College Autism Spectrum / Yale Center on Autism

Rochelle has asked me to share a bit about a practice that I have been connected with since retiring form my "real " job with State of Ct Bureau of Rehabilitaion Services [BRS]. When I left [BRS] I had been very involved with creating transition plans for young adults on the Aurism Spectrum as they left secondary ed and entered employment or post secondary ed. Several of my colleagues around the country had come together to help young adults with ASD who were going on to college. Much of the assistance that they provide is in choosing the " best fit " post secondary program,to provide assistance with transition planning as the student's leave the post secondary program and enter employment, move away from home etc. And  soCollege Autism Spectrm [CAS} was formed. We also provide training nationally to post secondary institutions around understanding students with ASD, strategies for faculty and staff to utilize with these students and assitance with career/job planning and transiton into "adulthood".

           CAS has long had an informal collaboration with the Yale Child Study Center; Center for Autism. Here students are evaluated for diagnoses , plans are developed for students of all ages, work is done in collaboration with parents and educational institutions andtherapy is provided to students who would find that useful.

            I've discovered through my work with Adult Ed in Connecticut that the issues faced by young adults with ASD  are no different if college is the next step or if Adult Ed is the next step in their journey. The social communication issues, executive functioning issues, language  pragmatics and sterotypic ehaviors all must be accommodated by the program and , most impotant for me anyway, the student must develop self management strategies in the new envrionment sof post secondary ed and work.

Here in CT we are not seeing a lot of students on The Specrum who are accessing Adult Ed right now. I'm curious about your experiences with this populalation, their successes in your progams  and how you have worked with them to achieve those succes.ses  I bet I'm not alone, so please post any thoughts and  experiences that you have had so we can learn together. By all accounts we will be seeing more and more of these students in our Adult Ed programs. Lauri Di Galbo

Comments

Hi Lauri,

How interesting!  Thanks for the informed explanation.  

I am specifically interested in your statement below:

"...the issues faced by young adults with ASD  are no different if college is the next step or if Adult Ed is the next step in their journey. The social communication issues, executive functioning issues, language pragmatics and stereotypic behaviors all must be accommodated by the program and , most important for me anyway, the student must develop self management strategies in the new environments of post secondary ed and work."

We have had quite a few discussion threads within this group on autism and autism spectrum disorder.  I have asked members whether their programs attracted any students with autism and no one responded.  I know that I in my experience, many such students were registered in adult education programs where I worked.  From personal talks that I have had with colleagues, I know that others have had similar students.  I question whether public school districts, local colleges, universities, literacy programs, or other agencies attract more adult students with autism.  If we are, in fact, covering the  areas of social communication, executive functioning, language, etc., as you mentioned above, why are we not attracting more student with autism?

I will restate the request that you posted.  If any of our group members have now or in the past had experience working with students with autism in their adult education programs, please..... share that information with us by posting a response below.

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

 

 

Hi all,

In my experience in a public school adult ed system, very few students  in Adult Ed classes are on the spectrum. Many systems are designed (funded) with the limited focus of academic improvement geared to passing the GED. There may be additional grants or other funded programs with a wider perspective, but those programs are not as consistently available as standard Adult Education classes. The adult ed programs offering classes with a wider focus seem to be, in my experience well attended and successful. Miami-Dade County's specialized vocational education Baking Class does not have any of the difficulties of lack of motivation and progress that are often experienced in standard adult and vocational education classes. Just like in their Career Pathways counter parts, contextual learning, specific skills training with a focus on workforce curriculum has produced significant learning gains that will lead to employment.

Hi Robin: Thanks so much for your insights into reasons that persons on The Spectrum don't access [or do well in general Adult Ed]. I too beleive that the hands on, contectual learning not only provides the skills needed to perform a job, but especially important for folks on the Spectrum,  the social nuances and expected behaviors of work environment. So often we see students who have ASD do very well academically  can't actuallly execute the job skills after they have learned them.

             In Ct some of our Adult Ed progams have partnered with voc programs  sponsored by the Dept of Labor  to provide academics specific to the vocational programs both language and math based. The classroom work is made "real" by the experiential learning...which for these students includes the social behavioral components that students with out ASD may learn intuitively.

Laura,

Florida has several different versions of college certificate programs designed to intensely teach social and specific academic skills as 1/2 of a course that includes full enrollment in a standard technical training program. They seem to be successful. Unfortunately, unless standard adult ed funding changes, I think we will rarely see students on the spectrum in typical adult ed classes. Standard adult ed classes may not necessarily be relevant to some on and off the spectrum.

By the same token, I have seen ed programs run thru an adults with disabilities grant that provided  (non-standard) ABE/ GED and  literacy skills that were packed with adults both older and younger who were hungering for "missed" educational opportunities. The literacy skills gained were remarkable.
Many  of those students would not have been 'accepted' in a standard adult education class. Ps some classes, at least, at some times, had as many GED 'passers' as some standard adult ed classes!

 

 

 

Hi Robin: I'm interested in your comment about "standard adult ed " funding.  i'm really a novice at the Adult Ed trail of funding as I come from the disability and VR world. But I know in Ct we have had funding  through Adult Ed for collaborations between Adult Ed and the Voc Tech programs for students who needed the academic e.g. reading, vocab enhancemnt to be successful in the tech training. In SE CT and in Western CT these progams have been pretty successful. Is there a reason, from the Adult Ed perspective ,that you know of, for these types of collaborations to be prohibited in other states? Lauri

Hi Robin,

I am so pleased that you jumped into this discussion.  I hadn't considered vocational classes. Definitely an oversight on my part.  Hands-on, experiential learning is always one of the most successful strategies to use with adult education students with disabilities.

Your adult and vocational programs are probably bigger in size and quantity than anywhere else in the US.  Anything you can share with us will be much appreciated.

Good contribution~!

Rochelle Kenyon, SME