Post-secondary Education

From Autism Transition Handbook

 

Acknowledgement: The sections that follow below on Preparing for Post-Secondary Education, Choosing the Right School, Self-Advocacy and Support Services are reprinted here with the kind permission of the Organization for Autism Research, from their publication, Life Journey Through Autism: A Guide for Transition to Adulthood.  This excellent resource is available for download at the Organization for Autism Research's website at www.researchautism.org. 

Contents 1 Preparing for Post-Secondary Education: Where to Go and What to Study 2 Choosing the Right School 3 Self-Advocacy: A Key Skill in a College Environment 4 Setting Up—and Using—Support Services 5 Resources

Preparing for Post-Secondary Education: Where to Go and What to Study

The transition to a college environment can be difficult for many individuals with ASD. However, with preparation and transition planning, the process can be customized for your young adult, thereby increasing the potential for success.

If postsecondary education is a goal for your young adult, then your young adult’s transition plan should include preparatory work for proficiency tests and assessments, such as the SAT or ACT. Also, the transition planning process should help you and your young adult identify his academic strengths to better determine a match between his interests and a school.

Begin exploring early. Help your young adult look into potential summer courses at a community college or explore other options, such as technical or trade schools in your area. Meet and network with current students and attend an information meeting at a local college. The more you can prepare your young adult for the college environment and experience, the more effective his transition will be.

Choosing the Right School

Deciding on a college is a milestone for all teens—and your young adult with ASD is no exception. Finding the right match for your young adult with ASD will be key to his success, and many types of programs are available that may accommodate his needs. Consider all the options, set your requirements, and then narrow the field of candidates. You can use the checklist in Appendix 6 for evaluating colleges as you begin your search:

• Vocational school, community college, technical institute, state school, or a smaller liberal arts school may all be good options, depending on your young adult’s area of interest.
• Certificate programs may provide good training in an area of interest.
• Some individuals with ASD may prefer 2-year community colleges to start out because they can live at home yet begin the postsecondary process. However, at the end of these 2 years, he may want to transfer to a 4-year college, which would require, minimally, some degree of transition planning to identify and address the potential challenges and stressors associated with the new educational environment.
• You may want to work with a guidance counselor during this process to explore all available options.
• You may want to visit particular schools and meet with admissions counselors, as they will be the best able to provide you and your young adult with more detailed information.
• Orientation programs at schools or even the Internet provide a lot of detailed information to determine the most appropriate choice for your young adult.

Once you and your child have determined a specific program or university, it is important to determine what services they may offer to help your young adult with ASD. Most, if not all, colleges and universities have a department that specializes in ensuring compliance with both ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Find out what types of disability-related resources they offer their students, and the process to access these accommodations. By becoming familiar with the system and the services provided, your young adult will be more adequately prepared to advocate for himself, increasing the chances for success.

Self-Advocacy: A Key Skill in a College Environment

Once your son is accepted into college, the role of advocate needs to fall less on you and far more, if not fully, on him. In fact, self-advocacy skills are considered so critical to your child’s success in college that many such institutions do not even have a mechanism by which you, as the parent, may advocate on their behalf. As such, it is of critical importance that you prepare your child with self-advocacy skills to help him communicate his needs to the appropriate person in the appropriate manner. (Public universities generally have an office of “Disability Support Services,” which is the best place for him to begin.) You can begin the process of promoting effective self-advocacy by reviewing the types and intensities of services and supports that were useful in high school and explaining how they might be beneficial in college.

Additional Skills Your Child Will Rely on in College or Further Education

Aside from knowing what supports your young adult’s needs, he must now effectively communicate these needs. Certain skills or, more accurately, skill sets are critical to the process:

• How and when to disclose
• A broad understanding of student's rights
• If you don’t ask, you won’t know

Setting Up—and Using—Support Services

It is important to keep in mind that the protections once offered by the IEP and transition plan will no longer be available as an entitlement in a postsecondary setting. Universities do not have a responsibility to identify students with disabilities or determine what supports are needed. As noted previously, this responsibility falls on you and, primarily, your young adult.  ADA and Section 504 protect your child from discrimination based on his disability if disclosed. Your young adult can request accommodations to help him in the college setting to fully participate in classes and other activities. (Note: While some colleges or universities may allow the student to complete a form designating a parent as the primary advocate, this is not the norm and, in some cases, may not even be appropriate.)

List of Suggestions for Getting the Support Your Young Adult Needs from his College

Further education—whether college or technical school—will open up a whole new realm of possibilities for your young adult’s future. While it will be tough for you to let him go—probably tougher than for the parent of a neurotypical child—it will be important for you to avoid being a hovering parent and to let your young adult have some freedom to explore his new environment. If postsecondary education is a realistic goal for your young adult with ASD, preparation and planning can make this process go smoothly and successfully, and it will help to relieve some of your worries.

See Also:

Waiver Funded Services for Post-Secondary Education

Asperger Foundation International has an ongoing project listing colleges and universities with specialized programs for students with autism/asperger's.

CONNECT Information Service, 150 South Progress Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17109, Voice: 800-692-7288  is a private agency with publications and resource information for a wide range of ages, disability types, and audiences. Specifically they distribute: College Services and Programs for Students with Learning Disabilities, a booklet prepared in the late 1990’s by Dottie H. Dunn, counselor at Cumberland Valley High School.

Resources

Post-secondary education resources