.
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Hi there. The process to get admitted wasn’t difficult. There was paper work and documentation of an Aspergers diagnosis was needed. There was also a family interview. We were nervous as our daughter has very high functioning Aspergers and her diagnosis was really to get her services in school for her anxiety. There were two more applicants than spots available but she got in. I believe the students not admitted needed more help than they could offer.
They had a before school orientation and a get together for parents and students. The students ran the gamut, from super cute bubbly social butterfly girl that didn’t look like there was no way she had Aspergers to another girl who seemed more developmentally delayed. DD was definitely very high functioning.
We NEVER would have sent her away to college without the program. She has had an amazing first year. By that I don’t mean she’s joined a sorority and went to week football game. She has a few friends, is involved in a couple of organizations and is very well adjusted. I was worried she’d just go to class and spend the rest of her time locked in her room playing video games. She has the most amazing mentor she meets with twice a week, spends several hours a week in study hall at the acts program and meets every other week for therapy. They also have a social skills group but DD hates that. The other kids annoy her. If you can imagine a bunch of Aspires in group. One girl doesn’t stop talking and is annoyed that my daughter won’t talk… my daughter is annoyed because she won’t stop talking… I would love to be a fly on the wall! My daughter says she doesn’t talk because if she does, they will be there longer. The logic of an Aspie. I get weekly calls from the mentor with updates.
One thing we encountered is straight A, smart girl has more difficulty processing the information during her engineering lectures. They help guide her through the process of tutors, meeting professors… If I notice anything is off, I can call and they address the issue. To be part of the program, sarah signs over the right for them to talk to me. They are on call 24 hours a day. My husband made the comment “well since she’s doing so well in school, why are we paying for the ACTS program”? She’s doing so well because we pay for the ACTS program. It’s a home away from home!
On another note, as a parent who has been on a roller coaster ride with this child, it has been nice not to have to worry about her.
Well, that sums up my experience. Please disregard spelling errors… I’m typing this on my phone at 6am. If anyone wants to talk to me, have them pm me. Thanks!
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Thank you so much for this information. My son sounds very much like your daughter. My son will also hate the Aspie group and would probably make the same comments as your daughter . He too is an A student with the Presidential scholarship so imminently capable but we can already forsee the difficulties. My son also has significant anxiety and requires extra time with testing. But he will also need some mentoring, encouragement to get out of his room and pursue his outside interests and some assistance in navigating the tutoring and how and when to approach professors. I can see my son trying to discuss things with professors on a daily basis and annoying them with trying to be sure he is doing well and meeting expectations. Despite being more than capable of succeeding at college and definitely being on the higher end of the spectrum I could never imagine sending him away without some supports and this program sounded amazing. I was concerned that they might not want him as he is high functioning or that it would be difficult to get into the program. Would love to discuss your experience privately if that is ok. Thanks to all for assistance and reassurance. We are visiting March 24 and 25 and very excited to see things. Alabama sounded great prior to finding out about this program but this definitely makes it our number one choice.
Our son also has documented Aspergers and graduated summa from UA engineering a couple of years ago. He was on a Nat.Merit scholarship. We applied for the ACTS before freshman year but was not accepted because there were no more spots available. Instead, he was advised to register with the Office of Disability Services, who contacted his professors for accommodation, which included a quiet testing room and extended testing time. They also offered note-taking help, which he didn’t need. He had to inform ODS of the date and time of his exams and ODS would remind the professors. Oftentimes, exams would be taken at ODS with a proctor, or in a quiet room in engineering. The social aspect was very difficult for him, particularly dorm living. Although he lived in a suite with his own bedroom, he had to share with suitemates (who were really good kids, and all honors students) and he has a major sensitivity to sound and stimuli. However, his social anxiety did not lessen until he was able to move into a single (1-bedroom) apartment in Riverside. He had the whole apartment to himself and it made a world of difference. It was a rough first two years, and we thought many times to bring him back closer to home. But he persevered, and we are so pleased with UA’s commitment to accommodate his disability and help him achieve his potential. Best of luck and I hope things work out for your son!
Thanks so much for your input. I am hoping by making contact early enough my son will be accepted into the program. My son will definitely need extended testing time and a quiet place to take exams. He hasn’t required a note taker yet but often misses major points in his notes. We are doing another complete evaluation this year to have ready for admissions next year regarding accommodations in case he doesn’t get into the program. Not sure how he will do with dorm living and suite mates but keeping fingers crossed.
If you don’t mind me asking was your son able to find a few friends. I understand greatly the social limitations with Asperger’s but one of the things my son is hoping- is to be able to find one or two people who he can do things with. This has been challenging in High School but he has made great strides. Would love to hear some positives from another parent.
Yes, it took a while, but my son was able to make friends with whom he felt comfortable.
Thanks. Appreciate the feedback. Makes my mom heart happy. Very glad to hear positive responses about UA’s willingness to accommodate disabilities like these. Not all schools are willing to.