My 18yo S was recently diagnosed with autism. Can anyone provide personal insight into how WPI helped with this disability? He is an admitted MechEng major and trying to decide between WPI and UMD (his large state school).
My 17yo S who is on the spectrum ( diagnosed at age 5) is also considering WPI. NYU (we live in NYC) is the other school he is considering. I talked to someone at WPI’s disability office and they seem to be well versed with dealing with kids on the spectrum. As you probably know, a lot of courses have team-based projects which can make it easier to make friends but depending on the student on the spectrum, might also be difficult to manage. My S tends to do better with small groups and hands-on projects. He is considering NYU because he is so familiar with it (had research internship at NYU during high school.) Have you talked to the office of disability at both schools? Did you or will you visit on accepted student day? The disability office had a booth set up right by where everyone entered which I think says a lot.
Definitely call or visit, and chat with the office of disability services (I’m 80% sure that’s what it’s called). Since (let’s face it…) WPI tends to attract a certain brand of nerdy and awkward people even if they aren’t on the spectrum, people with these sorts of issues tend to find a good home here. The disability office is really good at working with professors and offering fair accommodations for students who need them. As @momforcollege said the work is very hands-on and group work heavy, which does double-duty teaching students to work in an environment more typical of real engineering work, and encouraging them to socialize with their fellow students.
WPI is very accommodating for students with disabilities of all kinds and the professors themselves are mindful to within reason enrich the lecture format or extend exam hours students with special needs. Faculty are also accessible during office hours and go the extra mile to ensure that students who make serious effort and care about learning can succeed. The campus itself is socially accepting and students do not usually stigmatize other students with different socialization patterns.
Hi. Can you follow up on what you decided last March and how things went/ are going?
Where did you end up going. How’s he doing?