Realizing the College Dream with Autism or Asperger Syndrome. Ann Palmer
the student, should assess what the social and personal needs are of the student and develop goals based on that information.
High school was a time of growth for Eric socially as well as academically. For most individuals on the autism spectrum, social skills are going to be an ongoing challenge. As I mentioned before, Eric had always been a loner and not very social with anyone outside of family. He was socially appropriate in most situations; he just didn’t like to initiate social contact and often preferred to be alone. Eric became more social in high school as he realized how enjoyable it was to talk to girls. There was one particular girl in one of his classes who was friendly with Eric and invited him to sit with her and her friends at lunch. For the first time in his school career, Eric was not eating lunch alone. She became his friend, inviting him to activities at the school and in the community. Eric’s relationship with this girl was a wonderful gift. It gave him confidence and showed him how pleasurable having friends can be.
After the social difficulties of middle school, it was refreshing to have a positive social experience for Eric, especially one that I didn’t arrange! Of course social experiences in high school will vary. They may not always be successful and many individuals on the autism spectrum report extremely difficult experiences in high school. However, many parents have told me and I certainly have found that high school is easier socially than middle school. Students in high school may be more accepting of differences than students in middle school.
As parents, the social rejection of our children is one of the most painful things we can experience. For the student, social rejection can be devastating. Individuals on the autism spectrum will probably always have to work hard to deal with the social aspects of their world. But as individuals mature, they learn more about themselves and their strengths and difficulties and, we hope, can adjust better to the social demands they face. As adults, they will also have more social opportunities with people who are more mature and more accepting. I believe social experiences can get better as the individual on the spectrum gets older.
For some individuals on the autism spectrum, the Transition Plan meeting may be their first experience of sitting around a table with people who are discussing the student’s disability and the accommodations they may need. Parents frequently choose not to include the student in IEP meetings. They might think it may make the student uncomfortable or may be difficult for the student to hear others talk about their weaknesses. Although school districts are always required to invite students with disabilities to their IEP planning meetings, students are not required actually to attend and are often not encouraged to attend. If students do attend, they frequently do not have the self-advocacy skills to participate in the meeting. It is crucial in high school that students on the autism spectrum attend and participate, if possible, in all meetings concerning their needs at school.
Parents and the school can help prepare the student for such meetings by discussing with them the purpose of the meeting and who will be there. If the student is prepared for the meeting, he or she can participate more fully. The student can be given an agenda for the meeting with a time designated for the student to make a statement if appropriate. If they are going to speak, some students may need to rehearse their part ahead of time. If the student is not able to attend the meeting, or speaking to the group is too difficult, he or she can possibly write out any questions or comments they would like to see addressed. If attending the entire meeting is too much for the student, consider having him or her attend the beginning of the meeting only, long enough to hear the introductions and hear about progress the student has made. The student can also write a statement that can be read at the meeting. Any opportunity to understand the transition process and participate in self-advocating will benefit the student.
Eric’s Transition Plan meeting in high school was his first experience of participating fully in a meeting about his school services. He had attended the before-school meetings with teachers to meet the teachers and introduce himself, but had not attended an IEP meeting. In retrospect, I wish I had included him earlier in other meetings so he would have had more experience in advocating for himself. I believe secondary schools should fully inform parents and students with disabilities about the emphasis on self-advocacy at the postsecondary school level. If your high school is not talking about this issue, the parent or student should be initiating discussion about this with the support team.
Other individuals attended Eric’s transition meeting who did not normally attend meetings concerning him. There was a transition specialist from the school system, Eric’s supervisor at his volunteer job in the community, a therapist who worked with him for years outside of school, and his grandmother. A representative from VR also attended. The Transition Plan meeting is the opportunity to invite anyone who knows and cares for the student to be involved in this important process. Parents can invite anyone they would like but should let the school know ahead of time whom they are inviting and how many people may be attending. Other family members, friends of the family, any support persons who have worked with the student, can be invited to attend. According to the law, agencies from the community that may be responsible for providing or paying for transition services to the student must be invited to the ITP meeting (Reiser 1995).
We began Eric’s Transition Plan meeting with everyone introducing themselves. Each person took turns saying their name and what agency they represented or how they knew Eric. When it got to Eric’s turn, his father and I were holding our breaths, not sure what Eric would say. He said, “My name is Eric, and I have autism.” I was completely taken by surprise that Eric volunteered that he had autism. I knew he had been aware of his autism for years but he had never just announced it to a group of people like that. After the meeting I asked Eric why he chose to say that in particular. He said that everyone else around the table was saying their name and why they were there so he had to say something too. He knew his autism was why he was there.
The ITP meeting was very different from previous IEP meetings and not only because of the new faces around the table. This meeting was all about Eric’s dreams and his goals for what he wanted to do with his life. During the meeting Eric was asked questions about what he wanted to do when he graduated from high school. They asked him about where he might want to live when he is an adult, whether he wanted to learn to drive, where he envisioned himself working. Sometimes Eric didn’t have answers to the questions and would say he didn’t know and that was OK. Even when he didn’t have an answer it was helpful because it opened up a discussion about what options Eric might have. Eric learned more about the decisions he would eventually have to make for his future. It was a learning experience for me as his parent because Eric had not spoken about many of these things before. It was good to hear Eric’s hopes and dreams for himself. When the ITP team had a better idea about Eric’s goals, they discussed ways to help him reach these goals. They suggested resources within the school and the community that could possibly be helpful. They talked about the skills Eric already had and what he would need to learn. Goals were written in the Transition Plan including the names of who would be responsible for working on these goals.
The ITP meetings are a wonderful opportunity to focus on issues of self-advocacy and independent living skills needed for the student’s future. In determining what needs the student may have in this area, parents, with the student, may want to consider the following questions:
•Does the student understand the disability and how it affects their learning?
•Can the student describe their strengths and weaknesses in ways others can understand?
•Does the student know what resources are available to help them?
•Does the student know how to access these resources?
•Does the student understand their legal rights in regard to accessing services?
•Does the student have the capability to live independently? If not, what skills do they need? (Heggie 1999)
The transition team can use these kinds of questions to stimulate discussion and keep the focus of the meetings on the future needs of the student.
When Eric started his junior year of high school, his sister became a freshman at the same school. It was the first time in many years that they would be attending the same school and riding the same bus to school. It was great for me as their mother to have