Selecting a College for Students with Learning Disabilities or ADHD

The transition from high school to post-secondary education is a daunting one for many families, and the number of students attending college in the US continues to grow. Add a learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, or ADHD to this equation, and the search for appropriate colleges and supports can make the transition even more overwhelming.

Authors Julia Taymans and Lynda West have created a guide to make this task a bit easier. Their article discusses:

• the appropriate time to begin planning for college
• understanding what type of support is needed
• understanding legal rights
• choosing the right colleges

To read this article in its entirety, please click here

AHEADD’s 2010 Book Scholarship Winner

Joseph Flores

This year’s book scholarship winner

On the surface, Joseph’s story appears to be a common one for families with a member on the spectrum. His positive attitude, family support, and insightfulness, however, have allowed Joseph to step outside the box and experience several “moments” of success along the journey towards adulthood. Joseph hopes to be an inspiration to others with disabilities.

Read Joseph’s essay HERE.

Thank you to ALL applicants. This year’s decision was an extremely difficult one!


To apply for next year’s scholarship (to be awarded in July of 2011) please visit www.aheadd.org/scholarship

New York Times Op-Ed Article

Disorder Out of Chaos

This opinion piece by Roy Richard Grinker, author of Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism, discusses the potential changes to the DSM-V as well as this parent’s personal views about his daughter with autism, who sees her diagnosis as a strength.

This article is AHEADD’s first blog post including an op-ed piece found in the New York Times. Typically, we do our best to include peer-reviewed research articles, however, we feel it is important to highlight some of the pertinent issues faced by the adult community in addition to reviewing and presenting relevant research. The opinions presented in this post do not necessarily represent the views of our staff, but we do feel that they are worth some thought and discussion.

Perceived Treatment Needs of Adolescents with High Functioning Autism: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Incorporating Multiple Perspectives

Introduction

Interest in developing interventions to address the unique needs of adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA) has increased in recent years (Tantum, 2003; White et. al., 2009). Despite this interest, however, the treatment needs of this population remain poorly understood (Tse, et. al., 2007). From a developmental perspective, impairment and distress may increase during adolescence as the social milieu broadens and teens with HFA become more aware of their social disabilities (Klin & Volkmar, 2000; Sukhodolsky, et. al., 2008).

The purpose of the present qualitative study was to inform the development of a psychosocial group intervention to address social cognitive difficulties experienced by teens with HFA. The intervention was conceived as a modification of a group treatment for adults with HFA (Turner Brown, et. al., 2007).

More broadly, this research will add to the existing empirical data regarding the needs of adolescents with HFA and issues to consider when designing treatments for this population.

Method & Data Analysis

Participants:

A total of 17 individuals took part in focus groups divided into three sessions. Group 1(N=6) was composed of adolescents with HFA (ages 16-20). All of these teens were male, Diagnosis of FSIQ were confirmed by record. Group 2 (N+7) was composed of parents and family members of adolescents with HFA. Five of these individuals identified as mothers of teens with HFA. 1 identified as the father of a teen with HFA, and 1 identified as a brother of a teen with HFA. All of these group members served as primary care provider for their family member with autism. Group 3 (N+4) was composed of professional service providers working with adolescents with HFA. These professionals included 1 therapist, 2 teacher, and 1 social group leader all of whom had at least 5 years of experience working with this population. All participants were recruited through community fliers with the assistance of local autism support service agencies. All participants were compensated for their time.

Procedure:

Each group member met for 1 hour and 15 minutes during which they were asked a series of 17 questions intended to elicit their points of view on important treatment topics, treatment needs and considerations when implementing treatments with this population. Though all groups were asked identical questions, the adolescent group also received written versions of the questions, the adolescent group also received written versions of the questions and were asked to use this list to follow along with the facilitators. Sessions were facilitated by two members of the research team involved in treatment development. Sessions were transcribed by trained research assistants and were verified by grop participants and group facilitators.

