<p>He would qualify for a scholarship for his disability, to go to an instate school, equal to, I think it was $133 a credit hour. Not a ton, but it helps. His SAT scores also qualified him for scholarships to the state universities.</p>
<p>But since he tends to not get involved or excited about much of anything, and seems happy to sit in his room on the computer (we no longer allow the computer in his room at home) we thought a small school where he can get involved would be for the best.</p>
<p>Now that the offers of admission are coming in, and we can see he could have gone to the state U for very little, we wonder if we were off base on this. I worry that we THINK these small schools seem so great, but for someone with a disability, they might end up being not worth the extra money. He has scholarships of some sort to each school. </p>
<p>For those who do not know, PDD-NOS is very high functioning autism spectrum disorder. Most people just think someone with PDD-NOS is a geek, but, my son has actual problems with good decision making. Thanks!!</p>
<p>I think the question is about the specific small school, not small schools in general. It sounds like you want a school with a heavy residential culture and focus on inclusion. There are plenty of small schools where a kid who wants to sit in his room on the computer will be able to do that just as freely as at a large public school. The particular dorm he’s in freshman year might matter as much or more than the college itself. He sounds like a good candidate for the sort of freshman residential program where hallmates take several classes together and have some sort of required involvement connected to the theme (like environmental science class + local pond cleanup trips). That will make it much tougher for him to be isolated from his neighbors.</p>
<p>Does he have enough social flexibility to handle a triple or quad room?</p>
<p>A friend has a son who’s on some similar part of the spectrum. Bright, capable, utterly nonsocial and a bit OCD. He’s at a CTCL school, with merit aid, and loving it. Still makes few connections, but loves his classes, spends time in the library, walking, goes to events etc. I don’t know about your son but I think this young man would have had a very hard time at a larger school-- that he feels safe and comfortable and gets a kind of social life from the smallness of the classes etc. FWIW.</p>
<p>Does your son have an opinion on the size of school he prefers? We visited Temple and my son, who has Apergers, was adamant about not attending a school that size. He specifically wants a small school. But we also made sure the school was highly residential and had lots of activities of interest to him and students who participate in those activities.</p>
<p>Mine went to a CTCL school…he also insisted on a small school. Terrible for him. No structured support, no tutoring, no attention, nothing. The much lauded individual attention was nowhere to be found.</p>
<p>Do you have small LAC size state schools or are they all big campuses? I know in some states they have quite small more intimate campuses which would be similar to a small LAC in terms of number of kids, association with professors.</p>
<p>It might help if schools were named since those with experience could respond in more definite terms. For example, OP, which schools & Missypie, which college ?</p>
<p>He got in to Baylor. But, none of us like Baylor much, so for that price, he won’t be going there. Austin College and Cornell College are top two picks. I was thinking maybe we should have added in UT Dallas and Stephen F Austin maybe? Or maybe stop second guessing ourselves? His major is computer science, but he likes writing and is good at it. He is planning a second major in political science.</p>
<p>At some point you just need to be done, especially if he is happy with his choices. Hopefully he was OK with the final list, and he has a reasonable chance of getting in to places he wants to go and you are willing to pay for. Remember, this is a major decision, but it’s only for a semester at a time. That said, if I were in your shoes and two options were pretty similar regarding cost/ benefit, and one is offering money, I’d suggest following the money, because from what I understand it’s harder to get merit aid as a transfer student.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Also consider distance from home and how it suits your child. Some kids on the spectrum may need to come home and “unwind”. If this is the case, closer to home is a consideration. Handling multiple classes and assignments/schedules may be an issue. In this case. Cornell College is a great option with the one class at a time that would allow him to be totally imersed in one subject. Also, support for kids on the spectrum is a consideration, and lastly- where he is comfortable.
I know one student on the spectrum who may have been accepted into a higher ranked school, but he is attending one that is closer to home and very supportive. He’s thriving. He sometimes comes home to unwind ( and I will guess he brings his laundry!) but he’s ready to go back. This school was one of his first choices, and I am not sure he had many others on his list. A narrow list is not a problem if he’s accepted at the schools he wants and it is affordable.</p>