Get Going Workshops

by Joanne Levy-Prewitt

Students With Forms Of Autism Have College Options

I recently received a letter from a reader inquiring about college for students with Asperger's syndrome. The letter inspired me to investigate the college options for these students.

Students with Asperger's (named after the Austrian doctor who identified it) have a form of autism and have difficulty with social skills and interpersonal communication. They are often, but not always, highly intelligent and can sometimes function quite well in academic settings. For this reason, parents of these students are often curious about options in higher education.

"Realizing the College Dream With Autism or Asperger Syndrome," by Ann Palmer, is the story of her son's diagnosis with autism and his journey to college, yet it is also an excellent guide for other parents in similar situations.

In a telephone interview, Palmer tells me that she feels fortunate that her son Eric was diagnosed in preschool and that he received services early. Though he was fully included in a typical classroom setting by third grade, Palmer, who lives in North Carolina, wasn't sure that college would be an option for Eric. However, she wanted to keep the door to higher education open, so when Eric started high school she decided to put him on a college track. "My husband and I wanted for Eric what we wanted for our other children," she says. "We didn't want to think of it any other way. Eric wanted to go to college."

After Eric did well on his SATs, Palmer began to consider the best college learning environment for him and thought that community college close to home would be best. However, Eric was academically eligible for a university, and he wanted to live independently in a dorm with other students. "Eric wasn't nervous about strangers living around him," she says. "He wanted to make his own decisions about what he ate, when he slept, what he watched on TV."

An animal science program at North Carolina State University also intrigued him. Though Eric seemed able to handle the academics of college, Palmer was nervous about others taking advantage of him. So, the summer before college she and Eric "went over a lot of things to prepare him for living alone."

She says that Eric's college experience was great. Though he didn't participate in many social activities and lived in a single dorm room, he graduated in five years with a degree in anthropology. Palmer speaks highly of NC State, saying, "They have a history of working with students on the autism spectrum, and have good disabled students services."

Today, Eric is employed at the university. He lives independently, and Palmer says he is "happy, but very alone. He doesn't have friends, but isn't lonely, either. He takes the bus to work, pays his own bills."

Palmer's book is filled with hope. She says that with early intervention and strong support from colleges and families, many students with Asperger's will be able to attend college. I hope that parents of children with Asperger's syndrome will find that encouraging.

FOR FURTHER READING:

"Realizing the College Dream With Autism or Asperger Syndrome," by Ann Palmer (Jessica Kingsley Publishers)
"Parenting Across the Autism Spectrum: Unexpected Lessons We Have Learned," by Maureen F. Morrell and Ann Palmer (Jessica Kingsley Publishers)

COPYRIGHT 2007 JOANNE LEVY-PREWITT