<p>This is an individualized support program for Asperger’s students in college. Here’s the website. Has anyone used it? Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>[Autism</a> Support & Advocacy for College - AHEADD](<a href=“http://www.aheadd.org%5DAutism”>http://www.aheadd.org)</p>
<p>Never heard of it but I went on their website and it looks interesting. There was another program I looked into, where they lived in special apartments, etc. but it cost $35,000 per year!</p>
<p>There is a new AP article about them in USA Today: [Autistic</a> students get help navigating college life - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-08-autistic-college_N.htm]Autistic”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-08-autistic-college_N.htm)</p>
<p>Thanks for posting! I wouldn’t have found that article on my own.</p>
<p>The programs that have been alluded to are AHEADD and CLE (College Living Experience). All of my information comes from reading, i.e., I don’t have first-hand experience re any autism suppost college programs. Having said that, the two programs mentioned above are for-profit programs which are independent of the college or university the student attends. They are also available at multiple locations in the U.S. There are two programs (of which I know) that are built into university structures. </p>
<p>The oldest is the Autism Training Center at Marshall University (Huntington, WV). The second is the Kelly Autism Program at Western Kentucky Univ. (Bowling Green, KY). My son is just a freshman in high school, and we live in Texas, but I fully intend to chech these programs out. </p>
<p>I would love to hear anything about any of these programs from anyone who has any experience with them.</p>
<p>I inquired about AHEADD and they bugged me for a while - my son was interested in a specific college where they didn’t have a program and he didn’t want to consider one of the others where they do. But they are setting up new ones all the time. I have heard good things for the most part, but it’s rather expensive…hopefully would be covered by Financial Aid?</p>
<p>If you are in TX, you could contact them and see if they would be interested in setting up a program near you.</p>
<p>Sorry I did not stumble on this thread earlier, as it might have been more helpful to wacky. We have used AHEADD for my son. We were very, very happy with them. Not inexpensive, but overall worth the money in my book. After watching our extremely bright, but socially awkward, son drop out of college twice and feel that money go down the drain, this was money well spent. A little background – our son who never had any problems academically in H.S., but was a possible aspie or something else, not sure what, but socially uncomfortable and a bit “different”-- would be doing fine, then for some reason miss a paper deadline, or sleep through a test or somesuch, and then just quit doing anything, unable to talk to or face the class or profs again. Consequently, drop out for the semester. Finally decided to have him transfer and hooked up with AHEADD. I learned about them from an article in the NY Times years earlier and had filed it away. Everyone there was truly caring and extremely professional. As parents we were pretty hands-off. We allowed our son to feel that college and his experiences with AHEADD were his domain and we were not very “in the loop” despite his living at home during this time, so I cannot give much detail. They evaluate the student’s needs and determine an individualized program for each. For our son, it amounted to weekly meetings with a consistent “counselor,” and additional phone calls/texting as needed. In addition, our son participated in various social events/outings (bowling, ice skating, movies, major league baseball games) which he enjoyed. Not all about academics, but life skills too. AHEADD can and will intervene/communicate with profs if necessary and they have a mentor program, matching each student with another student mentor. Our son now has his diploma (YEA!!!). It is hard to know if it would have happened without AHEADD, but watching him function (not!) since he has finished, leads me to believe he could not have done it without them. Right now, they are trying to work with him on transitioning to a career, as we have now realized that just getting the diploma is not enough if it just ends there. To their credit we have since learned that they did work on that too before he graduated, but due to other family emergencies at that time, some things fell through the cracks for us, so they are continuing a bit with him beyond. Overall, they helped him get the diploma, but I am not sure our son (perhaps different for others) really learned to change his behaviour in ways that will help him going forward from here. I think it is a little too hardwired and more real therapy is needed for that.</p>
<p>Kenington
I also live in texas and am considering CLE in denver. I am curious what you decided.</p>
<p>I’m curious as to why CLE in Denver and not in Austin. One of the concerns for me is sending my son far away . . . . </p>
<p>There are a couple of things specifically in Texas that I’ve learned about recently.<br>
One is the Callier Center at UT-Dallas. It’s not a full-blown program for an Aspie student, but it might be worth looking into:
[Autism</a> Spectrum Disorders - Callier Center at UT Dallas](<a href=“http://www.utdallas.edu/calliercenter/clinic/autism/]Autism”>Autism Spectrum Disorder FAQ - Callier Center for Communication Disorders)</p>
