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AUTISM AND THE COLLEGE STUDENT
Compiled by
Linda Albrecht
Research Assistant-RRTC---Virginia Commonwealth University
reprinted with permission
A few weeks ago, I sent a question out over the DSSHE listserv
(Disabled Student Services in Higher Education) inquiring about
anyone's experiences and/or knowledge of resources regarding students
with autism in post secondary educational settings. There was a
fair amount of interest in the subject, and I wanted to thank everyone
who sent me information as well as share the results of my search
with you.
First, Autism is a many splendored diagnosis with some people preferring
to call it Autism Spectrum Disorder. This indicates varying degrees
of the disorder. In both my readings and responses from DSSHE members,
I found that there are many other diagnoses with similar characteristics
to Autism. Some of these include Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive
Developmental Disorder, and Hyperlexia. There appears to be much
debate as to if these and other similar disorders are actually separate
conditions or different components of one disorder, Autism. Understand,
I am not making any definitive statements, myself. I am only reporting
what I have found.
Second, it seems as though some definition of the condition is
in order. I am going to relate findings primarily associated with
what is called High-Functioning Autism (HFA). Compared to low-functioning
individuals with autism, there is a marked difference in IQ. The
break off point for the full-scale IQ (Wechsler) seems to be around
60. At that point and above, there are apparently considerable differences
in the cognitive behaviors as well as anticipated gains for the
high-functioning group. Unfortunately, I did not find any neatly
laid out statement as to the IQ's of students with autism going
to college. I hope I am not going too far out on a limb to suggest
that the full-scale IQ's of these folks is probably substantially
higher than 60. I think there might be some information in a few
long-term, follow-up studies of people with high functioning autism
from which you might be able to pull together some kind of statistical
profile, although the information does appear to be few and far
between.
For high-functioning individuals with autism, I encountered many
descriptions of many characteristics associated with the disorder.
The pervasive characteristics, however, seemed to be difficulty
in social interactions, ability to understand abstract uses and/or
subtleties of language (i.e. figurative language, humor/sarcasm,
and drawing implications from less than direct requests or statements),
obsessive behavior, and otherwise odd behaviors.
My look into the research over a two-week period or so, yielded
nothing of an actual research design or "official" results
pertaining to students with autism going to college. Most of the
research relates to things such as defining autism, intellectual
capabilities/deficits as measured by the WAIS-R or WISC-R, and social
understandings/interactions and people with autism. I did find one
article relating to a longitudinal study of outcomes for children
who were considered to be high functioning people with autism. (Szatmari,
P., Bartolucci, G., Bremner, R., Bond, S & Rich, S. (1989).
A Follow-up Study of High Functioning Autistic Children. Journal
of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v19, n2, 213-225). The study
included some children who ultimately went to and graduated from
college. The study also looked at outcomes in terms of employment,
living arrangements and social interactions. Information on characteristics
of "successful" students (graduated college, held job,
and maybe lived on own or with parents) indicated that they did,
indeed, have higher IQ's, good nonverbal problem solving skills,
and parents (especially mothers) who were strong advocates.
Although, I found no information in research literature with regard
to the needs/accommodations of these students in a college setting,
I did receive a reasonable number of responses from DSSHE members.
Let me attempt to tell you what I found.
Responses I received came from present and former DSS (Disabled
Student Services) providers in both two and four-year schools. First,
from both DSSHE participants and literature, the suggestion is that
there is no "one size fits all" stereotype of a high-functioning
individual with autism. Rather, these people are individuals. In
terms of accommodations, they broke down into the typical and not
so typical. For the more typical accommodations, the most common
response was for extended test-taking time with triple time needed
for some students in one of the schools. Reduced course load was
mentioned more than once, and a course substitution for foreign
languages was indicated as a need for some students. Although I
am not sure that provisions for tutors are considered to be a standard
accommodation, there was an indication that tutors may be needed
by some individuals. Again, this all depends on the specific student.
Apart from these services, the next most common responses I received
did relate to issues of social interaction and behaviors, obsessive-compulsive
behavior (which seemed to account for the need for extended time),
and "eccentric" behaviors (i.e. talking to self). In two
of the responses I received, the schools had made provisions to
have student aids, shadows, or peers assist these students in staying
on track both in the classroom and out with school work and social
behaviors. (In one instance, the peers were paid for through a TRIO
grant and in another instance, the peer was paid for by a county
agency. They cannot be paid for by the school because it is considered
to be a personal assistant.)
The last piece of information where I received several responses,
had to do with faculty interaction. In some cases, the interactions
were done on a one-to-one basis, and in other instances, it appeared
that there were some faculty/staff-wide training sessions on the
issues of autism. However the training was done, there was some
indication that education of the faculty and staff with regard to
these specific students was needed, and in some cases, seemed to
add to the success of the students in terms of completing the school
program.
In terms of results of the students, again, the responses were
mixed. It appeared that the ability of the students to move through
the two or four-year program rested on the extensive services those
schools (especially the two-year schools) provided. In other instances,
it seemed as though factors such as family proximity and support
along with previously acquired skills was making the difference
in the student's ability to progress. It appeared that some (not
all) students were certainly struggling in two and four-year institutions
because of the problems (cognitive and behavioral) associated with
their disabilities. This seemed to be in spite of highly supportive
school environments. In other circumstances, it was clear that the
students with autism were taxing the resources of the DSS offices.
Before ending, I want to provide some possibilities of further
resources. One of the listserv participants sent me the web address
of a site created and maintained by an individual in England. He
has autism and has been in the British university system, although,
is apparently taking a break right now. His site is geared specifically
to students with autism pursuing a college education. The site has
some interesting information from this individual's perspective
about possible accommodations, potential problems of people with
autism in a university setting, and also has a listing of many books
of first-person accounts of people with autism who have attempted
or made it through a college program and are leading interesting
lives. The web address is www.users.dircon.co.uk./~cns/index.html.
Second, I have run across information on autism resource centers.
There is one in Virginia, and I am of the mind that other states
may very well have these too; although, I did not research this
very thoroughly. Third, there is an organization called the Autism
Society of America (www.autism-society.org/) which has information
about local chapters of the Autism Society of America and resources
generally available to everyone. Last, there is a center of autism
studies and information run out of UNC-Chapel Hill, NC. The center
is called TEACCH and the web address is www.teacch.com. This seems
to be an organization with extensive knowledge on individuals with
autism across the life spectrum. For specific problems, they may
be able to provide advice or direct people to further resources.
In a really and truly closing statement, what I have gained from
all of the information I gathered is that it is hard to anticipate
the exact needs of any student with autism or a related condition
prior to coming to school and watching them function. Every student
is an individual and what applies to one may not apply to all. It
sounds as though these students can be very challenging. In terms
of working with them from a DSS provider standpoint, it sounds as
though they can provide a very frustrating or very satisfying experience
depending on the students themselves, the nature of the university,
and the level of supports.
I apologize for the length of this entry but hope that it is perhaps
useful or interesting information to you as it has been to me. Thank
you again for your responses.
January 2002
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