VanBergeigh, E., Klin, A., & volkmar, F. (2008).  Supporting more able students on the autism spectrum: College and beyond.  JADD, 38, 1359-1370. DOI on paper.

• 500,000 Americans have ASD
  • 284,000 and 486,000 with PDD are under the age of 20
  • most have mild forms of ASD
  • double the number of individuals have Asperger's
    • not much research on "higher functioning" individuals
• many individuals with ASD are able to go to college
  • will need to receive acadmic and social accommodations
    • academic success
    • social independence (Glennon, 2001)
• current article - theoretical approaches to supporting individuals with ASD in college
  • debate - is HFA Asperger's or the other way around?
  • Nonverbal Learning Disability - very similar to ASD
    • social perception
    • jusgement
    • interaction
    • tactile
    • psychomotor coordination
    • spatial skills
  • novel situations
  • tend to apply social skills in a rote fashion - often incorrect and inappropriate
  • other differences
    • social feedback
    • problem solving
    • concept formation
    • hypothesis formation
    • hypothesis testing
• often anxiety from fast-paced social processing
  • depression common as well
  • learned helplessness
  • more likely to have a history of anxiety and depression in female relatives
  • 65% of individuals with AS also have anxiety and depression
  • other links
    • Tourette's
    • OCD
    • Psychotic conditions
    • increased criminality and law trouble (check the paper for more information - need these for the OJJDP grant)
      • legal problems from social issues and lack of empathy
      • also a firm adherence to the rules
• ASD and young adults
  • many of the kids diagnosed in the 90s are now entering adulthood
    • some improvements in social and communication - especially with early intervnetion
    • communication skills at 5-6 can predict outcome in adolescence
    • difficulty with developmentally appropriate tasks
  • interpersonal challenges - affects quality of life
    • functional work
    • personal relationships
    • age appropriate sexual behavior
    • understanding of how ASD affects them
  • 70-80% continue to show impairment
  • adult social roles keep them from sustaining employment
• ASD and higher education
  • Shaffer v Weast - burden of proof reversed - makes it harder to get services
  • IDEA - protects only until the age of 22
  • ADA - protects discrimination
    • most will provide academic support, but not social support
  • what are the goals of higher education?
    • develop skills for adulthood
    • form lifelong relationships
    • voacational pathway
    • extracurricular activities
  • social supports - lack of - impair student's success in academics
  • universities need to address organizational and social difficulties
    • increase self-help resources for students and parents
    • there will be a demand for services
  • Taylor (2005) - suggests services for university students with ASD
  • Prince-Hughes 2003
  • transition tends to be a stressful time
    • typical kids are under stress when going to college as well
    • kids with ASD fare worse after 6 months
• IEPs can serve as a template for what servicesa student will need (REALLY?)
  • calls it an "Individualized College Plan"
    • academic
    • indpendent living
    • socialization goals
    • vocational goals
    • mental health
  • should expose kids to college while still in high school
  • community college might be a good transition
  • careful attention to the choice of college
• size of school
  • smaller setting, smaller class sizes
    • might not be as familiar with how to accommodate, though
    • might treat child as if he has LD
  • larger university - more options for social and vocational choice
    • more diverse curriculum
    • play to strengths
  • Harris et al., 2005 - 3 basic models
    • home - in the dorm
    • center -
    • school based - in the classroom setting
      • need a tri modal approach
      • peer training
      • support models
        • Krohn & Goetz, 2005; Tevyaw et al, 2007
    • need to evaluate goodness of fit between school and child's needs
• Counseling supports
  • how supportive is the university?
  • what types of disabilities do they serve
  • will need
    • directive guidance and counseling
    • cannot use inferences
    • social skills - need to be broken down and made concrete
    • role-playing and task analysis
    • generalization - need to practice in the environment
• Classroom modifications
  • faculty often don't understand ASD
  • must register with the ADA office
  • fine motor probelms
    • note taking
  • explicit instructions
    • organization of materials
    • classroom materials
    • beyond verbal instructions
      • written instruction
      • pictures
  • large assignments should be broken down
  • time mangagment
  • using an organizer or calendar
  • using a PDA
    • alarms to remind students when to do what they need to do
    • computer resources
• Evaluation and Testing
  • extra time for testing - often extra test anxiety and changes in routine
  • graphomotor issues make it difficult to take tests
  • physical setting might be too distracting - sensory integration
  • headphones might be better than earplug
• Social functioning
  • most ADA offices are familiar with LD and ADD
  • not well prepared to deal with nonacademic things
    • life skills
    • socialization
    • laundry
    • budgeting
    • checking
    • roommates
      • kids often naive and may be sexually abused
      • dating and complex social situations might be difficult
  • may be told to say or do something inappropriate
    • sex education - developmentally appropriate and concrete in nature
    • Volkmar 2004
  • most social skill groups - run with younger children
    • need role plaing
    • explicit teaching
    • usually done in vivo
• Mental Health support
  • limited insight - own states, states of others
  • self-advocacy - knowing what autism is important
  • skills should be broken down and taught in a rote fashion
    • preplanned, rehearsed list of things to do in social situation
    • explanation will not be sufficient
    • support should be intensive during the first semester
  • we need to reach out to students and train peers and others to signs of crisis
• VIGNETTE PRESENTED IN ARTICLE
• Vocational issues
  • college - preparation for employment
  • mostly done indirectly
  • study habit are supposed to turn into work habits - very nebulous, lots of generalization
    • mostly metacognitive
  • autism - needs to be more direct and planned
    • direct connections between college and work
    • explicit training
    • help with the job search and application process
    • resume writing
    • interviewing - role playing needed, broken down into discrete tasks
    • disclosure can be complicated
      • needs to be well-timed but eventually necessary
  • explicit discussion of soft skills
    • dress code
    • arrival and leaving
    • lunch
    • where to place belongings
    • task analysis of the job
  • should not be in unpredicable or complex social jobs
    • based upon interest and strength - can use perseveration
• must plan for the transition from the college to job
  • may have adjusted to the routine
  • may try to put off graduation or have a psychiatric crisis due to stress
• interventions need to be empirically validated!
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