Autism Vox

“Someone to occasionally check in with”: support services for AS college students

by Kristina Chew, PhD on November 15th, 2006

“Personal support seems like one of the most important things — just having someone to check in with on a regular basis.”

So says Lorraine Wolf, Disability Services Clinical Director for Boston University about a new pilot program intended to provide more options in support services for students with Asperger’s Syndrome. In an article in today’s Daily Free Press, Boston University’s student newspaper, Wolf also noted that it is a challenge for students to learn to advocate for themselves and that it is parents who often bring students into disability support service offices. Dania Jekel, Executive Director of the Asperger’s Association of New England, notes that:

“A lot of schools have disability offices, but it’s really very often that people with Asperger’s Syndrome are confused or have trouble taking the initiative. That’s a problem. There has to be somebody out there who has to be on top of what’s going on and has to be proactive.”

The pro-active accommodations that Wolf mention include extra time for taking tests, reduced course loads, special housing accommodations (such as single dorm rooms), and “someone to occasionally check in with.” Jekel also suggested that college develop “a special orientation for students with Asperger’s” that would “’sort of go over with students what are they going to disclose and who are they going to disclose it to and how.’” More AS students seem to be applying to colleges and, too, to more competitive colleges, Wolf noted.

I hope that some of these student might end up in my own college classroom.

Share This

Related Stories

Autistic Students Off to College
In College, On the Spectrum
Question from a reader about colleges
The College-bound ASD Student: Some special programs
A rather rigorous autism program—enough?

POSTED IN: Adulthood, Asperger's Syndrome, College, Education, Psychology