<p>MissPickwickian, </p>
<p>It seems like we both applied to Smith for a lot of the same reasons: it’s diverse, tolerant, progressive, intellectual, etc. etc. The people in the dean’s office and admissions definitely shouldn’t have been so negative regarding your disability (especially the garbage about flunking!). A lot of what they said, though, sounded more like the panic, fear, and confusion of the specific people you contacted rather than an official college policy on autism. “More and more girls are coming in with this diagnosis” seems to indicate (to me, anyway) that the people in the Dean’s office might not be 100% understanding of your disability, but there are already other people on campus who 1) live with your disability and 2) have a lot of experience with Disability Services and with navigating the college policies on these issues. When you do get in contact with someone from Disability Services (if you haven’t already), quote the negative and ableist BS you’ve heard already and judge Smith’s autism-related policies and supports based on the response you get back (not based solely on the responses you’ve received at this point.) Ask them how other students on campus with your disability have fared. They’re a lot more likely to have experience working with people who are autism-spectrum, so you’re not going to get such bewildered-sounding and faulty “information”. </p>
<p>Smith, as much as I’d like to believe it as a prospective, isn’t perfect. There are misinformed people everywhere, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should any potential student be told she is more likely to drop out just because she is in a certain demographic category. Problematic incidents are just as likely to occur in Northampton as anywhere else, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Smith “doesn’t like” students with disabilities, that they’re not accepting, or that the school in general will not support you. Homophobic and racist incidents have happened there, too (even at Smith–that’s why they started Celebration or whatever it’s called), but that doesn’t make it “a homophobic place”. It just made everyone work a little harder at NOT being one. </p>
<p>@upbeat: Awesome! I was wondering why Smith didn’t already have an organization like that.</p>