Data Analysis:

Following verification, group transcripts were individually reviewed for emerging themes in an iterative process. After preliminary review, the transcripts were coded and dominant themes were complied. Following this process, areas of concordance and divergence were considered along with their implications for treatment development.

Conclusions:

Several areas of agreement emerged from the data. For example, all groups agreed on the central role of parents in any intervention for adolescents, but disagreed as to how this inclusion might be implemented. The parent/family group tended to support partial inclusion of parents in the therapy group. Adolescents and professionals viewed parents participation as equally instrumental, but thought it should occur outside of the group, The groups also endorsed increasing social understanding as important, but adolescents and parents tended to focus on educating peers and teachers about autism to a greater extent than professionals. Professionals focused more on improving social understanding among adolescents with autism themselves.

All groups made mention of bullying as a concern of this population. The issue was especially salient, however to the adolescent group who spent a significant portion of their focus group session discussing their experiences of bullying and possible solutions. Though this concern is clearly not limited to adolescents with autism, this group is likely especially susceptible to bullying due to their difficulty recognizing behavior targeted by their peers and adjusting it. Similarly, findings that parents/family members found restricted interest to be a troubling issue for this group and professionals endorsed problems of social motivation make sense given the contexts in which they encounter adolescents with HFA and the frustrations associated with those settings. Interestingly, parents/family members and professionals cited dating as an important issue for this group whereas the adolescents themselves did not. This result is likely reflective of the manner in which these groups reference typically development in their concerns to a greater extent than individuals with autism.

Important to the success of any intervention is achieving buy in from the consumers and their interested parties. Incorporating these concerns in designing interventions, then, adds to likelihood of efficacious findings.

How to Handle Interviews: A General Guide to Dos and Don’ts

Even if your résumé is a meticulously crafted piece of art detailing an unbroken chain of accomplishments, most potential employers ultimately rely on interviews to confirm that you are as impressive as the résumé states. “The purpose of the résumé is to get the interview. The purpose of the interview is to get the job,” said Lisa Dickter, Associate Director of the Carnegie Mellon Career Center.
After the recent Employment Opportunities Conference, many students will be invited to interviews with potential employers. Here is some advice on what to do and what not to do during these interviews and how to make the interviews turn out for the best.

Make Good First and Last Impressions

This is true for almost any social interaction or relationship. “The beginning and ending of an interview is when a recruiter decides whether or not they think personally the student is [a] good fit for the company…. [The recruiters decide whether the student is] a pleasant person to be in that particular culture,” said Claudia Kirkpatrick, associate teaching professor at the Tepper School of Business. Compared to the other parts of an interview, making good first and last impressions is relatively easy. A big smile, a firm handshake, and good posture are usually enough.

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ARTICLE REVIEW – Parent Perceptions of the Anticipated Needs and Expectations for Support for their College-Bound Students with Asperger’s

Scientific research is critical to obtaining objective and verifiable evidence that can be used for decision making and improving methods of practice, but is often inaccessible to individuals who don’t live in the world of academia. Research is often inaccessible for two reasons:

1. Most people don’t have access to the huge online databases of e-journals that are available to university members and research centers
2. Like lawyers and lawyerese, researchers are trained to think and write in a way that that can seem like a foreign language to an outsider

The focus of this article, (and future article reviews on this blog) is to break down relevant research into understandable components. Following is a summary and critique of an article recently published in the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, followed by a brief explanation of how this research might translate to real-life.

Article Summary

Background:

The authors of this article, Morrison, Sansosti, and Hadley, open with a description of Asperger’s disorder and the challenges individuals with this disorder face when transitioning from high school to college. Primarily, the available supports are very different:
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Autism Seen As Asset, Not Liability, In Some Jobs

“A New Movement Helps Hone Unique Traits of Disorder into Valuable Skills”

A previous AHEADD blog article discussed Left is Right, a consulting company based in Sweden that exclusively hires individuals with Asperger’s Disorder. Left is Right requires employees who have an ability to complete meticulous and repetitive work; individuals with Asperger’s fit the bill.

