When Jon Dorfman was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at 9, his parents weren’t thinking about their son’s future. They were just trying to get through the next tantrum.</p>
<p>It was 1998. Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disorder on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, had been listed as a mental illness for only four years. Even as a child - Dorfman could read multisyllabic medical terms at 4, but had violent meltdowns in shopping malls - he knew the diagnosis was not good news. “Whoever heard of anyone successful who had autism?” he recalls thinking.</p>
<p>This month, Dorfman, now 22, will graduate from St. Joseph’s University. He’s a film major, a former NBC intern, and a paid mentor at the school’s Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support.</p>
<p>He’s also part of the newest wave of diversity to reach college campuses. As a generation of young adults - the first to be diagnosed with Asperger’s as children - comes of age, it is demolishing stereotypes about its condition and prompting universities to respond to its needs.</p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that autism spectrum disorders occur in about one of every 110 children; that rate jumped 57 percent from 2002 to 2006, a rise doctors attribute to higher incidence and increased awareness.</p>
<p>“Colleges are seeing more people with autism spectrum disorders, the kinds of people who, in the past, wouldn’t have gone on to college,” says Felicia Hurewitz, director of the Autism Support Program at Drexel University. “We have a lot of diversity. Neurodiversity is the newest.”</p>
<p>Like any college student with a documented disability, those with Asperger’s are eligible for “accommodations” such as copies of lecture notes, extended time on tests, or a quieter test environment.</p>
<p>But this group often needs more. Those with the disorder - typically characterized by high intelligence and a passionate, even obsessive interest in particular topics - struggle with organizing and setting priorities. “Students with Asperger’s . . . are the kids who are playing World of Warcraft until all hours,” says Peggy Chapman, coordinator of Y.A.L.E. School Cherry Hill, which helps high schoolers with autism go to college or get a job. “We have students who are extremely bright washing out of college because they lack the social and organizational skills.”