<p>A second is a very new, very tentative program at Midwestern St. Univ. in Wichita Falls. It has the potential to be some really good for students in Texas. Here’s the link:
[Autism</a> Support Program : Midwestern State University - Wichita Falls, Texas](<a href=“http://education.mwsu.edu/asp/]Autism”>http://education.mwsu.edu/asp/)</p>
<p>I’m going to post some more college & Aspergers information in the thread that I started above about state universities" and Aspergers, but I wanted to post this Texas-specific stuff here.</p>
<p>I’ve found some additional resources since I posted this previously. </p>
<p>Here is a link to a very helpful list of schools with programs for Asperger’s students:
[College</a> Programs for Students with Asperger Syndrome](<a href=“http://www.collegeautismspectrum.com/collegeprograms.html]College”>College Programs - College Autism Spectrum)</p>
<p>The list comes from College Autism Spectrum. Their home page is:
[College</a> Autism Spectrum: Providing support for students on the autism spectrum and the schools and colleges they attend.](<a href=“http://www.collegeautismspectrum.com/]College”>http://www.collegeautismspectrum.com/)</p>
<p>A couple of words about programs included on the list but which I did not know about the last time I posted. </p>
<p>First, in terms of state university programs, it appears that the Univ. of Alabama has a program similar to that of Marshall (WV) and Western Kentucky. Here’s the URL:
[UA</a> Autism Spectrum Disorders Transition & Support Program](<a href=“http://bama.ua.edu/~uaacts/UA-ACTS/]UA”>http://bama.ua.edu/~uaacts/UA-ACTS/)</p>
<p>The College Internship Program (CIP) seems to be the absolute deluxe program: [Comprehensive</a> College Support Programs for Asperger’s and Learning Differences](<a href=“http://www.collegeinternshipprogram.com/]Comprehensive”>http://www.collegeinternshipprogram.com/)</p>
<p>The Advisory Board reads like a “Who’s Who” of Asperger’s experts, including:
Ami Klin
Carol Gray
Liane Holliday Willey</p>
<p>Their locations are:
Lee, Massachusetts
Melbourne, Florida
Bloomington, Indiana
Berkeley, California
Buffalo, New York (beg. 2010)</p>
<p>They also have summer two-week, residential pre-college experience for teens with Asperger’s & LD ($3800) at those sites. </p>
<p>The bad news? Tuition for CIP for college students ranges from $39,900 to $71,900. That does NOT include college tuition, room, board, books. </p>
<p>One final resource. From insidecollege.com, a list of colleges they characterize as “friendly” to Aspies but which have less than full-blown programs like Marshall, etc.:
"Colleges for Students with Asperger’s: The Very Friendly Ones "
[Colleges</a> for Students with Asperger’s: The Very Friendly Ones | InsideCollege.com](<a href=“The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress”>The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress)</p>
<p>Hi! I’m a little late to this discussion, but here goes:</p>
<p>I contacted AHEADD when my son was in his freshman year in college. They did not have so many locations back then, and could not serve the area his school was in. I spoke with Ms. Hare, who was very positive and pleasant. She spoke with the Dean of Student Services at the school (also very pleasant), but nothing EVER came of it. To be fair, though, she didn’t charge us anything! I think since then, it appears they have added the remote supports. I think the basic idea and support system is very good in theory, though—just don’t know about the practice. </p>
<p>We are investigating College Internship Program now for POST-college. Yes, their advisory board is quite impressive—I recognized those names, too. But, if you research the actual staff, it doesn’t appear that they have the requisite training or experience. Also, CIP is for LD and Autistic Spectrum, and the twain do not always meet. Just saying.</p>
<p>Hi
My son is in a AS support program at the U of Alabama called UA-ACTS. The program is part of the college it cost 3,200 a semester.He is a JR and this is his 2nd semester there.We are very happy with the program so far.You can go to the college web site for more info.Besides helping with the school stuff they also work on social skills. One area that my son is lacking is in self esteem so they are working on way’s to help him.He walks with a funny gait so they are setting up PT for him at the college.</p>
<p>Quite late, also, but I’ve collected info on these and other options at [Spectrum</a> U](<a href=“http://spectrumu.■■■■■■■■■■■■■%5DSpectrum”>http://spectrumu.■■■■■■■■■■■■■). I’m still gathering info feedback and hope that those of you with direct experience will let me know if I’ve missed the mark anywhere!</p>
<p>unstablemagma: What college did your son attend while getting the support from AHEAAD?</p>
<p>If you are looking for post-secondary options and college support programs in Eastern CT, check out our website for more info. </p>
<p>[LIVECTA</a>, Lighthouse Voc-Ed Center, Connecticut, Aspergers, Transition Program, High Functioning Autism, HFA, Autism, College, Residential, Academy, Post-Secondary, Program, Service, Groton, Norwich, Southeastern, Three Rivers Community College, TRCC](<a href=“http://www.livectaprograms.com/]LIVECTA”>http://www.livectaprograms.com/)</p>
<p>There is also a CLE in Austin: <a href=“http://experiencecle.com/locations-2/austin-texas/[/url]”>http://experiencecle.com/locations-2/austin-texas/</a></p>