Left is Right was seemingly unique… until now. According to a recent MSNBC article, “A quiet movement is growing around the globe to help transform the unique attributes of high-functioning autistic adults into sought-after job skills.” The article profiles Ron Brix, a computer systems developer who credits his Asperger’s for his success. Brix is now on the board of the non-profit organization Aspiritech, whose slogan is: “Software Testing Leveraging the Power of Asperger’s Syndrome.”

AHEADD has always focused on the strengths of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, and is excited that others are also embracing the talents of these unique individuals.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Social Skills Groups for Adults with Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is primarily a social disorder. Lack of social skills is often the symptom that causes the most problems and the symptom that is the most difficult to treat. This article will provide a brief overview of what social skills are before moving into a more in-depth review of an intervention aimed at improving social skills: social skills groups. Both the theory behind group counseling and the scientific literature addressing the efficacy of social skills groups will be examined.

Social Skills

Social skills come naturally to neuro-typical individuals. Skills like deciding how close to stand to someone during a conversation, or identifying anger or irritation in another person, are essentially reflexive in someone without ASD. However, despite a desire to get along and fit in, individuals with high functioning autism and Asperger’s are bewildered by the constant onslaught of social cues and necessary responses. Generally social skills involve both expressive and receptive skills, including:

• Eye contact
• Facial expressions
• Body language
• Knowing and following the unspoken rules of relationships
• Theory of mind (understanding that others have thoughts and feelings different from your own)

Because there are innumerable social rules and regulations that change depending on personal and environmental factors, improving social skills, (also known as psychosocial rehabilitation), is not easy.
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Adults with High-Functioning Autism and Online Communication

Email, instant messaging, and social networking sites (like Facebook) are common tools used by college students both with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders. These forms of computer-mediated communication, or CMC, would appear to complement some of the characteristics of autism nicely. For example, CMC:

• Removes the need for eye contact
• Reduces pressure to respond quickly
• Is fairly structured and predictable

By removing verbal intonation and nonverbal cues – occasional emoticon notwithstanding – CMC “levels the playing field” for interpretation (or misinterpretation). However, it also removes some forms of feedback and is subject to emerging social norms, such as how quickly to reply to an email from a new acquaintance.
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Left is Right

The brain is divided into two hemispheres. It is generally believed that each side of the brain is responsible for a specific type of thinking, and, like being right- or left-handed, most of us have at least a slight preference for one side or the other. Below is a quick comparison of right and left brain functions.

(For a quick quiz to determine if you are right or left-brained, try the turning dancer test.)

Unsurprisingly, individuals with Asperger’s are often left-brain dominant. Consequently, while these individuals often have the drive and intelligence to be competitively employed, they have difficulty locating employers who are tolerant of their limitations and able to capitalize on their strengths.

Enter Left is Right, a consulting company based in Sweden. Left is Right offers a variety of services, including:

• Converting
• Digitalizing
• Archiving
• Information processing
• Detail inspection
• Control/compare
• Testing
• Proof reading
• Language control
• Translation programming

These are all jobs that require an ability to perform meticulous and repetitive work while maintaining a high level of quality. Who is likely to have these skills and abilities? Well, someone who is very left-brained, for one.

In fact, all 20 of Left is Right’s consultants have Asperger’s. (They also employ two coaches – who make sure the communication works – and one seller.) Left is Right is not afraid to advertise the special strengths of their team. According to their website:

Many companies today work with products that require competence at a high technical level. Those companies need a precise and deep competence…. They [persons with Asperger’s] are not often generalists, but specialists and often within areas of mathematics and logic. Within their areas of expertise they can solve problems considerably faster than a person without Asperger syndrome.

AHEADD views Left is Right as a model for successful employment, and shares in their passion for awareness and recognition of the strengths and abilities of individuals on the autisms spectrum.

To learn more about Left is Right, and view a clever company slide show, click here.